School apps are due this week!! mostly… This time of year is very stressful when prospective students are putting together their apps for College/Grad school/Jobs etc. In fact, these past couple of weeks, I’ve spent about 6 hrs of time per student in helping them craft their essays.
I recently read this article in IHE about the issues that college counselors face in helping students with their essays. Essentially, there is a new market of families who are willing to pay thousands of dollars to have their child’s essay beefed up. That creates problems. Among my many concerns, my top two are inequality in educational access and missed growth opportunities. The former is a bit self-explanatory and we’ve seen plenty examples in the standardized test prep realm. The latter is a very personal concern to me because I’ve made it my own personal calling to help students in a way that fosters their own personal growth and relationships.
Here’s a quote from that article,
He said, however, that “what EssayDog does cannot replace what [college counselors] do. They know the students.”
And that lack of connection is why so many counselors worry about the trend. The author who wrote the essay that struck the counselor as off didn’t know how out of sync it was with the student’s personality and writing. A good counselor would know.
Mark Sklarow, CEO of the Independent Educational Consultants Association, said that his members need to think of the student in full — and that means that success is only when a student is admitted to a college that will be a good fit. A brilliant essay that gets a student into a college where they may fail isn’t a success to a counselor, he said.
I totally agree with the points mentioned in this quote.
- First, it starts with the recognition that getting into college isn’t the main goal. The goal is to have educational success according to the student’s goals, metrics and abilities (which in most cases is a degree, but that isn’t always the case). Hence the mention of ‘fit’.
- Second, an underlying assumption of this quote is that money cannot buy real connection. I experience this first-hand when I help students with applications. Generally I know them in capacities other than academia and so I can encourage them to integrate their full selves (like their service work, personal struggles and deep-seated values) into their essays.
However, there are some points that require some refinement with regard to how I approach my own mentoring:
- What is a good college counselor? More often than not I’ve heard of counselors that are overwhelmed by the demands that the school they work for places on them. Counselors work for the high-school institutions, where they are subjected to many competing demands between admin, the students themselves and their parents.
- Isn’t one of the goals of high-school to prepare you for higher education? If so, why wouldn’t the school curriculum include personal essay writing in a way that is competitive for college admissions? This is like how part of my grad school curriculum included courses in grant writing.
- In creating a relationship with a student with a mentoring element, we’re supposed to be supplying the student with the tools necessary for success. That involves knowledge of the field and what is expected in such an essay. That’s where expert advice comes in. But it also involves working on inner demons and establishing personal commitment toward your vision and goals. The latter is something that would not be satisfied through these essay-writing services. In fact, a student wouldn’t even go to a counselor unless they’ve already worked that stuff out (or they’re forced to… which would be an unfruitful meeting anyway). This latter part is where I know I can help students.
- There’s also a tricky point in that most students applying for college are minors, and are therefore under the influence and control of their parents. The role of the parent can be helpful, detrimental, or neutral. It’s so tricky that I’d rather not deal with parents at all (except for the case that they’re my own parents… oy vey) and would prefer to help college adults in their professional applications.
And of course, pretty soon this craze will all die down. Students will be home for break after finals and selection committees will make arbitrary decisions. Come the new year, we’ll be interviewing and then another wave of emotions will kick in when decisions are announced.
If you are currently in this process this year, take hope. It only lasts a short time. The stress that you feel is normal. Five years ago, I was freaking out about my adviser not submitting his paperwork until AFTER the deadline while doing like five other things on campus. You’ve done the best you could given the circumstances. You’re doing your best. You’ll do your best. Only the best outcome will happen.
Peace be to you!
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