Passion, Creativity, Taking a Stand - on a Floating Stage in Norway

You can always read my latest post here.

I don't usually blog about matters unrelated to college admissions, but this Huffington Post piece about Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi playing his composition "Elegy for the Arctic" on a floating platform amidst a crumbling glacier in Norway has knocked me out this morning. Having just returned from Norway - though I didn't make anywhere this far north - it caught my attention, and of course the content did too: climate change, what we can do to call attention to it, and how we might arrest it. 

Many of the students I work with want to pursue fields related to the environment because they understand the realities of climate change. 

From the article:

“Being here has been a great experience. I could see the purity and fragility of this area with my own eyes and interpret a song I wrote to be played upon the best stage in the world,” Einaudi said in a news release from Greenpeace. “It is important that we understand the importance of the Arctic, stop the process of destruction and protect it.”

"Greenpeace had the piano shipped from Germany to Norway, where it traveled on the Arctic Sunrise, one of the organization’s ships, to the glacier."

I hope that you take a few minutes to watch this tremendously moving video and read the article. If you're as moved by it as I am, please post a comment or drop me a line. Liz@DontSweatTheEssay.com. 

10 Tips: Stay Sane While Preparing to Write College Application Admissions Essays

You can always read my latest blogpost here.

These are general guidelines, not rules. Not every applicant will be able to do these in this order and some may be more relevant than others.

1. No magic bullet:

There’s no getting around it. The essays are a slog, and if you’re applying to schools with many supplements or several schools not on the Common Application, it’s a lot of work. But – the good news! – doing the work is a way to focus your experience, your perceptions, your goals, and your sense of yourself as a soon-to-be college student. Finding your voice and your story will help you make that transition. The essays will help you learn how to present yourself, how to talk about your interests, talents and accomplishments - without bragging. 

2. Ask for help – from people and online:

Writers (and doctors and engineers and parents) ask for help all the time. Just because writing is a solitary activity doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek advice and reactions from teachers, guidance counselors, family friends, parents, or the abundant information online. Ask for help brainstorming. Read online posts about how to tackle various questions. And be prepared to rewrite. And rewrite.

3. There are no formulas and no right answers.

Students often ask me: What does the school want me to write? The school wants to know what YOU think and what your experience is. The essay is a kind of interview. Reveal yourself. Make sure you essay tells us what it is that you want the colleges to know about you: Your passions, your talents, your ambitions, the qualities that make you who you are.

4. Choose colleges before you begin writing.

Make a chart of what essays are required for each college: 1. The topic. 2. The length. 3. The due dates. Have a sense in advance how many essays you might have to do – whether it’s 3 or 15 or even 20. Some colleges/universities have 2, 3, 4, or even more essays. Though the essays may only be 100, 250 or 500 words, they must be well-considered words. Some of the essays are creative (“What makes you happy?” "What's the sweetest sound you've ever heard?"), others are more straightforward (why this college/why your major).

5.  If you are applying mostly to schools using the Common Application, it’s almost always best to start writing that essay first.

It’s critical to know which universities use which essays or groups of essays. 700+ colleges use the Common Application and many have supplements in addition to the core Common App essay (1 essay chosen from 5 prompts, 650 words). Other universities have their own essays entirely, among them: MIT, Georgetown, UTexas, and Universities of California (1 application for all 9 branches). If you are doing Common App schools, plus MIT, plus Georgetown and UCalifornia schools, that is about 15 essays (from 100 to 500 or 650 words) right there. Once you see the essay requirements all together – whether they are core essays or supplements – you might change your mind about your college selections.

6. Recycle essays or passages where you can. 

Once you have your list with all the topics and lengths, you can start to see what topics and pieces of essays you might be able to “recycle” and use multiple times. It is NOT cheating to use the same passages in multiple essays. What you DO NOT want to do is write a generic “Why I Want to Go to X College.” If your WHY THIS COLLEGE can be used multiple places, it needs work: specificity, detail, and homework: study the college, the curriculum and what makes it stand out to you.

7. Which essay should you do next? It depends on deadlines, recycling, and other factors, such as where you might be applying early action/decision (usually Nov. 1 deadlines).  There are no hard and fast rules. If you’re applying to the University of California system, you must submit applications during the month of November – and that’s it.  A number of big universities are not Common Application schools. If these are top choice universities, you might want to do these first – even before the Common App essay, as long as you’re not applying early elsewhere.

