College Admissions Essay: What’s Your Mom Got to Do With It?
Dear Babs,
I’m starting to work on my college admissions essay, and I’m concerned. Should I get my mom to look it over? I know some of my friends had their parents practically write their essay and college application, but is that right? I don’t want to cheat, but if everyone else is doing it, I don’t want my essay to suck.
-Authorial Alex
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Dear Alex,
Go with your gut instinct. If having your parents write your essay for you seems wrong, it probably is! College admissions officers are looking for your voice, not your mom or dad’s. And want to know a little-known-secret? There’s no guarantee your parents can write better than you can. Unless your mom is a professional essayist, her version is probably going to be on par with yours. You do, after all, take an English class 5 times a week. Compare your experience to writing essays to that of your parents. I guarantee a student is going to have more of a knack for it than an adult who works as an office manager, writing up reports and presentations.
I’ve read some of these ghost-written essays before, and let me tell you, they are rarely any good. They are often stiff and dull. What college admissions officers really look for in an essay is an authentic voice and above all enthusiasm. There is no way your mom is going to get as excited about your track meets, choir practice, or soup-kitchen volunteer work as you do.
Don’t take this to mean that she shouldn’t look it over. Every author needs an editor! Have her check your essay for coherency (make sure it makes sense), cohesiveness (make sure it has a theme, and doesn’t jump around too much), and spelling/grammar. Have her make comments and suggestions. Then decide which ones you want to keep.
When it comes to college admissions essays and college applications, there’s nothing wrong with a second opinion, just make sure that the first one is yours!
Good luck!
-Babs
This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 at 10:31 am and is filed under Admissions, Dear Babs, parents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
