College Essay Advice
Seniors, it’s almost that time of year! College applications are looming in the fall and winter, so here are some pieces of advice for tackling your application essays.
Start early! The fall will be the start of your last year of high school, and the weeks often fly by in a blur of schooldays, homework, and extra curriculars. Better to get at least most of the work of drafting your essays out of the way during the summer!
Stay organized. Keep a list of colleges with their associated deadlines and requirements in one centralized document, and make a folder to store each of your essay drafts in. Name your essay documents something that tells you what each document contains, like “U of Chicago Essays” or “UC Prompt 3 Draft.”
Be prepared to edit. Even for seniors comfortable with writing, college essays require a style of writing that is unlike the style of any essays you’ve written before. These essays are also among the most important elements of your application (though their exact weight depends on the colleges to which you’re applying). Plan to spend time editing your essays after you finish drafting.
Never delete anything. Save copies of old drafts in separate parts of your document, or in separate documents altogether. (One past student had a “Draft Graveyard” document where she put any previous drafts or chunks of essays that she wanted to delete.) In the process of editing, you may make changes that you later regret, so it’s always better to have a previous, unaltered copy to refer back to, just in case.
In search of more personalized advice and guidance? Contact Andrea to set up sessions to work on writing college essays.