143. College Essay Help Straight from the Admissions Office

Transcript - College Essay Help from the Admissions Office

John (00:01.558)

Welcome to the CAPP, The College Admissions Process Podcast. I am your host, John Durante, and it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you today, Laurie Wax, who's the Director of New York Recruitment at Penn State University. Laurie was with us for episode nine, which was specific to Penn State. She also came back during a panel discussion in episode 50. Today, it also gives me great pleasure to introduce Kate Anderson, who's the Associate Director of Admissions at SUNY Oswego. Kate was here for episode 15, which was specific to State University of New York at Oswego, and she also joined me during episode 58 for a conversation related to the Common Application. Today, it gives me great pleasure to introduce both Laurie and Kate, who are here to speak specifically about the college essay.  So thank you so much for being here. Let's get right to the questioning. Question number one for Lori, can you share your perspective on the importance of the college essay in the admissions process and how much weight does it typically carry in your overall evaluation of an application.  Again, we're going to start with you, Laurie. Welcome to the podcast.

Laurie Wax (01:13.185)

Thank you so much, John. It's a pleasure to be here again, and very excited to talk to you about the college essay, which is the part of the application that frequently gives students a lot of pause and a little bit of stress. But it's, as an admissions counselor, our favorite part of the application. It is the one opportunity that you, as a student, have to speak directly to the person reading your application. It's the one place where we really hear your voice talking about you telling your story in a way that is different from what we see from your transcript or from the recommendations we get or for other aspects of your application. As far as its importance, that really depends. And every school is a little bit different in how they evaluate applications. At Penn State, even within Penn State, we have differences in how we evaluate applications.  For the most part, the essay is going to be something that it's not going to make up for your academic record if it's not a strong academic record, but all things being equal, it could be something that puts you over the edge. For certain programs like our Honors College, it is absolutely going to be the factor that is most considered after everybody else who's in the pool is probably comparable academically. And it is again, it's your chance to speak directly to us.

John (02:45.378)

Well, we appreciate that Laurie. Thank you so much and Kate, welcome back.  What are your thoughts on the same question?

Kate Anderson (02:49.366)

Thank you, Laurie said it perfectly.  Every piece of the application is important. And you really never know what's going to catch the eye of someone or a committee who's reading your application. So, it is a chance to shine.  I read today in an article that 23% of schools consider the essay to be of considerable importance. So this is something that could be the deciding factor. But luckily, it's something that students get to choose what they write and they are the experts because they know themselves best.

John (04:05.986)

Well, we appreciate that and obviously there's different parts to the application. There's the academic part, the non-academic part, and each piece we talk a lot about during the episodes has to build on the next, right? The transcript is the academic portion. The activity sheet is what you do outside of the classroom. That essay, as you said it, Laurie, it's the students' opportunity to give their voice, right? To give their application a voice, so it really is an important piece of the overall application, which I know everyone talks about how you review it holistically. So as a follow up, what should students be aware of and try to achieve when getting started with their essays in terms of being mindful of what you as the college admissions representatives are trying to gain from the essay portion of that application? So this time, Kate, we'll start with you.

Kate Anderson (04:57.43)

Sure, well as Laurie said, the point of the college essay is for students in their own voices to tell their story. So it's an opportunity to highlight an achievement or talk about something they're really passionate about. Sometimes they're explaining a situation. You're trying to market yourself to colleges, right? This is your application. I wouldn't worry so much about what we want to know because really what we want to know is whatever the applicant wants to tell us.

John (05:24.386)

Hehehe

Kate Anderson (05:24.558)

what he or she thinks their application wouldn't be complete without because application your college application has a lot to do with numbers but the essays where we get to go beyond those numbers and really get

John (05:40.698)

We appreciate that and Lori same question for you

Laurie Wax (05:44.057)

So I think Kate really covered that. Again, it's just a chance for us to get to know you in a way that we wouldn't otherwise know you. So the important thing to remember is to include things that we can't see in other places. I don't need to hear how you're doing in a certain class because I'll see that on your transcript. Or, I don't need a laundry list of your activities because I'll see that on your resume. However, if there's something specific or more detailed information you want to give about something, that's a great opportunity to do that.

