College Admissions Questions from Parents, Part Four

Does it work well to fit one essay to many prompts? Or is it better to plan to write several small/brief essays and see how to develop them into longer essays?

Definitely plan to write several essays. After the main Common App essay, once the student has written a few of the supplementary essays for different schools, they will find that they are able to “copy/paste” portions of those essays to use in other similar supplemental essay questions. General transferable essays might be those focused on diversity, community, and challenge. 

But beware: if a student is trying to squeeze a written essay into a prompt it doesn’t really fit well, they are in trouble. Being able to follow prompts well is something that will make a successful student in college, and admissions committees know that. Regardless of how well written the essay is, if it doesn’t actually answer the prompt, it will be looked on unfavorably.  

I like to start off by having my students do free-writing exercises twice a day for several weeks to: A, practice writing in a personal narrative style, and B, develop the seeds of those multiple essays needed for various applications.  

If you or your child would like help crafting beautiful and effective college essays, feel free to contact me at rachel@executivewritingcoach.com for a free consultation! 

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