The Weight of the College Essay
Another August is upon us, which means students (and teachers!) are scrambling to squeeze out all the outdoor activities they can from the remaining vestiges of summer break. However, just as all things are fleeting, summer will soon give way to autumn, which is — as every student knows — synonymous with college application season.
The contemporary college admissions landscape is treacherous. Schools are reporting record application numbers since test-optional policies have gone mainstream, yet the number of available seats remains constant. There aren’t many things seniors can control at this point in the application process, considering GPAs are nearly finalized and suddenly joining four new extracurricular activities is bound to raise red flags for admissions committees. The college essay, though, is the one piece that still needs to be added to the enormous puzzle of lists and numbers that composes your academic portfolio.
No number of grades, test scores, or recommendations could ever fully communicate to the admissions officers what kind of person will be haunting the halls of their campus. So, in an attempt to get a glimpse of how a student interacts with and views the world, admissions officers have granted students a unique opportunity to humanize the admissions process — the college essay.
Students should conceive of the college essay as a chance to reflect on what has been meaningful to them, as a person on the precipice of adulthood, over their past 17-or-so years. But cultivating their authentic voice in a work of original creative nonfiction is an incredibly daunting task. That is to say, writing a winning essay doesn’t come easily. It is slow, painstaking work.
We want to remind students and parents that you are not alone in this process. As a member of the North Avenue community, you have a robust support network at your fingertips. Our team of writing coaches have dedicated years to developing a proven playbook on mastering the art of the personal statement: The North Avenue Guide to College Essays. Within this guide, students will glean insights such as the structure of the admissions process, freewriting best practices, conventional and unconventional narrative structures, and much more.
As any good writer will tell you, getting help is an integral part of the creative process. Professional writers have teams of researchers, copyeditors, and even muses at their disposal! Structured conversations and strategic revisions with one of our expert writing coaches will arm students with the practical tools and writing techniques of successful college applicants. To learn more about what a college essay coaching session looks like, check out this blog post, watch a sample session video on our website, or reach out to our team today.
