Parent Guide: Helping Your Student Conquer Writer's Block

The College Application Essay Is Easy.

You can't spell essay without "easy." Writing a personal statement is not hard. Sorry. It's just not, no matter what hype or hullabaloo suggesting otherwise. Still, it's likely that your student will face writer's block. We need to help students past that.

If you're a parent looking to reassure your student that, "Yes, you CAN write the application essay," then this post is for you. After you finish reading this post, you'll have a good overview of what to write about and how to write about it. And to emphasize how uncomplicated this all really is, I'll show you with emoji.

Any Motivated Student Can Write a Great Essay.

If your student can hold a conversation with you about her life, then she can write about her life, too.

The 1st Barrier Is "What to Write."

The first barrier to writing the essay is "I don't know what to write." We've all been there.

The Problem Is Fear.

Students are afraid. Afraid they don't have anything special to say. Afraid they can't write something "good enough." Afraid they will look dumb. We were there, too. Do we remember? Being on the cusp of adulthood, moments of confidence chasing moments of doubt, moments of doubt chasing moments of confidence.

One Solution is Considering 5 Everyday Topics.

One key to help our students get past their "what to write" fear is to remind them that their topic is probably hiding in plain sight. Most of my students end up writing about 1 of 5 topics. No these are not the only possible topics, and no, sorry, these are not "secret" topics, and no, I would never say my students' essays on these topics "got them in" anywhere. I would just say these essays haven't kept my students out of college, including the colleges everyone considers "elite." These are just some topics I've seen work.

Topic #1: People

Topic #1 is people. The smiley emoji is there to remind you that we all have people that matter to us. If there's a relationship that has been especially influential in your student's life, that might be a good starting point for a topic, especially if the relationship involves conflict. (Conflict is interesting!)

Topic #2: Pivot

Topic #2 is pivot. The upward trend emoji is there to remind you that your student might have a pivot in her life. By pivot, I mean a turning point, a defining moment. Not every student has this. But if a student does, writing about it often gives colleges deeper insight into the student's character and values.

Topic #3: Passion

Topic #3 is passion. The heart emoji -- what else could it mean, except passion? Yes, passion is an overused term. And I'm not suggesting the student should come out and say "this is my passion." However, if the student has a driving interest, including an academic interest, it's great to explore how that came to be, especially when this passion is unusual. (And since so many students discount their own passions, it's up to us to slow them down and say, "Actually, this is not as common as you're making it seem.")

Topic #4: Process

Topic #4 is process. The clipboard emoji is there to remind you that we are all experts in or sticklers for something. What's something that your student has to do a certain way -- the "right" way, every time? Where we're willing to demand perfection in says a lot about who we are.

Topic #5: Purpose

Topic #5 is purpose. The world emoji is there to remind you that some students already have clear ideas about how they will change the world. If your student is thinking about "impact" or "making a difference," then there are worse essay starting points than talking about how and when this desire arose. (But please...don't let your student use those worn out "impact" or "making a difference" phrases in the essay!)

The 2nd Barrier Is "How to Write."

Now that we've covered 5 possible topics (yes, of course there are more -- but these 5 are a start when our goal is to reassure the student) to get past the "what to write" barrier, we face the "how to write" barrier.

The Problem Is "Thought Verbs."

The biggest problem in "how to write" is that students rely too much on verbs about what's going on inside their heads: thought, wanted, felt, realized, understood, and decided, to name a few. (For more discussion, please refer to my post about What Immediacy Is and Why Your Essay Needs It.) The intent behind these abstract "thought verbs" -- help the reader understand me by bringing the reader inside my head. But the effect is bad; thought verbs come across as generic. Chances are, what your student thinks / feels / wants is not that different from what the next student thinks / feels / wants.

One Solution Is 5 Tips for Vivid Writing.

One key to getting students past the thought verbs problem is to remind them of 5 simple tips to make their writing pop. Don't be mad at how simple they are. I think I learned most of them in elementary school when I had to write a "news report" that talked about who, what, when, where, and why. As I mentioned above, this post is not for people who want to over-complicate the essay.

Tip #1: Don't Be Alone.

