College Essays

Last week I talked about brainstorming a topic for your college essay.  Once you have that part done, it is time to WRITE!

COMPOSING THE ESSAY
Whenever possible, start your essay with a catch – something (usually an engaging story) that will capture the readers attention and compel them to continue reading.  As you are writing, try to keep in mind that this is a formal essay so you need to make sure that you are using proper grammar, punctuation and varying your sentence structure and word choice.

Be sure to use your voice and stick to the word count.  (Hint: I know it doesn't seem like it, but I promise, it is always easier to cut words than to try to figure out how to squeeze more detail in later, so answer the question fully first before worrying too much about word count, but plan ahead enough so that you are at least in the ball park of your word limits... you want to cut 100-200 words out not 1,000-2,000 words.) One tip is to use your word count to provide details and depth about your topic.  

A few key points to keep in mind as you are writing:

Answer the question!

When they give you a prompt or question – be sure that your essay is answering what they are asking!  These are smart people – they know when you are just taking a different essay and trying to make it fit for their question.  Put in the time to write an essay that fully answers the question they are asking.  Also, be sure that you respond to all parts of the prompt and complete exactly what the college is asking you to do (list, define, explain, compare/ contrast, evaluate, etc.)  Yes, you will be telling your story, but that is only part of the process - you have to also reflect back on how that story relates to you and your life in whatever way they are asking.

Show me - Don't just tell me.

Great, so you told me that you are organized and honest… good qualities for their future college students, but are you demonstrating that to them with your essay?  Show them what you mean with vivid examples – that will usually be specific, concrete stories to illustrate your point.  It can be helpful to describe the scene or the person with sharp nouns and active verbs or by using details that will invoke the senses. How did it look? feel? smell? sound?  Don’t just say that "Uncle John was odd." Show us his dog who smashed through closed windows and his unique decorating style of mixing plaid and polka dots.

Did I learn something about you?

The whole point of these essays is so that the college admissions officers will learn something new about you.  (And trust me, they are learning something about you – even if that lesson is you didn’t appear to care enough about getting into school to pay attention to details like spelling.)  So, step back and look at your essay again – did they learn something about you that they wouldn’t have known prior to reading your essay?

One of the biggest challenges as you write your essay is controlling the tone.  You want to come across as confident but not boastful, self-assured but not aggressive, accomplished but not perfect. Try to avoid claiming that everything you've ever done has been unbelievably great.  Don't be afraid to admit that you are human. Colleges want real, interesting people.  Because it's so hard to control the tone of an essay about yourself, you will want to ask several people – teachers, friends, your parents, and even me – to read and respond to your essay. Get a variety of reactions, and then decide how you want to revise the essay.  Remember, when getting help with essay revisions it is important to go into it with the thought that you want to get revisions so it can be the best possible essay (instead of going in hoping the editors will just say – good enough.)  And yes, that also means you can’t procrastinate and put it off writing your essay until the last possible second.  And I hope this goes without saying, but don’t lie.  Do not make up stories that are not true or genuine.  You are the best you there is and this essay is about you so show yourself off and just be careful on tone.

Every year I have at least 1 student ask me if the colleges read the essays and I can assure you that the answer is YES – they really do read the essays!  Please don’t think you can just throw something down on paper and have it be “good enough.”  These are formal essays for an application to a college that will be the launching ground for the rest of your life.  I know that it sounds intimidating, but relax and start writing – and editing – and then do some more writing and editing… 

REVISING THE ESSAY
Once you have written your essay, you want to give plenty of time to edit!  I understand that this is (drastically) different than most of the essays you have written in high school, but it is worth writing a draft, walking away from it for a few days and then coming back to read it again to take a fresh look.  Many students are stunned at how the essay that they initially thought was great doesn't meet their own expectations when they re-read it with fresh eyes.  It can help to read your essay out loud and see if it feels natural and sounds like you.  Taking the time to edit and go through multiple drafts is a gift you can give yourself to drastically decrease your stress with the entire college application process.

When you begin reading through your essay again ask yourself:

Does it reveal who you are?

Does it represent your best academic ability?

Does it sound like you? 

Look at the overall structure of the essay:

Does it make a stunning point at the beginning and then fizzle, or does it steadily build in interest and intensity?

Have you made clear the relationship between your ideas?

Is the essay well organized?

As you begin to get picky, look at your word choice and make sure you are not overusing particular words.  Pay careful attention to the verbs - they should give your reader a clear picture of you in action. Although the essay needs to be personal, you shouldn't overuse the pronoun "I."

The essay also needs to read smoothly. If it is a longer essay, as you revise and refine the piece, be sure that it has an attractive introduction, carefully crafted body paragraphs, and a confident conclusion. Look for clear transitions between paragraphs, and try to vary sentence length and structure.

