The "Impossible Essay" problem
Let me tell you a little story about Ava, before she got into her dream school Early Decision.
She came to me with a problem.
Not a grades problem. Not a test scores problem.
An essay problem.
The kind that doesn't just hurt your application, but could flat out kill your chances at elite colleges.
She'd been “working on it” for weeks, whatever that meant.
Her mom had looked at it from every angle.
Her English teacher was useless (college essays don’t have a “rubric”).
Nobody could see a way forward.
Here's what I noticed when we sat down one on one: Ava was flailing.
Smart kid, strong student.
But too close to the problem.
She'd been staring at this thing for so long that, in reality, she hadn't produced anything, except two random paragraphs that she hated.
I saw the solution in less than six minutes.
Not because I'm smarter than Ava. (I'm not.)
But I was outside the problem.
I didn't have Ava's years of built up internal assumptions or her “lived experience” (first time I ever used that expression). Or her mom’s, for that matter.
More important, I didn't have the hangup of "I don’t have anything original to say!" clouding my thinking either.
I just saw what was actually there:
The idea had been inside her for years, waiting for someone to help dig it out.
I call it a "blinding flash of the obvious."
Ava left that session with clarity and confidence. She had a sparkle in her eye and a spring in her step.
Within hours, she produced a solid draft that told the tale of her transformation from insecurity about her shortcomings to the day she cast off other people's expectations and embraced her strengths.
Result: Admitted Early Decision to her top choice school.
Now ask yourself this:
Are you facing something like that right now? Or will you be in a a few weeks, or months?
The lurking fear that your kid will have NOTHING to write about...
Or a college list that feels haphazard, generic or just "not right"...
A "How will she ever stand out?" question you can't answer...
Something that feels unsolvable -- not because it IS unsolvable -- but because you're too deep inside it to see the way out?
That's what I call an "Impossible College Problem." And it's one of the things I'm best at solving.
The tough part with a problem like this is that you don't need moreinformation or another framework to tackle it…
You need the RIGHT information. Not more gobbledegook in College Confidential or chat rooms of that ilk.
You need someone who can see what you can't, because they're standing outside of it.
That's what P4 Private College Advising is for. You, your kid, and me. We find it and we solve it.
If you've got an "Impossible College Problem," book a call and let's solve it together.
-Andy "Mission Impossible" Lockwood