How to Make Your College Essay Stand Out

Dear Friends,

With summer upon us, we’re saying congrats to our last few admits, including successful wait list candidates to Penn, Barnard, and Cornell. Fingers crossed for those of you still waiting to hear on wait lists, which may come down to July or even August depending on enrollment.

For our rising seniors, attention is now squarely on how to maximize summer to excavate powerful college essays. This reflective process needs time—as Hemingway said, “Every writer should burn his first novel.” That is, you ideally want to dig past the initial material to find your most poignant anecdotes when school is not competing for your attention. Other rising seniors will finalize SAT, ACT, and/or Subject Tests on June 13 and July 18 (ACT) and August 29 and September 26 (SAT). Even with so many colleges going temporarily test optional (amidst so many high schools going pass/fail), success on SAT and ACT remains a relevant tool to stand out, particularly for students who are not first gen, low income or from underrepresented groups.

Rising juniors meanwhile have amazing character pursuits in the works this summer, alongside putting in all-important groundwork in SAT/ACT, in many cases via focused instruction with our coaches. This kind of summer intensive is indeed how we’ve helped students cultivate SAT increases as large as 600 points.

This is a vital summer, too, for business and law school candidates whose early round applications are due in just three months. If GMAT, GRE, or LSAT testing is not complete, now is the time to get moving in building those skills. Medical school candidates are scrambling in some cases to get MCATs complete, in many cases delayed by COVID, to submit AMCAS applications, which are already open.

Boarding and independent school candidates are busy as well, tackling SSAT/ISEE growth this summer, followed by personal statements, interview prep, and applications in the fall. For all students—from middle school to graduate school—who will be applying this year, it is essential to know your deadlines from now. See below for specifics.

In UC-related news, I was pleased to contribute to TV coverage last week for San Francisco’s KRON4 News and KPIX5 CBS Bay Area (in case you missed it, here is our previous newsletter discussing subtext around the UC test optional announcement). On the topic of economic fallout from COVID-related enrollment drops, I spoke with Jessica Dickler for a piece at CNBC.com that presents a scary but honest view of potential insolvency at some colleges. Contact us to discuss how this affects selectivity at schools you are considering.

Finally, we’ve included below another standardized testing problem of the month, this one focused on ACT Science. Happy solving!

Hafeez Lakhani

Rising Seniors: t minus five months

A few priorities for our rising seniors preparing for November 1 ED and EA college deadlines:

Excavating early drafts of college essays: “Every writer should burn his first novel.” As a fiction writer, I understand Hemingway’s quote to mean that first drafts are gateways. They help us identify the seeds that will ultimately blossom into our more poignant later drafts. Our students know the analogy for one’s character story, and in turn, the content of one’s college essays: if we imagine that Harvard is a dinner table with a limited number of seats, and there is one place left, we must ask: what makes our student the most interesting contributor to that dinner table conversation? What makes her deserving of that last spot? Our college essay process is designed to help students excavate the most intriguing anecdotes from their experiences to answer this question. The key to the most successful essays we’ve coached is simple: time to process. Contact us to book your Overall Narrative meeting, our very reflective launch to excavating college essays.
Recommendation requests: Some schools ask students to make these requests before school lets out for summer, and others ask students to do it immediately upon returning in fall. Factors that are important in choosing a student’s two academic recommenders:
- Who has the most specific anecdotes to share about the student? What might these anecdotes convey? Independent thinking? Initiative? Leadership? Teamwork?
- How that course ties in to the student’s intended area of study. Ex: Penn’s majors.
- In cases where a student is embarking upon a significant character pursuit this summer, it may be wise to wait to request recommendations until he/she has more to share about that experience. Contact us to discuss the personal bio and resume that a student might share with both a school counselor and recommender to lend them context for a powerful recommendation.
Wrap up Testing: For students who will apply Early Action or Early Decision, the following test dates remain:
- SAT or Subject Tests: 8/29, 9/26 (SAT only), 10/3
- ACT: 6/13, 7/18, 9/12, 10/24
- Bear in mind that the October dates crowd college essay work and that international students are allowed access to only some of the above dates. For remaining SAT or ACT work, the key is to set aside concerted time this summer to work on skills growth. There is indeed time. But just as one cannot become a great tennis player overnight, one needs diligent practice to grow problem solving skills. All the better if this practice can be guided by an expert coach.
Subject Tests: Given COVID-19 interruptions, the majority of selective colleges have reiterated the “recommended but not required” and “optional” language around Subject Tests. That said, for those able to fit them in, excellent scores can help you stand out. Contact us to learn more.

