Why Do Teens HATE Writing the College Essay?
Rising seniors often dread writing the “college essay.” Its high stakes, exacting word limit, and unfamiliar form can strike fear into even the strongest writer. As an online college essay coach, I help kids overcome these anxieties. In the process, I also guide them through looking back at their high school years to make sense of them. When approached in the right way, the college essay can be so much more than a last-minute hurdle to overcome. It can be a powerful conduit to emotional growth.
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That journey’s enough reason to pay close attention to the college essay writing process. But there’s another, more strategic reason to do so, too. Last month, I explored why some students might choose to forego the SAT this year. College admissions officers might now need to weigh more heavily each other part of an applicant’s overall “package.” By the start of senior year, 75% of applicants’ grades, coursework, and extracurriculars lay in the past. The essay, however, remains within a student’s control.
For both emotional and strategic reasons, then, I recommend that college-bound juniors and their parents give serious thought to how that essay will get written.
What is the college essay, anyway?
I encourage all parents of college-bound teens to take a look at this year’s Common App essay prompts. While not all universities use these prompts, many do. If the colleges don’t ask these exact questions, it’s likely that the questions they do ask will be pretty similar.
Your child’s 250-650-word response to one of these seven questions are what a college counselor calls “the personal statement.” (If your child’s applying to selective colleges, they’ll likely need to write additional, usually shorter “supplemental essays.” For this piece, I’ll use the phrases “personal statement” and “college essay” interchangeably. This piece will not, however, discuss supplemental essays.) The prompts themselves – asking about students’ passions, challenges, and realizations – lend themselves to deep reflection.
Why do students struggle writing the personal statement?
Nevertheless, many students struggle with this task. As an online college essay coach, I’d argue their difficulties don’t stem from the kids’ weaknesses as writers or thinkers. Instead, students struggle because making sense of our own experiences – whether we’re 46 or 16 – is hard.
As a result, many students procrastinate. Their hastily written drafts often barely respond to the prompts. They hardly ever boast writing able to spark the attention of a college admissions officer.
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Other students agonize, writing draft after draft that never satisfies them. The essays may or may not fulfill the purpose of the personal statement – to tell the admissions officer something so meaningful that they deserve a place on campus.
In my own work as an online college essay coach, luckily, I see very few of the former kind of student. Sadly, however, I’ve seen many of the latter. To save these kids the misery of endless rewrites, click here to read my top four suggestions plus one warning for when, how, and with whom your child should write what might be one of the most important essays of their lives.