John (06:16.258)

Well, that's terrific. And what advice do you have in terms of how students can choose a compelling and unique topic for their college essay? And what advice do you have for students who struggle to identify a topic that stands out from the rest?

Laurie Wax (06:31.065)

So I love this question because I think it is such a common issue for students that are embarking on writing their essays. And I think if you continue to search for the perfect topic, it's just going to make it worse. Pick a few different things that you're interested in or that you might think could be a good possible topic and start writing. Start writing about something you're passionate about. Start writing about something that's unique in your family or your culture or 

something that you're considering writing about, as you start to write, something is going to take a little bit more than the other. Something is just going to flow a little bit better. So I would say don't put yourself in the situation where you're thinking, I have to choose the perfect topic. Start writing. It's an evolution. It's not going to happen in one shot. It's going to be a journey. So just start writing. And those other essays that you might end up writing in the process will probably be put to good use at some point for another essay somewhere else.

John (07:34.656)

And Kate, what are your thoughts?

Kate Anderson (07:36.714)

So the essay prompts, there's seven of them on the common application. They don't change very often. They're already out for next year. So one piece of advice I have for students is to literally read them over before they go to sleep. Just make yourself read, maybe read them out loud just as you should read your essay draft out loud and just let it percolate overnight.  I think sometimes you wake up and something comes to mind. If you are still stuck, reach out to friends and family. I think one of the things that happens is students, they may be really extraordinarily good at something, but because they've done that thing, maybe it's riding horses, you know, since they were four, they just think it's normal. But if you ask your friends and family, hey, what do you think's kind of neat or interesting about me, what do you think I should write about? They could be very helpful. They may give you some ideas. Also, you could just take one minute and write down things that you love. What do you love in life? Any one of the things you write down would be a great, interesting essay, maybe a chance to write about something a little different. And always the last prompt is you can send in anything you want. So you could even send in something you've already written. So students have that in their back pocket and they shouldn't be too stressed about the topic, but don't waste the opportunity to tell us something interesting about yourself.

John (08:58.158)

Absolutely. And on the theme of standing out, one of the things that we heard over and over again in the podcast episodes is that if you want to stand out, as you guys know, admissions representatives sometimes read 40 or 50 essays a day. Athletic injuries and even essays about a grandparent, those are from what I know based on the conversations, the two most written about topics in terms of the college essay world. So students, if you want to stand out perhaps consider doing something different than an athletic injury or writing about a grandparent. Is that correct? Would you say Kate and Laurie?

Kate Anderson (09:32.694)

Absolutely. Sports are important to people. Grandparents are wonderfully important people in your life. It doesn't mean that there's no bad essay, but there are essays that are done in more interesting ways. There was an essay a few years ago that talked about baseball, but it was written from the perspective of the ball.  Being the way that was different, right? Or where students go wrong with the grandparent essay is that we want to admit your grandma, because she sounds great. But we need to know why your grandmother is so special to you. What did you learn from her? Why is it, Laurie, what do you think?

Laurie Wax (10:06.101)

I'm agreeing 100% because grandparents do often have a huge impact on students. And it's great to tell us about that in everybody's situation and how their relationship with their grandparents is different. Just make sure if you're writing about your grandparent that it's really writing about the impact on you and how you are who you are because of this person. Because we do read about a lot of phenomenal grandparents. But again, what we really want to read about is you.

John (10:33.911)

Well, terrific. And so in terms of storytelling, what role does storytelling play in a college essay and how can students effectively use storytelling techniques to engage the reader, which of course is both of you and others, and leave a lasting impression? Kate, let's start with you.

