Trauma Dumps, Humble Brags and Other Essay Crimes
Every year in College Application Land, there are shocking and salacious stories along the same themes:
She's valedictorian and didn't get into Princeton! They hate our high school.
My son had great grades and near-perfect SATs, built homes for low income vacationers in Aruba and cured Covid. He didn't get anywhere because he's white!
Didja hear about the kid who had a 30 million dollar business, a 4.0 and a 34 ACT, but got denied by 12 of 15 colleges!
There's never ONE THING that gets an applicant accepted or denied by a college, as far as I'm concerned.
But one of the first places even Frank Drebin (Senior) would look for smoking gun clues is the essay, or personal statement.
It's not necessarily a case of "bad topic" - lessons grandpa taught me, the year I got cut from the team but made it next year and scored the winning goal in the state championship or other cliche topic.
It's usually more nuanced. It's about the message. And tone.
Admissions officers do a ton of reading between the lines of the essay, as well as the entire Common Application.
Ideally, your kid's Common App displays a clear Thread of Continuity that runs through it in its entirety, conveying the VALUE he'll bring to that college community.
Not, "brag, brag, brag, I checked this box, that box, check, check check."
The former approach is narcissistic. The latter is other-centered, focused on the audience: admissions officers.
That's hard to do with ChatGPT, at least for now.
i'm running a brand spanking new webinar tonight, How to Make Your Common Application UnCommonly Great.
You will discover how to avoid mishaps and tactical errors on the Common App so that your kiddo stands out in a 50,000 plus Sea of Sameness or identical competitors, and multiplies her odds of acceptance to her Dream College.
I'll also screen share and walk through some of the highlights and lowlights of the "refreshed" Common Application itself, so you get specific, granular advice about features and glitches that you may never stumble upon (until it's too late).
A short list of what you will discover:
*How to craft a college essay so good that admissions officers will tape it to their own fridge
*Your essay isn't original -- now what?
*How to steer clear of eye rolling, cringy mistakes in the Honors and Activities sections
*The simple way to keep track of EVERYTHING -- deadlines, requirements, test optional policies -- so that you never blow a deadline or get blindsided minutes before your drop-dead date...even if you're not one of those color-coding, formula-obsessed spreadsheet nerds
*How to avoid "Admissions Armageddon" and handicap your TRUE odds of admission, instead of relying on your guidance counselor (if you've met with them), Naviance, SCOIR or whatever lame software your high school uses (warning: this discussion will be blunt, yet non politically-correct)
*The Additional Information section: how to make sure it actually adds to, not subtracts from, your Common App
*"Hidden" supplemental essays that you simply cannot overlook
*ChatGPT: friend or foe?
*Your questions -- I'll do Q&A at the end
Tuition for this class is 29 donuts. But the value is easily worth thousands. Just ask me.
We'll send out a recording after the live event. (Current advisory clients will receive a copy "on the house.")
Here's where to get details and sign up for tonight's one-time event:
After you check out, you'll be directed to do two simple things:
1. Create a password to access the recording
2. Enter your info into our webinar system to access the live class
See you in class!
- Andy "The Common Appetizer" Lockwood
P.S. Please share this invitation with anyone who could use some candid clarity and confidence, instead of confusion and chaos!