College Essays

College Essays If you send more than the one supplemental essay suggested, there’s no guarantee they’ll read themâ€"unless they don’t think they have enough to go on. That said, if they don’t think they have enough to go on after 2 essays, you’ve got a bigger problem. Based on my experience, we read every essay at the institutions were I served. Typically, applications received two reads and a third if the decisions were split. The number of reads and the process for reviewing application essays vary from college to college. Editing is a part of the writing process, like development and revision, where another person can be helpful. There is nothing theoretically wrong with that person being a parent if they are skilled and sensitive to helping while allowing the student’s own voice to remain dominant. Many times however, when a parent tries to help, they do more harm than good. It is very easy to spot an essay that has been overly edited by a parent and that is not good for the students chances of admission. You don’t even need to tell a slightly exaggerated story. But, if you feel like you don’t have anything to say, start here. Transizion donates a portion of profits to underserved students and veterans in of college prep and career development assistance. Similarly, one topic you should never write about in your college essay is romantic relationships. It’s hard not to be cliché when writing about young love, and a relationship shouldn’t be the main aspect of your life that you want to showcase for college admissions officers. Especially if you are applying to a college that is far away from your home, the admissions officers want to see that you will be happy in both the academic environment and the location of the school. At almost all selective colleges however, every college essay will be read by multiple people. If a student is on the fence, not an early admit or deny, essays will probably be read multiple times by multiple people while an applicant is being discussed. If you’re a renegade, then you probably won’t be happy at a more conservative campus. If you spend your essay writing about how much you love city life, you might not enjoy the slower pace of a college town. Your students’ college essay is their opportunity to reveal their best qualities and to show an admission committee what makes them stand out from other applicants. Work with your students to help them with this important piece of their application. Now parents â€" you all know the difference between fixing typographical errors and making massive substantive changes to your child’s essay, right? Remember â€" the admissions officers read thousands of essays every admissions season, and they can spot an overly polished essay a mile away. The essay is supposed to be reflective of the STUDENT, not the parent, and admissions reps are hoping to get a better picture of the applicant’s individuality and unique attributes. It is very easy for a rep to recognize an essay that has been coached someone other than the student. Unfortunately, too many cooks spoil the pot, so to speak…and kids easily get confused when parents, English teachers, their counselor, and their friends all have different advice. Students should familiarize themselves with the campuses to which they are applying , understand the prompt, and answer from the heart. So â€" yes â€" it’s fine to take a quick read to look for spelling errors, but it’s not fine to write your child’s essay for him or her. Do you seem like someone who will fit in at the school? Among the top 250, I know my colleagues review essays because some are moved to “check” authenticity or to contact the school source to verify veracity of the context as provided by the student. When it comes to the college essay, admissions committees have seen it all. The worst thing you can do is make up a story for your college essay. You are good enough the way you are, and there is definitely a topic out there that you can write about without having to lie. when admissions season started, it is not easy to read hundreds of essay during a short period of time. in the mean time, between 5-10 min is actually reasonable for a good read. there are different stages for the admissions process. normally essay does not read more than one person unless the vote must proceed and admission counselors decided to work hard for the students they like the most. So yes, they are read by all the admissions officers, particularly the ones who oversee your county and region.