Kate Anderson (10:50.73)

They say if you take a writing course, show, don't tell.  The language you use is important. I'd say put yourself in the shoes of the reader. When you pick up a book, you'll read the first line of a book and you're either gonna be instantly grabbed, instantly interested, you're excited for what comes next. And other times you read a first sentence and you think, this is going to be a slog. How am I gonna get through this book? So this essay.  We have 250 to 650 words. These are not that long, but there is space to tell a great story. So you want to grab your reader. You want to spend a lot of time. Your first line that you end up with and your final may not be the first line you write when you sit down to draft your essay. Writing an essay is an iterative process, right? You write a draft, you write a better draft, you write an even better draft. I think one of the things that makes the essay hard is that you could.  Read it 100 times and change one word here and one word there. So is there a perfect essay? Of course there's not, because you could probably always make it a little bit better. But do think about the story that you've told. Have you grabbed your reader? And a lot of essays just trail off, or they give someone else the last word. They end with a quotation. I'm sure Aristotle was brilliant, but I don't need to hear what he said. I want to hear what you think. Students sometimes.  I think that grabbing your reader, not trailing off at the end, and just is it a good story? Are you interested in what you've written? If you're not, then chances are I won't be either.

John (12:25.614)

Well, that's great advice. Lori, same question.

Laurie Wax (12:28.269)

So absolutely, and to follow up on what Kate said about show, don't tell, it is always the anecdotes and the specific stories that we remember. That is what I will take away from any essay that I'm reading. So, you know, instead of just saying, I like this or I do this, or I am, you know, this is how I'm, this is my character, give a specific example. It always makes the essay come alive to us.

John (12:55.182)

Well, I appreciate that in terms of what you're saying, give specific examples. And Kate, you talked about putting yourself in the shoes of the reader. Another theme in many of the episodes has been students, if someone reads your essay and they haven't learned anything new about you, then it's a missed opportunity, right? If you're a soccer player and your activity sheet is full of all the great things that you did within the game of soccer and your essay talks about how you're a soccer player.  Again, missed opportunity. So like the ladies have said, put yourself in the shoes of the reader. Very important with the essay is that the admissions representatives are learning not only something new, but a lot of new things about you that they're not able to see so easily in other parts of the application. So we appreciate that, Lori and Kate. And so if a school asks for a supplemental essay, what can you share in terms of what they are looking for that's not necessarily evident in the personal statement? Lori, we'll start with you on this question.

Laurie Wax (13:53.305)

So I love this question too, and it actually kind of follows up on what we were just talking about in that most students are pretty multifaceted, and so it just is an opportunity for you to tell us something else, because again, soccer and soccer player, we know that, but there's got to be more that you like and more that you're interested in. The thing about the supplemental essay is for schools that do offer them, sometimes they're even more valuable to the admissions counselor than the general essay, because oftentimes these supplemental essays are very specific. They have specific prompts. They're either prompts that a university is using because they want to get to know a student on a certain level, or they want to understand how a student thinks, and they're comparing other students answering the same question. But oftentimes they're about why this school.  And it's your chance to show, and that is probably the most common supplemental question, and it is your chance to say, why do I belong at your school? What am I going to contribute? What do I expect to get out of your school? And what's really important with those questions is, don't waste that opportunity by saying, well, it's a beautiful campus and a great football team. There are so many things that you're going to take advantage of at a school, whether it's a class you're interested in, a particular program, a professor that's doing research that you've read about. And you can get all of this information on websites. I mean, if you can visit that’s even better and you can talk about people that you met at school and a club you learned about that you would definitely participate in if you went to that school. But you can do all of this research online. You can speak to alumni if you can and just get to know what it is that you would offer to the school and what you would take advantage of.

John (15:49.427)

Well we appreciate that Lori, Kate, same question.

