Essay Topics

Essay Topics Keep in mind that every college is different and individual admission officers may be influenced by different factors. Most schools fall in the “just don’t care” box at this point. Having at least one essay score is helpful in case a student decides to apply to a Required college, but it is unlikely to play a role at Optional colleges. My daughter is trying to get in as an out of state student to University of North Carolina and University of Michigan as her top 2 choices. Rest assured that admissions officers do, in fact, read your essays. Also, admissions officers view them as an important part of your application. No matter how qualified you are, you can kill your chances with a bad essay. On the other hand, if you are minimally qualified or even if something fall bellows the minimum, like your test scores, the essay can be your chance for redemption. Parents can become emotionally involved and/or try to influence the content of the essay, which is something you DON’T want. No matter who helps to edit and proof your work, it’s essential that your writing remain your own. Parents can help their child brainstorm topics, encourage them to write multiple drafts, and help him or her meet deadlines. Some parents should not even read their kid’s essays as they want to change too many elements that make the essays lose their unique adolescent voice. I know this is the touchiest of topics, but I always beg parents to believe in their child. In fact, your essay could end up hurting an application for an otherwise strong candidate if it appears hastily written or not well thought-out. In contrast, smaller colleges, especially liberal arts schools, tend to take a more holistic approach to evaluating candidates, since these colleges tend to be more self-selective and receive fewer applications. Therefore, they can devote more time and resources to each individual application. And then they are pleasantly surprised when admissions officers write acceptance letters with personal notes about their child’s fabulous essays. Editing is a part of the writing process, like development and revision, where another person can be helpful. They should seek guidance from their counselors or teachers for this. The essay should be in the student’s voice and parent’s are not always the best advisors for this part of the application. The college is learning about you from what you write. Not what anyone else writes including your parent. But, if they start writing the essay know that the college may very well determine that the work was not yours. She scored a 33 on ACT with a 6 writing, which she took because Michigan said it was required. She clearly wasn’t prepared for the writing section, so she just took it again and scored a bit lower on her composite but the same on the essay. Then we went to a college fair and spoke to a Michigan Admissions Officer who said Michigan has decided NOT to require writing. Is your parent going to write your essays that are assigned by professors while you are in college? The college cares how you write not how your parent writes unless they are also applying to the same college as you. Join thousands of students and parents getting exclusive high school, test prep, and college admissions information. Factoring in your particular interests, talents, and intended major makes the importance of the essay even more nuanced. If colleges see that your focus is writing and receive a poorly-written or uninspired essay, they will be confused â€" and may wonder how well you understand your own strengths. Under no circumstances should you ever “blow off” your college essay. Even if the rest of your profile makes you a top candidate for competitive colleges, your essay always matters. Essay’s should always been seen by someone else to look for grammatical and spelling errors. Many students do need help selecting a topic and organizing the essay. 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. However, they should not write or re-write the essay.