In those uneasy moments between college application submission and decision, students and parents often second- and third-guess the package they’ve put together and sent out to schools. Was mentioning a societal or personal problem a mistake?
The fog of uncertainty feels ever heavier at a time of upheaval, here in the U.S. and around the world. It makes sense that we worry about what we say about ourselves and our takes on society and how we say it.
What High School Seniors Worried About
Last month, The New York Times reported on “What High School Seniors Wrote About in their College Essays.”
A more appropriate framing for the piece, which included some memorable if not quite provable soundbites (“D.E.I., in this decade, is an I.E.D.,” suggested one admissions coach), might have been what high school seniors did not write about.
High school seniors who were surveyed or interviewed described increasing hesitation around checking boxes or otherwise disclosing details about race or ethnicity.
Essay Coaching’s clients, like the students in the article, often worry about parts of their personal story that could hurt their chances of being accepted. There is a growing concern that telling their whole story might put themselves or their families at risk.
We are living in uncertain times. We need to do everything we can to approach an important opportunity with total confidence.
We do that by taking a giant step back. We know from decades of experience that every one of our clients—and, in fact, every college applicant— has an important story to tell. Here’s how we help them tell it.
Action>Identity
College essays differ from other essays because of this particular focus on action. A favorite Essay Coaching saying is that a college essay should be about what you care about and what you’ve done about it.
Our brains work in a general-to-specific order, and that’s how we humans tell stories. We’re moved to share an experience based on our feelings, ideas, values, even identities (which, without action, a reader can only understand in a general way). It’s less common to begin with the details of the particular moment, choice, action, and reaction.
Essay Coaching clients begin by free writing—setting a timer and then going rogue on the keyboard in a stream-of consciousness style. It’s the only way to block out the self-editor that’s had all the conversations about the “facts” at the bottom of each online rabbit hole.
When we come back to their draft, we come looking for the action: the commitment to taking an extra shift at the after-school job; the bold, last-minute decision to re-do the final project for the inspiring summer course; or the reaction to the unexpected moral quandary that pops up at the student council meeting.
This is absolutely in no way meant to diminish an ounce of the “what you care about,” which is just as much who you are, if not more so. We just know that, with limited space, we want to keep a tight focus on that action. We want to surround it only with the most essential, relevant backstory and beliefs.
Some of this backstory or detail may align with what the students and counselors in The New York Times article are second-guessing. Even at a time of shared uncertainty, your choice about how you show up in the world is deeply personal.
College essay coaches are not bystanders. We’re here to help. We promise to share our gut reactions, reassure you, and, when concerns linger, offer the single-most effective strategy we know:
When in doubt, leave it out.
How Can We Help?
Schedule a free conversation to learn how Essay Coaching can support you or your student.