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5 tips to write a great college application essay, from a tutor who graduated from Harvard and MIT

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Good essays take time. Flickr / COD Newsroom

The Common App is now available for all students.

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The main focus for most parents and students starting the college application is the essay or personal statement — the last item under their complete control. It’s pretty hard to substantially change test scores and GPA by senior fall, which is why so many parents and students focus on the essay.

You want to know how to help your kid create the best possible essay that gives them the best chance at their dream colleges.

The following are some of my favorite tips that I share with my students to help them get into schools like Harvard and earn over $180,000 in scholarship money.

1. A great essay is very important

It may seem obvious. While a great essay can’t make up for poor grades or test scores, it is critical to gaining acceptance at highly competitive schools. The only school I was not accepted to (Princeton) was also the only school that didn’t get my essay, so that should tell you what an important part of the application the essay is.

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As a parent, it’s important that you make sure your child takes this part of the application very seriously. It’s one of the only ways to convey those values and qualities that might get lost in the rest of the application. It’s the chance for your student to be vulnerable, so make sure they really work hard on the essay.

2. Good essays take time

Starting on the essay now with months to go before the first deadline can help your child create the best possible essay. I spent months on my essay, editing and rewriting it dozens of times.

Encourage your child to start thinking of ideas and stories now. Be a sounding board for them. You can help curb the procrastination bug by talking through different stories with them and encouraging them to put the stories on paper.

3. Help your student tell their story

It can be so tempting to really hold your child’s hand or even write the essay for them, but this will definitely backfire. The essay has to tell the admissions committee something the rest of the application doesn’t. Instead of telling your child what to write about, talk through some stories with them.

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Don’t focus on what seems like “profound” stories. Instead focus on the qualities and values that are unique to your student and encourage them to think of stories surrounding those. The most important thing for you to do as a parent during this process is listen and give honest feedback.

4. Help with editing

Editing can sometimes be the hardest part, especially if your student has grown attached to particular wording. Ethan Sawyer, the College Essay Guy, shared with me on the Dream College Summit some amazing essay editing tips. One that really sticks out is that it’s important to sacrifice the essay of today for the essay of tomorrow. In other words, editing is going to make for a better essay, so don’t let your child get to hung up on particular language.

Encourage your student to first do their own editing and then to do peer editing with a friend before you even look at the essay to edit it. Sometimes parents can be too close to be objective when it comes to editing. Some things for you to keep in mind, though, are to look for places where your student could be more concise or vivid. Look for typos and grammatical errors, but also look at the bigger picture like if there are parts of the story that don’t fit.

5. Ask for help from others

Do you have friends or know anyone who doesn’t know your child that well and went to their dream college? Ask them if they wouldn’t mind reading your child’s essay to see how it fits in with the college and if they have any pointers. Even better, encourage your student to ask your friend themselves for this feedback.

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Ask your friend if they can sum up your kid in a couple of sentences just based on the essay. This is a great test to see if the values and qualities your child is focusing on are coming across. Remember, the admissions reader will only spend a few minutes with your child’s essay, so they need to be able to sum up what your child would bring to their campus in one or two sentences.

If you want even more essay and personal statement tips to help your student get into and pay for their dream colleges, get your FREE ticket to the online Dream College Summit, running August 28-31, 2017, and learn from 26 top experts in college admissions, test prep, and financial aid. As a thank you, you’ll receive my newly updated Ultimate Guide to the Common App with your ticket.

Jessica Yeager is a graduate of Harvard and MIT with over ten years of tutoring experience. As a senior in high school, she gained acceptance to Harvard, MIT, Yale, Stanford, Cornell, and Columbia. She is the founder of Impress the Ivies and host of the Dream College Summit. Her students have gotten into elite schools, like Harvard and Carnegie Mellon, and received over $180,000 in scholarships. 

Read the original article on Contributor. Copyright 2017.
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