8. Getting down to it.

There are dozens of websites that give advice about the nitty gritty of writing the essays. There are also many sites that publish college essays. DO take a look at these if you need help getting started or getting ideas, but don’t feel you must write essays like the ones you’re reading. There is a huge variety in college application essays.  And keep in mind that the essays you’re reading online have been through many drafts. You are not going to turn out a terrific essay in one or two sittings. Don’t be discouraged! Prepare to do 3 or 4 or more drafts.

9. The writing and language, in a nutshell:

Much of the advice comes down to: write in your own voice, as though you are talking more than writing an academic paper. The tone should be more informal than the stiff, academic language you would use when writing a history paper. It’s sometimes helpful to write the essay as though you’re writing a letter to someone – a friend or mentor.

SS language, word choices and other writing tips:

The essay is not a place to show off your SAT vocabulary or your penchant for writing poetry. Use SS language: Simple and Straightforward. But though it’s SS, it must be precise, detailed, and specific. For instance: “My parents are in the military and we moved a lot. “ vs: “My parents are medics in the Army, and we’ve lived in five countries since I was born, including Poland, Germany, and Botswana.” Specific details are always more memorable, and forcing yourself to focus on detail focuses your brain and your powers of perception.

10. It’s often great to start an essay with an active example of what you’ll be writing about. Put us in the middle of the action and then step back and explain how you got there and how it relates to the essay prompt.

            “The conductor pointed his baton to the string section, and we began the fugue that ends the second movement of Brahms’ Requiem. My fingers responded to the building excitement of the rapid tempo, and I was enveloped by the sweep of sound.

            “I fell in love with the violin when I was six, and music has been the center of my life since then. I felt joy every Saturday morning when I began my weekly lesson with Mrs. Jones and later that day when I played in our town’s youth orchestra….” 

            OR: A very different sort of story:

            “The policeman grabbed me by the arm and demanded I show him my ID.  I had no idea what I had done wrong, and I didn’t have my wallet with me. I was just riding my bike in San Diego. I didn’t think it was a crime to ride on the sidewalk.”

            “This was my first experience of discrimination in the United States, where we moved from Algeria when I was ten years. It would be the first of many times that I would encounter….”

             

 Please visit my website and contact me for a free consultation.  Liz@DontSweatTheEssay.com 1-855-99-ESSAY

You Don't Have to Do Them Alone

You don't have to do your college application essays alone, whether you want help brainstorming, outlining, editing or putting the whole package together - I'm available. Visit my website for information about my services or shoot me an email: Liz@DontSweatTheEssay.com
Don't Sweat The Essay
I work by Skype or Facetime with Google Docs All Over the World

Quirkiest College Application Supplements Are Out - University of Chicago

You can always read my latest blog post here. 

If you're considering applying to the University of Chicago, my latest Huff Po blog might help you decide whether it's really the place for you. The opening is below. Here's the entire post.

"The extra essays colleges and universities ask you to write, beyond the Common Application essay, contain a wealth of information — for you, not just the colleges. And the most demanding and unusual questions invariably come out of the University of Chicago, where learning for its own sake is valued above all else.
"Now and then the students I work with have Chicago on their lists, until it’s time to write the supplementary essays, and there’s a moment of reckoning. The questions they encounter lead to a lot of head scratching and anxiety. Many find them too cerebral, too quirky, too impractical. This is exactly the process the university wants you to go through: if these questions thrill you, Chicago might be a great fit. If they don’t, maybe this isn’t your dream school after all. Maybe it’s not even one you want to consider.

"Now that the 2016-‘17 questions are out, take a look and see what they do to your applause meter. You can read the University’s essay page here or below. 

"Remember, the Common App essay is the centerpiece of the application essays. Whatever else you write should not repeat what’s in that essay. READ MORE.

Visit my website for more information about services or send me an email: Liz@DontSweatTheEssay.com, 

Applying to College from Norway or Denmark?

I'm visiting Norway and Denmark for the next few weeks - working with clients and seeing the sights. If you are you in either country and want to talk/Skype/Facetime about my services, we're in the same time zone. Shoot me an email: Liz@DontSweatTheEssay.com. I'd love to hear from you. 

Common App Essay Prompts on Your Summer Vacation? Maybe.

You can always read my latest blog post by clicking here.

