This is the time of year when stressed college applicants bring their essays to teachers, counselors and private college counselors for “feedback.” If you have students who are seeking your help, it’s important to remember that not all of your kids are going to write perfect college essays. In fact, it is not your job to get all of your students to write perfect college essays. That’s an essay reality than can be difficult to accept. But students, parents, and most importantly, you, need to have realistic expectations about just how much impact you can have over a student’s final essay product.
Some kids have more engaging stories to tell than others do. Some have a more mature perspective. Some are more self-assured and comfortable sharing their stories. And some kids are just more likeable than other kids are. All of those things affect their essays, and most of them are out of your control. You can instill confidence, cheerlead, guide, coach, and help any student who’s willing to work with you to write more effective college essays. But you aren’t empowered to draw greatness out of all of them.
I know this goes against teachers’ and counselors’ educating instincts. Can you imagine the math teacher saying, “Look—this kid is just flat out bad at math. It’s not my job to get him to do long division!” But while a great math teacher might expect all of her students to master the same material, a great story finder expects all of her students to improve, not to end up at the same place. If all of your students write perfect college essays, you’re helping too much, and that can actually hurt their chances of getting into college.
An essay that sounds like Hemingway wrote it from a student with Bs in her English classes will cause most admissions officers to suspect that this student did not write the entire essay herself. Admissions officers read enough essays to have a sense for these things.
So keep your expectations reasonable. And if you ever feel discouraged by the quality of the essays your students are producing, remember that every student, regardless of how strong his final essay product is, will almost certainly be better off than he would have been without your help.