College Essay Mentoring

Yesterday I had the follow-up session with my brother on writing his college essays. Compared to when we initially talked, he appeared a lot more confident in discussing his writing and his ideas. He was also more focused with putting himself on the page--making his essay directly reflect his voice, ideas, and experiences as opposed to trying to figure out what the admissions people might want to hear. While he had not yet written a solid essay for any particular school he is looking to apply to, one of his teachers has required him to respond to different college application essay prompts on a weekly basis to help him foster ideas and gain experience and confidence in essay writing. We spent time talking about some things his teacher pointed out to help the class improve, such as making every word count and avoiding vagueness. We also worked on transforming a couple of sentences with general wording into specific language that evoked imagery and emotion. I feel confident that my brother is well on his way to constructing a successful college essay, and in becoming a successful writer.