Tip #1 is "Don't be alone." When you see these two strange dancing people, remember: your student shouldn't be alone in the essay. The student should star in the essay, but she shouldn't be the only character (fascinating though she assuredly is). When your student's essay has multiple characters, there is less chance your student will dwell on those abstract, generic thoughts. Also, there is more chance your student will write about conflict, which is more interesting. (I'm 99% sure anything you are binge-watching on Netflix is chock-full of conflict.)

Tip #2: Write about Images.

Tip #2 is "Write about images." The see-no-evil monkey reminds you of what you saw: Images, images, images.

Tip #3: Write about Sounds.

Tip #3 is "Write about sounds." The hear-no-evil monkey reminds you of what you heard: Sounds, sounds, sounds.

Tip #3: Write about Words.

Tip #4 is "Write about words." The speak-no-evil monkey reminds you of what you said and heard: "Words, words, words."

Tip #5: Write about Actions.

Tip #5 is "Write about actions." The clapper board reminds you of what you and others did: "Action, action, action!"

To the Finish Line...

Naturally, any proposed solution about getting your student's essay across the finish line depends on assumptions about the problem to be solved. If you disagree with my assumptions about the problem, you'll likely disagree with my solutions. I don't see the "what to write" problem isn't a technical problem. We can't solve it with by defining "story," discussing story structures, or explaining the difference between narrative and exposition.

Fundamentally, the "what to write" problem is an emotional problem. It's a problem of fear. The student fears that she has nothing special to say. If we don't help our students past that fear, all the theory in the world about stories is useless. To alleviate my students' "what to write" fear, I first focus them on 5 everyday topics: people, pivot, passion, process, and purpose. (It was very important to me that these were alliterative, as we all know that alliteration is the #1 indicator of quality of thought.)

Though the "what to write" problem is more emotional than technical, the "how to write" problem is certainly technical. In its simplest form, the solution is "Write about what happened outside your head, not inside your head." The 5 writing tips I listed all have the same focus: external details. Bring other characters into your story, and write about images, sounds, words, and actions. Conceptually, it's all simple. But getting students to slow down and figure out how to replace those "I thought" sentences with external details -- that is a task that will inevitably elicit the dreaded "Do I have to?" question. (My response: "Only if you want to go to college!" Just kidding. I don't always say that.)

Practical Note

Let me end with a practical note. "What to write" and "how to write" are two distinct phases of the writing process for my students. I don't try to have the students do both at once. In the first phase, the "what to write" phase, I am encouraging the student to expand on ideas. I take the pressure off by reassuring the student that any of these 5 topics (or countless others) will work. If there's even a 10% chance the student will want to write about it, I say, "Go ahead!" (It's impossible to compare topics in the abstract, anyway; they must be typed out first.) When I see a first or second draft, it's all questions and encouragement: "Tell me more!"

Only when the student says (and I believe), "I really can't think of anything else to say" do I turn to the second phase, the "how to write" phase. This is when I torment the student by circling or highlighting all those thought / felt / wanted types of verbs, pushing her to replace the internal processes with external details. I usually offer a slight reprieve, or a compromise -- you can have a couple "thought" sentences, but push them to the conclusion to explain the significance of all those images, sounds, words, and actions you just gave us.

You see, it's all very simple!

Jon

Jon Perkins holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He helps students with their college, law school, and medical school applications.

How to Write the "Why College X?" Essay

When you're done reading this post, you'll know how to start the "Why College X?" essay. Of all the essays, this one annoys my students the most.

Judging by their reactions, this essay is better termed the "Even though you don't really know me, tell me why I'm great" essay. So, yeah, even though many 17-year-old students don't know exactly what they want to do in life, and even though most of them won't get the chance to visit the college before they apply, they still have to explain why that college is just right for them.

"Haha!"

It's no wonder this prompt grates on kids' sense of authenticity. I was grating Parmesan cheese last week, and when the block of cheese slipped, I ended up grating a layer of skin off the side of my thumb. My 3-year-old daughter asked, "Does it hurt, Baba?" My 5-year-old son said, "Haha!" When my students write this essay, I'm 90% sure in their heads they're hearing the colleges say, "Haha!"

Let's call this essay what it is: an exercise in sincere flattery. It's not going to feel "authentic" the way the open-ended "tell me about yourself" essays do. The reason is that students have to include impersonal, not-really-me snippets of "source material" from the school's website. The good news, though, is that the essay doesn't have to feel authentic for someone to do a good job. As with every other kind of essay, there's a process to get you the finished product. Yes, anyone can write a work of sincere flattery. Hooray!

