Kim Spencer

Your Essay is Your Voice

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The college application essay has become a very important component in a candidate’s ability to stand out from the crowded field vying for acceptance to a university.   In the application itself, students have opportunities to list honors, describe activities, and report GPA and test scores.  The essay is the place where a student can actually be heard and show personality.  The Admission Committees are reviewing thousands of essays each year.  The majority of these essays are very well-written.  A perfectly written, well-researched essay may earn an A in English class, but it is likely to blend in with all the others in the college application arena.  So how does a student stand out from the crowd?

Prompt Selection

The first step is to spend some time really reviewing the prompts to select one that will allow for a personal story.  This does not have to be a story about a grand achievement or adventure.  The best college application essays are those where the student’s passion comes through.   The Coalition and the Common App release a list of prompts each year.  While reviewing the prompts and forming a writing plan, students should always think about how many other students could write about what they are considering for their topic.  If a student writes a great essay about technology being a blessing and a curse for teenagers these days, just about every other teenager could write the same essay.  There needs to be a personal connection to the topic to have it resonate with the reader.  

Start Early

Once a prompt and topic have been decided, students should let their ideas come out in the rough draft without being too focused on mechanics.   If the topic is good, spelling and grammatical errors can be identified and addressed through editing, rewriting, and polishing.  The College Board offers 8 Tips for Your Best College Application Essay:

  • Get started by brainstorming
  • Let your first draft flow
  • Develop three essay parts
  • Be specific
  • Find a creative angle
  • Be honest
  • Get feedback
  • Proofread and make corrections

Know Your Audience

While it is important to let your individuality shine, students also need to be careful.  In the effort to personalize and have their voices heard, many students become too informal and conversational in their college application essays.  Students should be cautious when trying to inject humor and also avoid casual second person references – you know?  This is an academic essay; students should maintain a mature tone and steer clear of slang.  It is also important to remember the information admission officers will get through the actual application. This is not the place to list awards or talk about all the student’s extracurricular activities. 

This can be the place to pull the unifying thread in the application together by telling a story that highlights a “theme” in the application.  

Word Limit

I discussed the intricacies of the word limit in an earlier blog.   The Coalition App and the Common App have different word limits.  However, many schools have their own school-specific college application essay word limit.  Students should be aware of the confines of the word limit for the essay they are writing as they are working on their rough draft.  The essay does not have to go to the limit.  It is better to be clear and under the limit than too wordy with repetition and unnecessary information.  

 

The Winning Essay!

With the volume of applications colleges receive these days, the essay can be the determining factor between two candidates with near identical stats. 

  • Students should check, double check, and triple check their essays before submitting.   If a trusted advisor or friend is not available to proofread, there are many online proofreading services; students should always have another set of eyes look over the college application essay.  
  • If a student isn’t a natural writer and seems to be hitting a roadblock with the process, free-writing exercises are wonderful as a warm-up activity.  Get a journal and write, write, write without the pressure of a formal essay.  This will help to start the writing process flow.
  • Reading the essay aloud is an effective way for students to catch grammatical errors, missing words, and repetitive phrases.  When reading silently, students often “hear” what they meant to say and not what is actually on the page.  This is also a good way for students to hear their own written voice.  Knowing and owning one’s written voice is an essential skill in college.

 

 

The 22-23 FAFSA Opens October 1st!

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Parents of high school seniors across the country have been seeing numerous FAFSA announcements, and many parents with a student going through the college application process for the first time are wondering exactly what this even means.  Just like the college application process has become more involved, so has the process for finding financial aid to help with the skyrocketing cost.  Yesterday, a parent asked me if they filled out the FAFSA to receive the Florida Bright Futures award.  This is a reasonable question, but illustrates the lack of information being given to parents to understand the basics of these programs:

FAFSA

The FAFSA is a Free Application for Federal Student Aid.  The application is available on October 1st and remains open to submit for a full 21 months.  However, each state and many individual schools have their own deadlines.  It is advantageous for families to complete the FAFSA as soon as it opens.  US News & World Report breaks down a simple explanation of the FAFSA and also current individual state deadlines.  

To fill out the FAFSA, parents need to visit the Department of Education’s site: DOE create FAFSA. It is a lengthy, but straightforward process; it does take some time to complete, and accuracy is essential.  Of the many FAFSA mistakes one could make when completing the application, one of the most common is using the wrong tax year information. In 2017, the Department of Education began releasing the application earlier and requiring the prior year’s tax data.  Before 2017, the application was released January 1st, and many families hustled to get their tax information completed for the application cycle.  The earlier release date takes away that stress, but it does add a little confusion as to exactly which financials parents should report.  Luckily, there now is also an IRS retrieval tool that enables parents to link the correct tax data directly to their application.  

The FAFSA information provided is used to determine student loan amounts as well as eligibility for work-study programs and federal grants.  The federal student loans have very low interest rates, and federal grants are “gift awards” that do not have to be repaid.   Students who qualify for work-study programs can be building a resume while taking down their college cost.  

BRIGHT FUTURES

The Bright Futures Scholarship Program is a Florida specific program to provide different types of educational funding options for qualified students.  Florida high school guidance counselors play a large role in helping the students with the Bright Futures process.  There are three Bright Futures scholarship programs each with their own eligibility requirements and award amounts:  FAS (Florida Academic Scholars), FMS (Florida Merit Scholars), and GSV (Gold Seal Vocational Scholars).  The FAS scholarship is the most competitive requiring a minimum GPA 3.5, ACT 29, SAT 1290 and at least 100 service hours.  There is also required coursework included in these minimums. Full eligibility requirements for all three programs can be found in this downloadable Bright Futures Handbook. 

GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

Grants and scholarships are referred to as “gift awards” as they do not have to be re-paid.  Grants are usually need-based whereas scholarships are typically merit-based.  Many universities have school specific scholarships for both in-state and out-of-state students.  When researching schools, students and parents should always check the school’s published information about available scholarship opportunities and requirements.  

Students can also conduct a broad scholarship search directly through their College Board account: College Board scholarship search.  Just like the application process itself, sifting through all the possibilities of financial help with college cost is the most productive when it is broken down into steps.  The first step in this process is completing the FAFSA.

The Moving Parts in Today’s College Application Process

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When my generation was applying to college, we filled out a straightforward application, wrote an essay, mailed it off and then waited anxiously by the mailbox for that tell-tale fat envelope that signaled acceptance. Well, those days are gone. High school seniors today are very often overwhelmed navigating all the components involved in simply completing the applications. I work with so many great students who have impressive accomplishments to present, but aren’t really sure how to pull it all together.

To avoid this confusion and very often the subsequent panic, it is important for students to break the process down into steps and to create a timeline for themselves to stay ahead of deadlines. The U.S. Department of Education tallies more than 4,000 degree-granting institutions in the country, and there are many different ways to apply to these schools: Common App, Coalition App, Universal App, school site applications, etc. Even schools that use a general application like the Common or Coalition may only pull certain parts of that application and most have school-specific supplements as well. No wonder this is confusing for so many students today!

Understanding the Basics:

Common Application: The Common Application is an undergraduate college admission application that applicants may use to apply to any of more than 800 member colleges and universities in 49 states and the District of Columbia, as well as in Canada, China, and many European countries . https://www.commonapp.org/

Coalition Application: The Coalition Application is a college application platform that is currently accepted by over 140 schools. The Coalition Application launched in 2016 with the goal of making the college application process more manageable for students from under-represented groups (The University of Florida has been the largest user of the Coalition. This fall, UF will also be accepting the Common App for the first time) . http://www.coalitionforcollegeaccess.org/

Universal Application: The Universal College Application is a newer option that’s currently accepted by 44 colleges and universities. Three Ivy League colleges accept this application: Harvard, Cornell, and Princeton . https://www.universalcollegeapp.com/

SSAR: SSAR is a self-reported student academic record that lists all courses and associated grades that have been attempted, or will be attempted, for high school and/or college credit. Since accuracy is critical, students should have a copy of their high school transcript available to use as a reference when creating the SSAR

College Application Resume: A resume is simply a summary of the student’s high school “career.” It will include the same information that will be requested on most college applications: test scores, GPA, honors, activities, etc., but presented in a clear snapshot form preferably not longer than one page

Essay Word Limit: This sounds straightforward but can actually become confusing during the process when applying to multiple schools. The Common App essay word limit is 650, and The Coalition App word limit is 500-550 – BUT, many schools that use these application essay prompts have different school-specific word/character limits

When I start working with a new student, we look at initial school choices and the way they accept applications.  We then breakdown a realistic timeline of priorities and tasks with the various school application deadlines. The very best strategy is to begin the process as soon as possible to avoid stress and panic as deadlines approach. High school seniors have been working very hard for a very long time, and it is important for them to enjoy this last year of high school. By staying calm and organized through the college application process, they can absolutely submit very thorough applications in a timely manner while still enjoying all the celebrations that come along with finally being a SENIOR!

For information on my college consulting services, fee structure, and availability, please email spencegator@comcast.net

College App Tasks in Summer for Rising Seniors

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As a consultant working with many different types of students preparing to apply to many different types of colleges in the fall, I’ve realized there are several tips that are universally applicable for the summer before senior year starts.  At the beginning of the summer it can seem as if there is ample time to work on applications, and many students neglect the necessary focus to make good headway and wind up panicking when the school year starts and deadlines start sneaking up on them.  To avoid the panic and ensure applications are receiving the necessary time and attention to best complete them, rising seniors should use the summer to:

  • Carefully look over the 19-20 essay prompts and select prompts that will allow them to highlight a unique aspect about themselves or their experience.  First drafts should be completed over the summer.
  • Consider registering for an SAT/ACT retake.  Scores are often higher after a student has already been through the experience of the test and with a little more maturity.  Even a slight improvement in the score can make a big difference at decision time.  
  • Conduct mindful college searches and tours.  Many students and families use the summer months to go on grand college tours.  I have seen many students fall in love with a campus only to come to the sad realization they do not have the qualifications necessary for admittance or the school is financially out of reach for their parents.  All colleges publicize their admit statistics each year.  In addition to looking at academic programs and geographic location when planning tours, students and parents should also research admit stats, tuition rates and possible school scholarships.
  • With an early college list in mind, research the ways these schools accept applications.  The summer is a perfect time to begin setting up the Coalition and/or Common App profiles.  By setting profiles up, students become acclimated to navigating the sites and logging in and out. 

It is important for students to use their time wisely in the summer months before the senior year begins.  Many students feel it is too late by this point to do anything that will make a difference.  That is not so. By looking at the application profile sections, students may realize an area that is lacking.  Whether it is a summer job, community volunteer work, or taking on a leadership role in an activity the student is already involved in, every little effort counts.  College acceptance rates get more competitive each year, and this could be the time to possibly fill in that one little gap.  That said, students have been working very hard for a long time at this point.  It is absolutely possible for them to begin these steps and set themselves up for a smooth process in the fall while also finding time to relax, enjoy friends, and prepare for that exciting last year of high school!

For college consulting services provided and fee structure please contact me:  spencegator@comcast.net