You’ve heard the college application essay is a big deal. Now that you are officially a rising senior, it’s time to figure out what to write about.

Are these dreaded essays going to hang over your head all summer? Most aren’t even due until late fall or even January anyway. So what’s the rush?

In my opinion, there’s no rush. But if you are smart, you will give yourself a deadline now. And make a plan. Otherwise, the pressure will start building in the back of your mind, and the anxiety of what you “should be doing” could hurt the fun you are having.

Some college counselors and essay “experts” advise students to simply start thinking about their essays over summer, and casually brainstorming ideas, and reflecting on themes such as, “What makes me unique?” or “Who am I?”

I don’t think active introspection can hurt, but I believe it’s more effective to make a specific writing plan, with deadlines, and stick to it. Worrying about these essays is the worst part.

To see the new essays for the 2016-2017 Common Application, click here. http://blog.commonapp.org/2015/03/31/2015-2016-essay-prompts/

 

 

 

 

 

The GET IT DONE Plan of Attack –

•  Make a decision that you will start and finish your main essay(s). (The Common App or other core essays for universities) by the end of summer. Your senior year will be busier than you think. And there will be other supplemental essays to work on as well.
•  Get out a calendar and pick a two-week period that you will work on your essays. These don’t have to take weeks on end to write. But you need to make a plan and block out time around your other summer plans to work on them.
•  Don’t think you will work on them during your family summer trip or vacation, or in the car or plane. This all sounds like down time, but usually there are too many distractions.
•  During the two weeks you blocked out, commit to six blocks of writing time on specific days: two hours in either the morning, afternoon or evening to your essays. For example, write in your calendar “College App Essay” on Monday p.m. between 1-3 p.m.; Wednesday 10-noon; and Friday 10-noon—or whatever days fit your schedule during those two weeks. (You can always adjust them as needed; but start with a plan.) I’m thinking mornings might your most productive time, and you can leave afternoon and evenings for summer fun.
•  Find a way to stick your deadlines. Make your plan with a friend; work together it if helps. Enlist your parents to gently enforce your deadlines. Only you know how you work the best, especially with writing assignment. Use the same tricks you did in school.Map out your personal writing plan based on your best habits.

(There are many books and online resources to help with writing college app essays. I suggest reading the advice and tips I share on my blog, www.EssayHell.com. If you want a step-by-step guide to writing a narrative, slice-of-life essays, check out my book, Escape Essay Hell. To find inspiring sample essays, look for my new collection in Heavenly Essays. These books are available as ebooks or paperbacks on my web site or Amazon.)

Here’s a sample GET IT DONE Plan. Adjust it to where you are in the process, and your own writing pace:

WEEK ONE:

Monday: 1-3 p.m.: Goal: Get an idea of what makes a good essay and understand what prompts you will address. Research essay writing advice/tips/resources online. Read sample essays found online or in books. Find the prompts for your target schools. Create a computer folder for your essay writing files.

Wednesday: 10-noon: Goal: Brainstorm topic ideas for main essay. Research “college app topic ideas” online to get idea of what makes good ones. Start looking for your personal stories and moments that could illustrate what makes you unique.

Friday: 10-noon: Goal: Craft a rough outline. You know your topic, now map out the order of how you will write about it. Just number your paragraphs. Find an anecdote to use for your introduction. Put a main point in each paragraph, then fill in ideas and points you want to make in each paragraph.

WEEK TWO:

Monday: 1-3 p.m. Goal: Pound out rough draft. Review your outline.Some students write the body first, and then add the introduction later. Don’t try to make it perfect. Just get out your ideas in the general order you mapped out. Shoot for 600 words or so. (You will cut it back later)

Tuesday: 10-noon: Goal: Develop rough draft. Read your rough draft. Take out dull parts, add details and examples to bolster your main points, smooth transitions, mix up sentence lengths, etc. If you like it, ask someone to read it and give you feedback.

Thursday: 10-noon: Goal: Polish rough draft. If you like the way your essay reads at this point, it’s time to self-edit. Take out words you don’t need, read it out loud and make sure it flows, check spelling and grammar closely, print it out and review it on paper.

DONE! Now that wasn’t so bad, right? And now you have the rest of summer to kick back and enjoy!