Today I get to do one of my favorite activities of the year—present a college essay seminar to Collegewise families in the Seattle area. I always enjoy the opportunity to dust off my presentation chops and get in front of families who are just about to start this process under the expert guidance of our counselors. And best of all, we’ve learned that the best time to teach kids what works in a college essay–and more importantly, what does not–is before they start writing. You wouldn’t try to teach kids math, art, or chemistry by telling them to go do it on their own with the promise that you’ll teach them by critiquing their mistakes later. And we like our Collegewise kids to be essay savvy before they ever start writing.
Seniors, if you’d like to learn about college essay writing before you start, you can get your own video of my essay seminar here (it’s viewable online once you create an account). Or you can browse all of my past articles about essays here.