Kate Anderson (15:53.162)

Supplemental essays, we don't have them at SUNY Oswego, but a number of very selective schools do. They'll have both supplemental essays and short answer questions. Stanford has eight of them. So I think where sometimes students need to realize, they need to know that they have to write these. They spend a lot of time on their main essay. They polish that, they're happy with their essay. You don't wanna find out the day before the application deadline that you have these other pieces of writing that as Laurie said, may be even more important to the school you're applying to. So you need to give them the same respect. At the same time, you want to craft your answers very, very carefully. So you're not rushed because you're not going to have a great product. We always say proofread, don't just spell check. You do not want to be sending a school an essay and leave the last school's name in. That happens a lot. I used to work at Columbia Law School and people were trying to say, oh, it's my first choice and I can't wait to be in New Haven next year. And you knew that they just sent that same email to Yale. So you need to be very, very careful. And as Lori said, you do not need to fly across the country to go see a school. There is plenty of information to be had online by talking to maybe talk to someone who went to that school. Maybe that's one of the reasons you're interested. So make it personal, show that you've done your research. Again, if you impress them with something that you've learned about their school or a really well-crafted explanation of why you wanna be there, why you think you should be there, it could be a thumb on the scale.

John (17:41.346)

Well, that's great advice and I love, Kate, that you talked about how the supplemental essay may be more important than the general essay in an application process. And I say that because another thing that came up in the podcast episodes is the fact that a lot of times students will see the supplemental and they just spent so much time on their general essay that they get frustrated, they get annoyed and they rush through to supplemental, which is a big mistake. Going back to what Laurie said, typically the question is why “enter whichever school name”, right? So for example, Why Penn State University? And it's really students an opportunity where in your essay, you're given voice and insight in terms of who you are as a person, right? Your personality, perhaps something happened, your thought process, how you reflected, how you grew from whatever it is that you're writing from. But that supplemental essay, it's really you demonstrating your understanding of the institution. So for example, why Penn State?  If you're able, I would imagine Lori, right? And I'm going to come to you right after this. So if they're able to articulate a program or something going on at their campus that they observed during a visit or maybe during their research, and if they're able to articulate a specific program and how they see themselves there and what they see themselves majoring in and how they're going to contribute, I would imagine that that's a nice piece to see in someone's overall application. Am I correct, Lori?

Laurie Wax (19:07.705)

Absolutely, absolutely. In the case of Penn State, and this might be the case with other universities, we have an optional supplemental essay.  And there are times that it is not going to be a factor at all. But in those cases where it could be a factor, certainly the student that took the time to show why they were interested, to actually to show that they're interested and do their research, it absolutely can be one other way that you set yourself apart in this process.

John (19:39.87)

Can you share an example of an essay that really left an impression on you? And what was it about the essay that made it so memorable? Laurie, let's start with you on this question.

Laurie Wax (20:08.721)

So there are so many essays that leave an impression. I think that, you know, one I remember is some, one that a student wrote about the advantages that she had coming from a family where the parents were divorced and how she took advantage of these two different worlds that she went between and she, all the benefits that she had from, you know, getting to experience where her father lived and his, her family with him. And then on the opposite side, the different life that was at her mother's. And it stood out to me because that is something that is so frequently, you know, very hard for students. It's a very difficult situation. And oftentimes I'm reading essays from students that are angry about it and they're, you know, just it's impacted them negatively, which is completely understandable. But what stood out about this student was she was taking, truly taking lemons and making something positive out of them.  he had a positive outlook and just making the best of a tough situation.  So, and there are so many others. I mean, I remember one, I think Kate and I both got to read this essay, but it was about a student who talked about different books that she read throughout her life and the different stages in her life and how the books that she had read kind of applied to those parts of her life, those stages in her life. And that also really stood out. So there's no one set thing that's going to stand out. That's the beauty of these essays. There's not one thing that's better than anything else. It's really what you do with, you know, your story.

John (21:44.91)

We appreciate that, Lori and Kate, same question.