Resources:

New York Times: How to Write a Good College Application Essay

Grown & Flown: How Your Teen Can Snag a Powerful Letter of Recommendation for College Applications

Rising Juniors & Underclassmen

Our students know the analogy: we cannot study all night tonight and be a great tennis player tomorrow. But with several weeks of focus—working with one of our coaches to identify evidence strategies in Reading Comp, grammar rules for English sections, and not only formulas for Math, but recurring practice at finding the “ah-ha” moment of the full range of challenging problems—can yield dramatic results, including for example ACT increases as large as 12 points.

Summer Intensive SAT/ACT: There is no better head start for a rising junior than investing in skills growth in problem solving ability—standardized testing—this summer. It alleviates a huge amount of pressure from the toughest year of high school, and in best case scenarios allows juniors to cross off SAT/ACT by December, opening up time to focus on coursework, Subject Tests, AP or IB responsibilities, and one’s blossoming character story. Our students who see the greatest gains are those who are able to devote 50 to 100 hours during the summer before junior year.

Graduate School Candidates: t-minus 3 months

Law School: Rolling applications open as early as August. If you are thinking about applying this fall, you should be moving toward completion on LSAT or GRE, to leave 1-2 months for work on personal statements. Contact us for guidance on reaching final testing goals, and to begin mapping out a unique story for personal statements.
Business school: First round deadlines are in early September, so a plan of action needs to be in place from now to reach GMAT or GRE goals, and to then formulate an appropriate school list and excavate intriguing personal statements for applications. If you plan to apply in Round 1, we recommend having testing—which often entails multiple sittings—complete by July 15.
Medical school: AMCAS applications for following year admissions are now open. Our med school coaches are on call to help students take personal statements from good to great, or to guide students completing the last leg of their MCAT journey.
Other graduate study: As with any admissions goal, it’s wise to get testing out of the way before finalizing a program list, making note of deadlines, and working on personal statements and other components such as recommendation requests. In many cases candidates will also dedicate time to elevating a writing sample or portfolio. Contact us to create a customized plan to reach your desired program.

Resources:

Redbook: Here's How to Help Your Kid Rock the SAT and ACT

New York Times: Considering College? Maybe You Should Invest in a Coach

Boarding School and Independent School

A number of families who will apply to change schools in the fall have already booked summer SSAT or ISEE coaching. Independent and boarding school applications can be due anywhere from November 1 to February 15. As with any process, we recommend separating responsibilities—taking care of testing first, followed by coaching for personal statements, applications, and interviews in the fall. Contact us to discuss test preparation, a school list, visits, and a plan of action, beginning with a concerted push for the best possible grades this spring.

Resources:

New York Times: Considering College? Maybe You Should Invest in a Coach

Problem of the Month: ACT Science

Read the short passage below, including tables, and answer the question that follows.

Paper chromatography can be used to identify metal ions in wastewater. A drop of sample solution is placed on filter paper. The bottom of the paper is set in a solvent that travels up the paper (see Figure 1 above) .

The solvent carries the ions up the paper. Some ions move faster, and therefore farther than others, resulting in a separation as they move up the paper. The paper is dried, then stained, causing the ions to appear as colored spots. Rf values are calculated for each spot:

Table 1 shows Rf values for 5 ions. Table 2 shows Rf values from 3 samples of wastewater. The same solvent was used for all ions and samples.

Table 1

Table 2

Note: Samples contain only the metal ions listed in Table 1.

Based on the information in Table 2, which of the following figures best illustrates the appearance of the filter paper after Sample 1 was analyzed?