Step 1: Understand the "Why College X?" Prompt.

Earlier this week, after my kids' first day of school, I took them to get ice cream because being a parent means being able to invent rituals like that. But you know as well as I do that "Do you want ice cream?" is a dumb question because the answer is always "Yes!" The important question is "What flavor do you want?"

Pretend the college is a person you love. You want to make this person happy by bringing him or her ice cream. Not just any ice cream -- his or her favorite flavor. That's how the "Why College X?" essays are -- each college prefers a different flavor. Some want you to focus on why you like the school's academic opportunities. Others allow you to focus on whatever aspect of the school appeals to you. But it's easier to let you see for yourself. Here are some flavors of "Why College X?" prompts, taken from the 2015-16 Common App writing supplements:

1. University of Michigan: "(Required for all applicants. 500 words maximum) Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate College or School (including preferred admission and dual degree programs) to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests?"
2. Northwestern University: "What are the unique qualities of Northwestern - and of the specific undergraduate school(s) to which you are applying - that make you want to attend the University? In what ways do you hope to take advantage of the qualities you have identified? (300 word maximum)"
3. Cornell University: "Describe two or three of your current intellectual interests and why they are exciting to you. Why will Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences be the right environment in which to pursue your interests? (Please limit your response to 650 words.)"
4. University of Pennsylvania: "How will you explore your intellectual and academic interests at the University of Pennsylvania? Please answer this question given the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying. (400-650 words)"

If you write a "Tell me about yourself" essay without looking at the prompts first, you'll be fine because whatever you wrote will fit in with one of the Common App prompts and one of the UC prompts. Not so for the "Why College X?" essay. Before you start, you really do need to read and re-read the prompt to make sure you understand it.

Step 2: Understand the Thesis Sentence.

In our Parent Guide to the Personal Statement, I mentioned Thomas C. Foster's observation in his guide How to Read Literature Like a Professor that the real purpose of every quest is self-knowledge. In the same way, a "tell me about yourself" essay describes a student's battle for self-knowledge. Though you don't need to state it explicitly, that is the thesis sentence: "This matters to me because it changed me."

As I mentioned above, though the "Why College X?" prompt might be irritating, it's not mystical. It has its own thesis sentence, too: "College X is good for me because it will let me continue to explore my interests." You don't need to come out and say that thesis sentence -- just keep it in mind as what you're hoping to convey.

The amazingly original image I would like you to envision is that of a bridge. A bridge from where to where? From your past to your future. Remember that this essay is an exercise in sincere flattery. The sincere part is your interests. That's your past, what you've done so far. The flattery part is all the details about how the school will be just the place for you to develop your interests. That's your future, what you're going to do next.

When you're writing these "Why College X?" essays, you're building that bridge between past and future. When you do this well, you leave the admission officer thinking, "Yes, my awesome school really would be the perfect and natural place for this fine young citizen to explore her interests."

Step 3: List Your Interests.

No school is going to believe you if you start off with, "You're perfect for me!" You have to work up to that. Ease into it. You have to start by showing the school a little bit about your interests. Biology? Business? Engineering? No -- please don't say it -- English? Yes, figuring out your favorite subject is a great starting point for identifying your interest.

Now list out a few particular moments you remember pursuing that interest. These might start in class. Is there a concept you remember? Did you do a project or a paper? What captivated you? Was there anything you found so interesting that you did extra reading or research? This extra research doesn't have to be "official" -- it could include watching documentaries on your own or taking a class on Coursera, for example. These moments might also extend beyond class. Did you pursue your interest somehow through an extracurricular activity? Doing research, doing an internship, or doing non-assigned reading are all possibilities.

I know. Some of you just don't have any burning interest for any subject. What then? Fake it. Well, not completely. I mean choose the least non-terrible area of interest you can think of. Find something plausible and run with it. Admitting that you have no interest isn't going to cut it.

Step 4: List the College's Opportunities.

Now that you've listed your interests and some moments you explored them -- your past -- it's time to focus on the school's opportunities -- your future. Start with the school website or, more specifically, the website of the school or department in which you're interested. Let's make this specific. Suppose you like business and are considering University of Michigan's Ross School of Business for its Bachelor of Business Administration.

