Students are often their own worst enemies. A lack of confidence in their own writing can lead to sloppy essays- or worse, dishonest writing. When a piece looks overly doctored by a parent or guardian, a trained eye can spot the influence immediately (and not in a good way). So in the hopes of reaching any student who feels they might not have what it takes to craft the heart of their essay on their own, I have a few reasons that your essay might be perfectly appealing from your own point of view.
Details.
Great writing always includes a great amount of detail. Whenever you watch Catfish and see deception in action, the writing is ambiguous and unrevealing at best. Having a unprofessionally doctored essay usually means that you lose a lot of detail and end up with the plain writing that puts admissions staff to sleep. A student-directed essay will follow the interest of the student and provide the basis of meaningful specificity throughout their writing.
Tone.
Usually when the narrative of an admissions essay is dictated by a parent, the tone is drastically affected and usually ends up a bit flat. By integrating an adult point of view, something crucial is taken out of the tone of your essay: the sense of potential. Adults develop different writing habits that will sound disingenuous, but there are characteristics of teenage writing that indicates where they can improve. The teenage voice compels others to help them along their way. The reason you’re afraid of your essay might be the exact type of trait that shines through and inspires your reader to give you a chance. Independent thinking is also important; they need you to reply to the prompt instead of saying what they think you want them to hear- something of which many Mommy Editors are guilty.
Narrative.
This point ties into our discussion about detail. There are important reasons that you’ve chosen your field of study; it’s likely that very specific events have happened in your life that relate to your interest in the subject. These experiences are powerful and give you the details you need to make something that is more than a laundry list of qualifications. When you connect the content of your admissions essay to various themes to your life, your writing takes on an entirely different level of engagement. Unless your editor is a mind-reader, they simply don’t have the same access to your experiences.
The narrative crafting process is important- but remember that you’ve been doing this in class, so be confident! If you need an editor for grammar, that’s one thing. But if you need advanced help, make sure you’re going with a consultant or editor that helps you craft your story better instead of usurping it.
If you’re feeling insecure about the grammatical nitty-gritty, have no fear. Just read further posts about each here and here!
Victory Step Education Team