Kate Anderson (21:48.614)

Yes, you can stand out for great reasons, and sometimes the essays stand out because they maybe didn't quite hit the mark. There's so many wonderful essays about, and they tend to be about sort of quirky things, and at least the ones that I sort of love the most, shoe size, curly hair, which I do not have, but, you know, riding the subway to get to school, the stops.  One that I remember, it was actually a couple of years ago, it was a student from Long Island and the first line of her essay said, I am so envious of shrimp. Now I read about 2,500 applications this year alone and I've been in admissions a long time. I've never read a first line like that. No pun intended, but I was hooked. Where was the student going with this? I had no idea. Well, she went on to say, I don't even know if this is true. I did not Google it. The shrimp eyes can see 17 times the number of colors as human eyes. And this student was passionate about art and loved color. And she was an artist. It happened to be what she wanted to study in school, which was the case in this essay, though, again, your essay doesn't have to be about that. But so she envied shrimp's ability to see a world with so many different colors. I thought it was creative.

I've never seen anything like it. The whole essay was well written and you put an essay like that down, you just want to pull for that student. Luckily, she was admissible, but I would have gone to bat for her anyway.

John (23:31.394)

Well, that's awesome. I really appreciate that example. And what would you say are some of the things to do when writing college essays? And of course I'll follow it up with what are some of the things to consider not doing when writing a college essay?. So for this one, Kate, we're gonna start with you.

Kate Anderson (24:03.69)

Okay, so I'll do the do's and Laurie will do the don'ts maybe or we'll both chime in. Both are very, very important. Cardinal rule, you have to answer the essay prompt. So whatever that prompt you chose, remember you could choose number seven and submit anything you want. But if you have chosen to write about overcoming an obstacle, your essay should include an example of you overcoming an obstacle. It sounds ridiculous, but not everyone answers the prompt. So that's something we'll know which prompt you chose. So you wanna consider that carefully and make sure to answer the question. It is very important to stay within the word count. You must write at least 250 words on the common application and you cannot write more than 650. It will cut out if you try to cut and paste something that's 660 words, those last 10 words, which could be super important, will be cut off. You don't worry about the length of your essay when you're first writing because remember we're going to draft and draft again and go back and edit it and maybe have someone else read it. You can always make that language tighter and better, but you have to stay within the word count. We'll say it 100 times. Proof-free. Don't just spell check. Spell check is not your friend. The difference between a coma and a comma is one letter, but they're very different things. I always talk about the article about Ruth Gator Ginsburg, whose maiden name was Bader, but Gator is a word. So words will not be caught in this. Spell check is going to check to see if it's a word, but not if it's a word that makes sense in your essay. Students need to use their own voice. This is a huge deal. You are 17, maybe 18 when you're writing this essay, we do not expect you to sound like you're already a college professor. You use your own voice. Appropriate words, of course. You're not texting me. Please capitalize the word I. This is something we're not seeing a lot. Use your voice. You can use help like a thesaurus, but it's something that people overuse a lot and put in big long words that make no sense.  Short normal words will do. Another thing to do, I think, is you must write out everything. Students go to high school, they're in their high school world, they're in a club, that club has an acronym, but will a college advisor from a school across the country know what that club is? No. So you'll need to explain anything that isn't common knowledge and write out those abbreviations. And do get some help, you know. This is not having chatGPT, Lori will get to that. But you should get some help. You would never submit something for publication or send an important memo at work without having another set of eyes read it. You know what you meant. It can be very difficult to proofread your own work. So do get a little help.

John (27:04.526)

Thank you so much and Lori.

Laurie Wax (27:06.881)