Before you get bogged down in all the details, try to get an overview of what the school values. The Michigan Ross website looks something like this:

rosshomepage

Look at the big categories at the bottom that I circled in red: study abroad, social impact, lead through crisis, pursue your passions, close-up look at government, and find your ideal job. These are hints about what Michigan Ross values. Is it a good idea to work one or more of these concepts into your essay? I'm glad you asked. Yes.

After you have a sense of the big picture, explore the details. On the Michigan Ross website, you can do this by checking out the categories I circled in green at the top:

rosshomepage2

Click through About Ross, Programs, Our Community, and Faculty & Research. What interests you? Maybe it's something one of the alumni has written about his experience. Maybe it's a course you can take. Maybe's it's research one of the faculty members is doing.

The goal here is to come up with 7-10 specific details from the website that reveal how you'll pursue your interest at the school. This is how you move beyond the "because it has a great business program" type of answer. Think of this as a proposal -- you're trying to give the reader confidence that if you're accepted, you know exactly how you'll jump in and get involved on your first day on campus.

Also, as a side note, students fortunate to have visited a school should feel free to write about conversations they had with current students, faculty, or administrators. (But you don't need to say, "As I walked across the quad for the first time, I could feel that this was the perfect place for me." Negative, Red Rider.) If you haven't visited the school, that's fine. Has your school invited an admission rep from the school to speak? Sign up! Even better, read through the school's website before the presentation, prepare a couple questions, and like totally ask them.

Step 5: Connect Interests to Opportunities.

Are you remembering that this essay is a bridge between your past and your future? You start with an anecdote about your interest, or one aspect of your interest. Then you talk about some specific details about the school that will let you explore that interest. Then repeat with new aspect of your interest and additional supporting details.

Don't get distracted by whether this essay feels authentic. Just focus on getting it done in a workmanlike manner. It might not be inspired, but it should be solid.

Set a Timer.

I leave you with the simplest piece of advice for starting the "Why College X?" essay (or any other essay): Set a timer. Let me make it super easy for you. Go to google.com, type "20 minute timer" in the search box, and click the "Google Search" button. Did you do it? No? These essays won't write themselves, you know. Go set a timer. You can sit there for 20 minutes if you want, but at least set the timer -- when the timer's up, you're done.

Now that you've read through the 5 steps and set a timer, you're on your way to answering the "Why College X?" prompt. Good luck writing!

Jon

Jon Perkins holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He helps students with their college, law school, and medical school applications.

20 Questions: For the Student Who Hasn't Found a Topic

Where Might You Find an Essay Topic?

Earlier this year, a New York Times article mentioned a study conducted by psychologist Arthur Aron. One purpose of the study was to develop a procedure for creating closeness between two people. The mechanism the study used was to have two people take turns answering a series of 36 questions.

These questions -- at least some of them -- strike me as a great place to start for a student who is searching for an essay topic. I'm talking about the student who doesn't have a major turning point in his life and who doesn't have a defining passion, mission, or purpose. I'm talking about the student who feels a bit intimidated about choosing a topic because he has had a fairly normal life.

If that student might be you, start with the questions below. Some of these I've taken verbatim from the study, and others I've tweaked the wording. One I borrowed from the University of North Carolina application because I liked it. Without further ado, here are 20 questions to help you find a topic:

1. Before making a phone call, do you ever rehearse what you're going to say? Why?
2. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you choose?
3. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?
4. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?
5. Tell your life story in as much detail as possible.
6. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained one quality or ability, what would it be?
7. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?
8. Is there something that you've dreamt of doing for a long time? Why haven't you done it?
9. You get one do-over of any moment in your life. What would you do over, and why?
10. What is your most treasured memory?
11. What is your most terrible memory?
12. If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why?
13. Complete this sentence "I wish I had someone with whom I could share..."
14. You meet your college roommate and decide you want to be close friends. Please share what would be important for him or her to know.
15. Share an embarrassing moment in your life.
16. When did you last cry in front of another person? By yourself?
17. What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?
18. If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven't you told them yet?
19. Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?
20. Of all the people in your family, whose death would you find most disturbing? Why?