My latest thoughts about getting started from today's Huffington Post College Page: There are more relaxing ways to spend summer vacation than worrying about Common App essays, personal statements, and the whole assortment of supplements coming up, but summer can also be a great time to actually do some of the essays — and put them behind you.

I wouldn’t say it’s important to do the essays this week or even this month, but I think it’s a good idea to become familiar with them and mull over the possibilities - and see which prompt makes your heart beat a little faster than the others. Remember, choose one of five, and your word limit is 650.

The point of the Common App essay is to reveal something about yourself - a passion, talent, accomplishment, perspective, life story, problem-solving ability - that will fill out your academic record and convey the essence of who you are and/or what you feel makes you stand out as an applicant. READ MORE

Common App Essay Prompts 2016-17~Help Getting Started

For my latest blog post, always check here. 

Most college and university applications aren't due for quite a few more months, but if you're out of school for the summer, or you're about to be, why not take a look at the prompts - which are the same as last year's - and see which makes your heart beat a little faster than the others? Remember, choose 1 of 5, and your word limit is 650. 

The point of your Common App essay is to reveal something about yourself - a passion, talent, accomplishment, perspective, life story, problem-solving ability - that will fill out your academic record and convey the essence of who you are and/or what you feel makes you stand out as an applicant. 

If you're stumped looking through the prompts, ask yourself what it is you want your college admissions departments to know about you: have you overcome a particular hardship, did learning to juggle change your life, did challenging the existence of God at a religious retreat give you courage, did growing up the only child of two much older parents make you older and more mature than your years? 

Before delving into each prompt below, take a look at how popular each has been. Earlier this year, the Common Application organization broke down 800,000 unique applications from last year. These percentages nearly match my experience as a counselor, with the exception of Prompt 2 (very few of my clients write about failure) and Prompt 4 (more than 10 percent of my clients write about solving problems). 

Prompt 1: Background, identity, interest or talent: 47 percent of the applicants selected this
Prompt 2: A lesson from failure: 17 percent selected
Prompt 3: Challenging an idea: 4 percent selected 
Prompt 4: Solving a problem: 10 percent selected 
Prompt 5: An accomplishment that marks adulthood: 22 percent selected

Take a look at the prompts in full, followed by my observations and an example or two:
1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
--- It’s not surprising that this is so popular. It invites every kind of life story: growing up as a triplet, growing up with a particular hardship or passion (reading, wilderness, music, gymnastics), or even a special responsibility you have in your household. As always, the essay should strike a balance between describing the experience or activity and revealing its value. Head for a 50/50 split - or at least 65/35, story vs. its meaning to you. 

2. The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
--- I generally don’t direct students to one prompt or another. I prefer to let their story determine the best prompt, but if a student has a strong record, intense interests, or a special experience, I usually steer them away from this prompt. Yes, we all fail, and most of us learn from failure, but unless this is the predominant story a student has, I encourage them - in the words of a famous 1940s song - to “accentuate the positive.”

3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
--- This is the least popular prompt of all for the Common App in general and in my work, too. Nearly everyone takes a quick pass on this. The two students who chose it both challenged religious beliefs while in religious settings. They were both terrific essays!

4. Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
--- While only ten percent of Common App applicants did this prompt, among my students, the figure was higher. I think it can be a great way to reveal a student’s interests, creativity, critical thinking skills, and initiative. One student who lived in a drought area wrote about his efforts to build a water desalination machine, another about wanting to solve the crumbling infrastructure problem in the U.S., and a third about how volunteering in a local school helped her resolve a difficult relationship with her father. 

5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
--- Another popular prompt! Quite often the story a student tells in this prompt is the same he or she tells in Prompt No. 1, with a different emphasis. This can be more challenging to write because you have to lay out “before and after” the big moment, which is tough to do in 650 words. But if that’s the story that reveals what you want colleges to know, it can be done, and often is. I encourage students to look at either a single event or periods in their lives - a month, a summer, a semester - after which they felt much more mature. 

Do you need to begin writing right away? No, but why not take some notes on what might interest you? Which story about yourself is most revealing? And again, what is it that you want universities to know about you? 

As you begin, write longer than the maximum, to find out what your material is. When you reread it, what stands out? What interests you most? Where is the best writing? Don't rush to finish, but if you do finish, think of what you've done as a draft, which means you're eager to keep rewriting to make it better.