So the things to do and the things not to do tend to run together a lot. One of the things to do for sure is, and we always recommend, read it out loud. Don't just proofread it by reading it, read it out loud. Certainly have other people read it, but after a while you're going to get a lot more opinions than you can handle if you keep asking other people to read it. So at some point you just have to say, these are my words. As Kate said, don't overuse the thesaurus, definitely explain things that we might not understand. Write it yourself. Do not have somebody else write your essay. Usually we will know, but even if we don't know, most of the time the best essays are not the ones that are necessarily using the largest words or the perfect grammar. You can tell when they're written from the heart from somebody who is 17 years old.  There are phrases that are not very commonly used by people who are 17 years old that we kind of think don't really sound like a 17 year old. So we're not looking to get you, we're just looking to learn about you. So just use that as an opportunity.  It’s very important to make sure that you are not showing any bias and you're not being offensive in any way. Anything you write, you should be comfortable with your grandparents reading or your parents reading. Try to be positive. Obviously, there are things in your life that might have been negative that some students choose to write about, but try to have a bright outlook.  Again, those are the things that really stand out. And then as far as any other things not to do, I think those are the main ones. And as Kate said, definitely answer the prompt. If you are writing about an obstacle, write about what you have learned from it. If you haven't actually overcome it, at least have learned a lesson from it. But just, again, be yourself. Trust yourself. Trust your voice.

Kate Anderson (29:32.81)

You know, I think another thing, students always feel like they can't write an essay unless they've survived some sort of trauma or there's some, you know, I did read an essay this year, someone was in Haiti during the earthquake, you know, thankfully that is not most people. You can write a great essay without that. And as Laurie mentioned, a lot of students do choose to write about very difficult and sometimes very dark things. There's a lot of anxiety and depression out there and you can write about whatever you want. This is your essay, but I think it's worth repeating what Laurie said about trying to be as positive as possible. If you write about something truly difficult and then leave your reader with the feeling that you are not really okay, you know, would it be okay? Should I admit you to my school? Which is more than five hours away from where you live if you're on Long Island. If you're telling me that things are really that dark. So it's something to think about because it is something we didn't think we could see more essays about anxiety and depression, and then COVID-19 happened and we are seeing even more.

Laurie Wax (30:41.585)

Such a good point, Kate. And also keep in mind, you don't know who the reader is. So again, when talking about bias and anything offensive, keep in mind you really don't know who's reading your essay. So you want to make sure that you're not only positive, but that you're writing in a way that nobody will take any offense at or find in any way inappropriate.

John (31:05.922)

Well, we really appreciate the insight and great pieces of advice. Be positive, students, read it out loud, and proofread, don't just rely on spell check, right? Because as you guys mentioned, sometimes a word is a correct word, but not the word you intended in the essay. Obviously, it's important to answer the essay prompt. As you guys mentioned, the Common Application allows you for seven prompts, and the seventh one is to pick a topic of your own choice, which is always great, and stay within the 250 to 650 words. And I didn't know that if you wrote an essay with 660 words that the last 10 words would actually be cut off. So that's a great insight for students and parents to understand. So how can students strike a balance between showcasing their achievements and personal growth without coming across as boastful or self-centered in their essays? Laurie, let's start with you on this one.

Laurie Wax (32:00.045)

So somebody once said to me that your resume is no place for modesty. And I think that's true. I mean, you know, clearly, you know, you don't want to write that I'm the best at everything. But, you know, there are things that you're going to be really good at. And we want to hear about that. Be proud of what your achievements are. Be proud of your accomplishments. One of my favorite things that when I'm speaking to students, I like to ask them is, you know, tell me something that you're really proud of. Tell me an accomplishment that you're, that really meant a lot to you.  We want to hear that. This is what the purpose of the essay is. So please do not be modest. I cannot tell you how often we look through an entire application. We see activities, we see the essay, and then we read a recommendation from a counselor that talks about all kinds of amazing things that a student has done, and it's nowhere to be found on their application, in their essay or on their activity list.  So take this as your opportunity to really share with us everything that you're proud of and everything that you do. We will not take it that you are being boastful.

John (33:08.927)

Awesome advice, Kate, same question.