The Big Problem

Now stand in awe of my ability to read your mind. You're thinking three things:

1. I read all those questions.
2. I still don't have a topic.
3. Therefore, these questions are useless.

Not so fast. Here's the thing. Reading the questions (or, let's be honest, skimming them in 10 seconds, yes?) is not the same as thinking about the questions. When Phil and I were talking the other day, he described a problem he observes with many of his SAT and ACT students. They do the practice tests or the homework, but not in a mindful way. As Phil put it, "I don't know what they're doing, but it's not thinking." It's the same issue with these 20 questions to help you find a topic. Skimming is not mindful. It's no surprise when a mindless approach fails to yield an essay topic.

2 Ways to Be Mindful

First, I give you the obvious solution: typing. You need to open up a Google doc or whatever other word processing program you use and start typing. Set the timer at 3 minutes. Type out everything you can about the first question. If you're not typing, you're not creating a record of your thoughts. That's no help. Your fingers should be moving.

Second, I give you a novel solution: speaking. Open up this link using Google Chrome, find a quiet place, click on the microphone button, and spend 3 minutes answering the first question. Then cut and paste the text of your response to a Google doc, and move to the next question. The transcription won't be perfect, but it doesn't have to be. You need to cycle through lots of possibilities rapidly, and speaking lets you do that faster than writing. If you keep at it, you'll generate some text that becomes the seed of a rough draft.

Try It for Yourself

If you're typing or speaking, you're really thinking. You're engaging. You're being mindful. Whether you type or speak, you'll have to invest about an hour. But it's an hour well spent if it pushes you to find a topic. The hardest part is starting. So get started!

As far as I know (but please correct me if I'm wrong so I can acknowledge the right person), Essaywise is the first college planning website to offer students an instantaneous speech-to-text tool to help them find essay topics. We might be using this tool for years to come, or we might discard it as another failed experiment. (If history is any judge, the wise money is on the latter.) Whatever the case, Phil and I are always looking for new ways to streamline the writing process for students.

Good luck writing!

Jon

Jon Perkins holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He helps students with their college, law school, and medical school applications.

Immediacy: Why Your Essay Needs It

Immediacy

One of this website's many deficiencies is its lack of a blog post where I tell you I consulted a big book of big knowledge and learned a new perspective on an everyday word. Today I right that wrong.

The word of the day is, you guessed it, immediacy. A quick Google search (dictionary was buried in the garage) directs me to what I'm sure is a 100% reliable source of etymological knowledge, where I learn that "immediacy" comes from "immediate" (I actually knew this already), and that "immediate" comes from Late Latin "immediatus," meaning "without anything in between." Immediatus comes from some even older words (!), but since those do not make my point as conveniently, I invoke my artistic license and hereby omit them.

Immediacy means "without anything in between." And after you've chosen your topic, immediacy is your goal, is it not? You want the reader to see what you saw. The more you do that, the closer the reader feels to you.

Actions & Details

Allow me to share with you a quotation from Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, about how to create immediacy:

"Thinking is abstract. Knowing and believing are intangible. Your story will always be stronger if you just show the physical actions and details of your characters and allow your reader to do the thinking and knowing. And loving and hating."

This concept of "just show the physical actions and details" has helped me get my students out of the "thought zone." Maybe you've faced this problem. You went through some experience, and it produced Deep Thoughts & Feelings. So you try to convey those Deep Thoughts & Feelings by saying how "amazing" the thing was or what you "learned" from the experience. Maybe sprinkle in some "really" or "very" somewhere to show how intense it was. To really hammer home the point, write like 8 of those sentences together, and then lament that you can't use ALL CAPS for emphasis. Right?

Deep Thoughts & Feelings are a great way to zero in on a topic. No point writing about something you don't care about. Yet though they're great for topic selection, they're not so great for topic execution. Why? They make your essay sound just like all the other essays talking about Deep Thoughts & Feelings: generic. Your essay's fingerprint is not Deep Thoughts & Feelings, but rather Deep Actions & Details. I mean the "physical actions and details" Palahniuk mentions. If you spell out the Deep Actions & Details, the reader will infer your Deep Thoughts & Feelings.