Please rest assured that I am here to help you with your essays.  I will NOT write it for you, but if you are struggling to come up with topics or want help editing, don't hesitate to stop by and see me.  Also, the English teachers and Ms. Elliott are awesome resources for editing help too.  Good luck and happy writing!

Also, today being October 1st is significant because we are now at the 1 month countdown to the November 1st deadlines.  Many colleges will have early action/ early decision/ or scholarship deadlines of November 1st.  If you are applying to a school with a November 1st deadline that needs a teacher or counselor recommendation letter hopefully you have already asked for that letter.  Remember, you should be giving your recommenders at least 30 days to write your letters!  So, if you haven't asked and need one by November 1st, please download the forms off the WKHS Counselor website and ask tomorrow.  The deadlines sneak up faster than many people expect, so please start working on your applications!

Columbus Suburban College Fair

For students who are just starting the process to begin thinking about where they might want to apply to college in the future, college fairs can provide the perfect opportunity to interact with a large number of college admissions officers all in one setting.  Granted, this will just be a quick snapshot, but it is a great chance for 9th - 11th graders to begin the process of thinking about what you are seeking in a college and identifying schools which might be a good fit for what you're hoping to find.  (And it is a great way to expand your horizons well beyond the awareness of the most common colleges you have heard your siblings or friends talk about.)

The Columbus Suburban College Fair is one week from today - Sunday, October 7th from 1:00 - 3:30pm at Otterbein University in the Clements Center (180 Center St., Westerville, OH 43081).  This is the largest, local fall college fair and a great opportunity for our students.

One important thing for students and parents to know is that we now ask all students to pre-register with your information prior to the college fair.  I promise you, this proces will save you a ton of time at the actual college fair when you don't have to repeatedly write out all of your information for every single college that you are interested in getting more information from - instead you will just be able to text your personal code to them and they will automatically receive your information.

The way you will pre-register is to:
1. Text MASCOT to 75644
2. There will be a reply text.  Complete the student profile at the link provided in the reply text ONE time.

Then, at the college fair, each college will have a 4 digit code and you will text their code to 75644 if you are interested in their college.

Ryan's Amazing 30 Years

I want to introduce you to my friend, Ryan.  Prior to getting my Master’s degree in counseling I worked at an organization called Lifeline of Ohio.  Lifeline of Ohio is an organization that promotes and coordinates organ donation.  Through my job there I was able to meet and work with lots of incredible people and Ryan was one of those individuals.

Ryan was a sophomore in high school when he suddenly became sick and needed a heart transplant.  On Wednesday, Ryan reached a major milestone – his 30-year transplant anniversary!  Today there was a party to celebrate this momentous event.

Sylvia, Marie, & Ryan

Ryan has lived every day of his last 30 years to it’s fullest.  He knows that he is fortunate to be alive today – something all of us should embrace, but it is a lesson he knows he wouldn’t have if it weren’t for his donor and the gift of life.  During today’s party Ryan said, “Today is special, but EVERY day is special and having all of you in my life makes each day extra special.”  Since his transplant, Ryan graduated from high school as his school’s valedictorian, he attended the Ohio State University, he met, fell in love, and married his wife, Marie, he celebrated as his family grew to include a beautiful little girl, Sylvia, he enjoys travel and his competitive nature pushes him as he participates in the Transplant Games, he volunteers his time to share the importance of organ donation, he was selected to help carry the Olympic Torch, and so much more.  But the reality is, Ryan is just a normal guy.  He loves his wife, daughter, and dog.  He is dedicated to his parents, brother and nephews (who happen to be past, current and future WKHS students).  He works hard at his job which he enjoys.  He cheers enthusiastically for the Buckeyes.  And yet today reminded me of just how much of a MIRACLE Ryan is and what an incredible gift it is that he is alive. 

30 years!  This is a huge milestone.  Ryan is one of the longest living heart recipients in the country.  He has been a part of my life for so long now that it is hard to imagine that had he not received his transplant I never would have met him.  If he didn’t receive his transplant I wouldn’t have had the chance to make silly faces with his daughter at today’s party.  I am a better person because I have been blessed with his friendship.  I believe that if the nearly 100 people who celebrated today were asked, they would all have said the same thing.  Ryan is someone who has blessed all of our lives and I am forever grateful for the fact that I know him and for the fact that his donor, James, had made the choice to say “yes” to donation.

I hope to try to embrace the simple moments of each day in honor of Ryan.  It is a lesson we should all try to emulate.  I can assure you that while some of you have really hard things that you have to go through in your lives, you can set your goals high, work hard, and achieve any dream – just like Ryan did.

Test Optional

I know that the college admissions tests can be stressful to students (and parents), but it is important to know that not every college requires strong test scores... in fact, there are many colleges that do not require ANY test scores when evaluating applicants for admission.