Kate Anderson (33:11.718)

And the same answer, it's not the place to be modest. And there's a difference between facts or facts. If you went to the State competition in a sport, if you advanced in NYSSMA, you're a musician. If you placed well at a competition, if you had some sort of award, you're not bragging you're just saying what happened.  You don't need to say that everyone else was terrible you're not putting other people down as that wouldn't be a good thing to do, but it's okay to be proud of what you've accomplished and know this is the place to tell us about it and to give it some space because when you're filling out your activities on the common application you have 10 spots and yes, you can attach usually a resume or activity sheet for most schools and that would give you a little more space. But if you've really done something incredible, you want us to read about that and take some time to read about it. We should mention, we've talked about supplemental essays. I think we should also mention that there are other places in the application where you have an opportunity to write something.  You have a whole other essay section to add additional information on the Common Application called community disruption, sometimes called the COVID question, and that's up to 250 words. Because students sometimes do, their essays are really a little muddy because they're trying to do too much. So let your essay be pure about what you want to tell us, tell your story, whatever that story is. But then if you need to tell us why your grades dipped sophomore year, because something happened at home or in your life, an impact that COVID-19 had on you that wasn't experienced by all of us, because you do not need to fill those spaces. They're optional, they truly are optional, but use those spaces if it will help tell your whole story and not muddy that essay. But I will say on that COVID question, we read a lot that students say they were upset because they couldn't hang out with their friends. Yes, we understand and that was true for all of us, but there's a difference between that and a student whose parents are first responders or who maybe lost a family member to that illness, or they had to take on extra responsibilities at home because of what their parents' jobs were. Just a thought on those areas.

John (35:42.082)

Well, I'm glad you mentioned the additional information, or the community disruption or COVID essay.  Because for example, as you said, Kate, if your grades dipped, it's very important to explain to the admissions representative why, as opposed to leaving it to you, the reader, in the admissions office to speculate as to why, right? So if something like that happens it’s very important to put it somewhere in that application. And I'm sure the essay titled additional information would be the right place to explain it. So thank you so much for that. And of course, what Laurie said, don't be modest students. It's okay to brag in your college essay for sure.

Laurie Wax (36:26.529)

I just wanted to add also that in addition to including additional information or special information in an essay or in a council recommendation, we are here. Reach out to us. If you have a specific situation and you're not sure how to let us know about it, reach out to us. We're happy to hear from you and help you out in situations like that.

John (36:49.602)

Well, I'm so glad that you said that. It's really the reason why we have the podcast because I want students and parents to see just how accessible you are and so I appreciate you saying that.  Students, if you have a question, especially if it's a question that is not so simple to find on a college's website, definitely reach out.  As you know, the admissions representatives are very happy, willing and able to help you. So I really appreciate that.  And what advice do you have for students who may feel overwhelmed or anxious about the college essay writing process? And how could they manage their time effectively and find inspiration for their writing? Kate, we'll start with you on this one.

Kate Anderson (37:29.13)

Well, great question. I think I talked about this a little bit before, but it bears you pretty right. I mean, how do you find inspiration if you're not feeling it or knowing what you want to write about? Ask friends and family, read those prompts, try to get inspired. You can go there's some great resources out there. There is help on YouTube, in any library, you can find some examples of essays.  You're not gonna copy those essays, you're just going to read them and get some ideas and think about it might lead you in a direction that helps you start, you know. Just start and write a bunch of different drafts you're not handing anything in as long as you're giving yourself enough time.  You do not need to be overwhelmed or too anxious about this. There is plenty of time. It's a great use of some of your summer vacation, or wherever you're listening to this, but it's never too early to start, but there are times when it's too late to start. So I think you won't feel too bad. And remember, everyone does have a story, so just focus on telling us and showing us, explaining, highlighting something that you think would be a good addition to your application. If you step back from your application and think, this is all these people are seeing about me. They're seeing my grades, they're going to hear about me from a teacher, maybe a counselor, I'm going to write down my activities. What's missing? What part of me, are they getting a good sense of who I am or not? The essay can be the thing that fills in that blank. This is a puzzle, right? Transcripts are the biggest piece of the puzzle but the essay is a really important piece and it's probably stressful because students have total control but turn that around and say wow this is an opportunity this is great because I have total control and can tell my story.