Roxanne

I explain the concept of immediacy to my students in terms of a GoPro camera. If you were wearing a GoPro during the experience you're writing about, what actions and details would it have picked up? Similarly, if a GoPro were focused on your face and body the whole time, what actions and details would it have picked up? When you answer these questions, you begin to understand immediacy.

Let me give you an example of how this works. The other day, at some point during my mindless wandering across the vast plains of the internet, I encountered a cover of the song Roxanne by The Police. I try to avoid Roxanne. When she enters my car, I banish her. The radio station is altered and, therefore, upgraded with great haste.

Yet I managed to watch the Roxanne video below all the way through. I know why. It's the camera. The video is a single shot. The camera pans left and right, up and down. I feel like I am right there in an abandoned brick building in Germany with the musicians. Nothing between the subject and me. Immediacy.

If you have a couple minutes, watch the video and see what details it picks up. Think about which ones you remember, and why. Observing sights and sounds is the first step to writing with immediacy. It is annoying to write with immediacy. It's far easier to fall back on Deep Thoughts & Feelings. But -- resist! If you fight to find your Deep Actions & Details, your essay will improve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI4ssGtfdxw

Your Best Essay

Writing with immediacy is especially important if you don't feel like you have a great topic. Many students who have lived fairly ordinary lives so far feel like their topics aren't "good enough." True, you might not have an epic story with obstacles worthy of Odysseus. But the good news is that even an ordinary story improves with immediacy.

Don't get caught up in writing "the" best essay. Stay focused on writing "your" best essay. Hint: immediacy.

Good luck writing!

Jon

Jon Perkins holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He helps students with their college, law school, and medical school applications.

Parent Guide: Common App Essay

These tips are for anyone -- whether parent, teacher, counselor, coach, relative, or mentor -- who wants to help a student write a better college application essay!

On Becoming Obsolete

My dad always told me, "Your job as a parent is to make yourself obsolete." I think the same holds true for my job as a college consultant. If I really know what I'm doing, I should be able to explain it clearly enough so that any motivated person can do what I do. Isn't that what it means to teach?

This challenge got Phil and me thinking and talking over the weekend. What would happen if we wrote out a guide for parents who want to help their students with the personal statement? We would never say that our way is the only way or the secret way or the best way. OK, fine, I do claim that some of what we do is the "best" way, but really I just mean that as shorthand for "best way we've found so far in our experience." Best or not, I can at least say that our way is an effective way.

As Phil and I were trying to pinpoint what we do, we realize the process breaks down into three parts:

1. Ground rules.
2. Key concepts.
3. Structured assignments.

5 Ground Rules

One common theme I hear from parents is that they don't want to be the bad guy when it comes to college applications. They don't want to nag. We can't eliminate 100% of the stress of college applications, but when parents and students have the right ground rules in place, life gets a whole lot calmer. Here are our 5 ground rules:

1. The student has the final say on the personal statement.
2. The parent may not make negative comments about the personal statement.
3. The parent may ask open-ended questions about the personal statement.
4. The parent may not initiate conversations about the personal statement except at agreed-upon times.
5. The parent may not write any part of the personal statement.

By clarifying responsibilities and limitations, these ground rules help improve communication between parent and child.

5 Key Concepts

Another common concern I hear from parents is that they don't know what makes a "good" personal statement. It's as if the application essay is some kind of impenetrable cipher. It's not. When I'm working with students, I'm focused on 5 key concepts:

1. The personal statement is more about character than achievement.
2. The best way to reveal character in the personal statement is to write about conflict.
3. The best way to write about conflict is to write as much as possible as fast as possible.
4. Vivid writing includes sights, sounds, conversations, and thoughts from a particular moment.
5. The best way to organize the personal statement is to put “what happened” first and “why it matters” last.

Once parents understand these concepts, they have the reference points they need to guide their child. I know, you're disappointed I have omitted any High Theory of Literature or Narrative or Some Such Vanity. Pardon us -- our preference lies with the practical.

Stop Procrastinating & Get Started!

If there's one thing I've seen in working with students on their essays, it's that writing has very little to do with getting inspired. It's more about perspiration than inspiration. Start with the perspiration, and the inspiration will follow.

If you want to learn more about helping your child with the application essay, please take a look at our book Writing the College Essay.

Good luck writing!

Jon

Jon Perkins holds a B.A. in English from Stanford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He helps students with their college, law school, and medical school applications.