By Amy Haskell, founder of Total Writing Enrichment, where she helps teens master college admissions essays that stand out; she founded her company with a mission to ease stress, build confidence and teach writing skills to teens.
Pondering the Common App Questions….What Question Should My Rising Senior Choose?….None!
As the end of the semester winds down, and high school juniors start to think about the looming mountain ahead of them….the college application process, (despite still having to successfully move through final exams!), the majority of rising seniors know they will have to write the Common App Essay.
What is the Common App you might ask? I never even heard of the Common App when I applied to schools, (gulp, hello, 25 years ago!), does my child really need to write it?
After years of working with high school seniors on their college admissions essays, my students and I discovered the easiest and most pain-free strategies to not only write the best Common App Essay but to learn a ton about themselves, their unique characteristics for success, and ultimately have fun while improving their writing skills.
As you and your child begin to think about the writing expectations for her upcoming college applications, here are some effective tips to help gain a better understanding around planning, organizing, and gaining a sense of relief about how to tackle the Common App Essay – BEFORE even reading the Common App Essay prompts:
1.) Clear your mind, grab a blank piece of notebook paper or open up a new computer doc.
2.) Picture yourself from age three -present time – picture yourself feeling strong, at ease, proud of yourself through this time period of your life.
3.) Quickly write down the events from your life that gave you the opportunity to feel this ease, this empowerment, this positive energy.
4.) Label those events with adjectives that describe your strengths in this moment: perseverance, communication, helping others, taking risks.
5.) Make connections with yourself as a college student. Write how those strengths will clearly apply to your life as an involved, eager, well-rounded student.
Now that your child jumped “write” in with college application essay writing, we have more tips?! Check out more college essay writing tips on our Facebook or our website!
Click here to register for the Online Course: How to Write the Common App Courses
Course length 3 weeks
Start dates: June 18, July 23, August 13, September 10.
About the Author, Amy Haskell:
I love helping teens with their writing! Whether acing an essay on Macbeth or checking off the Common App essay for the tricky college application process, seeing a stressed out teenager smile, breath a sigh of relief, and start believing in him/herself means the world to me!
While teaching at a large, nationally ranked high school in the northern suburbs of Chicago, I started tutoring kids and realized the positive impact on these teens when one mom confided in me, “Thank you! You have no idea the peace you’ve brought to our family!” The demand for my help sky rocketed and in order to reach more students, I created online writing lessons, utilized technology to help more kids, and the rest is history!
When I’m not reviewing essays, I’m attempting to whip my muscles in shape with my Charlotte Masters Swim team, where I proudly remain one of the slowest members of this fun, supportive group of swimmers!