John (39:25.666)

We appreciate that of course. And Lori, same question.

Laurie Wax (39:29.305)

So I think about it as if you met somebody and they said, so tell me about yourself. And that's really what you're doing in your college essay. So just to reiterate, I definitely think don't fixate on finding the perfect topic. Start writing about several different topics. I totally agree with Kate. There are so many books in the library that you can go and look at and just read sample essays. It's not that you're going to copy an essay, it's just sometimes you have absolutely no idea what to write about?  What are the things, what are the different topics, what are the different stories? And there are so many different things. The variety of things, I mean, yes, there are some that are more popular than you read a lot of, but the variety of different ideas that students have is incredible. And so just getting some of those ideas so you can launch from there. And again, keep in mind, this is a process. It's not going to happen overnight.  Take your time, start writing, put it away for a week. Don't think about it for a week, come back to it. Something is going to evolve, it really will evolve. And again, just tell me about yourself.

John (40:39.778)

Well, those are great pieces of advice and this has been a phenomenal conversation which leads us to the last question which is, is there a question that I didn't ask that you wish I had or is there a topic related to the college essay that just didn't come up in this conversation? In other words, what are your final thoughts or any other pieces of advice? Laurie, we're gonna start with you.

Laurie Wax (41:02.969)

So I think you covered it. Maybe Kate has something in mind that I'm not thinking of, but I think again, this is just, we are here, we are admissions counselors. We are not rejection counselors. We are looking for reasons to admit students. We want to get to know the students we are admitting, and this is one of the greatest ways that you can tell us about yourself. We're not looking to, you know, catch you in a mistake, if you had a spelling mistake. I mean, obviously try not to have spelling mistakes, but it's really not about that. It's just, again, your chance to speak to the person reading your application, to complete your story, to complete the puzzle, as Kate said. So, just try to enjoy this process. It's actually, I think, when students do finally get through their essays, they're usually pretty proud of them and pretty happy that they got to tell their story.  It's a great opportunity. So really, truly look at it as an opportunity.

John (42:05.25)

Thank you so much, Lori and Kate.

Kate Anderson (42:09.226)

Sometimes students should ask themselves, why am I writing this essay? Are we doing it to make you suffer? No, we are not doing it. We are doing it because communicating effectively, being able to tell a story is really important. No matter what you study at whatever college you go to, you will be taking English classes. You will need to write, even in math and science classes. It is very important to go through this process. The fun thing about the college essay is you don't have to write about the Bosen Hicks, you know, writing about something, you're writing about you, you're writing about yourself, you are the expert. So I think that's important to remember, see it as something that, you know, not everyone loves to write, you don't have to be the best writer, sometimes people get very creative, but everyone needs to be able to write effectively. This is not a middle school paper. You have a lot more freedom and license to do what you want. I read an application just the other day, it was a poem. It was a really deeply moving poem as something the student had gone through. I was very impressed. Most essays are not poems, but they are stories. They are opportunities to keep your eyes on the prize, which is that college is a phenomenal four years. There really is a college for everyone. You just need to stay on top of this process, which includes keeping track of all the deadlines. But if you don't start on the essay, you will feel incredibly stressed out. So as long as you have something on paper, you can submit an application. I think just having a draft is really important because you may then have a moment of inspiration. You may throw out that first draft and write something that's really perfect but I sometimes think that happens because you weren't you weren't stressed out and you knew you had something. And then all of a sudden you come up with something even better so try i'll say try to have some fun with it.

John (44:19.458)

Well, that's terrific. Lori and Kate, this has been phenomenal. I am so happy as I know that this conversation is gonna help so many students and their parents as they navigate through the process. I can't thank you so much. Really appreciate both of you being here today.

Kate Anderson (44:35.294)

Thanks so much.

Laurie Wax (44:35.501)

Thanks so much for having us.

John (44:39.31)

My pleasure, thank you. And good luck to everyone as you get ready for the college admissions process. Take care, everyone.  Best wishes.