The website Fair Test is the National Center for Fair and Open Testing. Their site features a list of colleges that are test score optional schools. This hopefully reminds you that any one aspect of your college application does not make or break you - there are always more options to explore until you find the college that is the best fit for you. So please, try not to allow the college admissions tests to create too much stress!

ACT/ SAT Score Submissions

I probably should have included this with the Senior Reminders that I talked about yesterday, but it is important that all students have submitted their ACT/ SAT scores to their intended colleges directly from the testing agencies.  The nice thing is that when you are working on college applications it often feels that there are so many different details that you must pay attention to, but this is one that you can take care of well in advance so that it doesn't become a stressor later.  (But I will also acknowledge that this is one of the steps many students forget to follow through on which causes problems with their applications being processed in a timely manner.

Please remember that while your results from your college admissions tests (ACT and SAT), once received at WKHS, will appear on your transcript, the vast majority of the colleges want to receive the score results directly from the testing agency. You receive the option to send your scores to 4 colleges for free when you are registering for the test and there is an additional charge for any extra schools you want to send your results to after those initial four.  Please be sure to take advantage of selecting 4 colleges with those free submission options when registering for the tests.

You can log in to the ACT and SAT websites to review the locations where you selected to send your scores to make sure that every college you are considering has received a copy of your scores.  And it is also directly on the ACT and SAT websites where you can pay to have your scores sent to additional colleges.

Senior Reminders

Seniors, I have been receiving more and more of your requests to submit your school forms for you through Common App, which is great.  But, as I have started working on them, I have been surprised that so few of you have also come in to complete your Transcript Release Cards.  So, I wanted to remind you again of the process that we talked about at Senior College Night...

- When you are working through your application you will have to invite me to complete your school forms through Common App using my email address.  Once you invite me once it will automatically assign that task to me for all of your colleges.
- You then need to come into Mrs. McDaniel's office in the Counseling Center to write down the college names where you are authorizing me to upload your transcripts onto Common App.  (You will list each college separately and indicate "yes" it is a Common App school.)

For colleges that don't utilize Common App then their forms will either get sent to me through an online service like SendEDU or you will need to have your transcript sent directly to the college (some with forms that I will have to complete and others without those forms).

Please, stay on top of this process because I cannot upload your transcripts without your authorization on the Transcript Relase cards.  As of right now I am completely current on all of the transcripts that students have completed the authorization cards for me to upload so if you cannot remember if you did this or not, log into Common App and if it says that it hasn't been uploaded then you haven't signed your transcript release card yet.

The other important senior reminder is that tomorrow night, September 27th at 7pm in the WKHS Auditorium is the Financial Aid Night.  This presentation will walk parents and students through the FAFSA process and answer your questions about applying for financial aid which begins on October 1st so you will not want to miss out on this opportunity.

Stay Informed

Did you know that you can receive these blog posts to your e-mail automatically?  Perhaps that is how you are viewing them already, but in case you aren't I thought it might help to know that you don't have to try to remember the lengthy website address for my blog.

The way I have it set up is that the title of the blog post will be the subject line of the e-mail so you can always delete the post without reading it if you realize it will not be applicable to you.  To sign up for the updates, scroll part way down the page on the right hand side to the area that says, "Follow By E-mail" (it is below the Blog Archive & Contributor sections).  Type in your e-mail address (please do not use your wscloud email account though because it won't go through to those addresses) and click "Submit."  This will pop up another box with some funky random letters/ numbers to make sure that you are a real person and then you will click on "Complete Subscription Request."  After you do that you will have an email in your in-box that you need to click on the link to confirm that this is a list you want to join and follow.  You do have to follow all of those steps to make sure that the posts will come to you directly.

So, if you want to make sure you never miss out on a blog post, sign up for automatic updates.

The other key way that the counseling center is trying to keep you informed is through "Remind."  Through this service you can receive short text messages with important reminders.  If you would like to subscribe, send a text message to 81010 with the appropriate code below:
For the class of 2019, text @wkhs2019
For the class of 2020, text @wkhs2020
For the class of 2021, text @wkhs2021
For the class of 2022, text @wkhs2022

You probably already know this, but this is NOT an actual phone number and the texts we send are from a website and not a cell phone so we can't receive phone calls or messages from you to the number which appears.  It is only for us to send messages.  It is free for you to sign up, but regular text messaging rates apply through your phone company.

Social Media is another place where we are sharing information regularly.  If you are on Twitter, please follow @wkhswolves for updates.  If you are on Instagram, please be sure to follow us at wkhs_counselors.

It isn't necessarily hard work to keep up with all of the upcoming dates, deadlines and opportunities if you are staying organized, writing down key dates and maintaining your planner, but I want to make it as easy as possible so that you are never caught off guard.  By following my blog and receiving Remind texts plus following through Social Media, I believe you won't have any difficulty staying informed.