The College Essay Timeline

The College Essay Timeline I think it is always best for a student to have an impartial person do the proofing. It is difficult for parents to remain unbiased and often it can cause a lot of added tension between the student and parent. Most schools don’t require a student to declare a major until the end of their sophomore year. That gives you two whole years to work on general courses and explore different majors. If you’re interested in psychology, take a couple of classes to see if it’s right for you. Some professors will allow you to audit a course, to find out whether you will enjoy that major. You won’t get a grade or credit for auditing a course, it’s just for academic exploration. The danger there is that the essay starts sounding more like a forty something adult, instead of a high school senior. There is a certain “voice” that defines a young person about to start college and if it is lacking in an essay, Admissions Directors will quickly pick it up. Yes, it is perfectly okay to have your parents edit your essays. However, the key is to edit, not to write them for you. They can help with typos, grammatical errors, and help you to be clear, concise and compelling. It’s not too late to explore your options and plan for college. Enrolling in a four-year university, a two-year community college, or a trade school will help continue your education. College Foundation of North Carolina, CFNC, is here to help you plan, apply, and pay for school. That’s because the opportunities available inside and outside the classroom will help you take the important next steps into adulthood and your future career. CFNC.org has great tools to help parents and students explore college options. There are also resources to help you apply and pay for higher education. Let us help you figure out how to get the college, now that you understand why you should go to college. You don’t have to know the answer to that question before going to college. They know you best, sometimes more than you know yourself so they may have good suggestions. However, you do want the essays to sound like you; it should be your voice. There should be some consistency between the essays and interviews. The emphasis must be on “help” and not, “take over.” Parents, with only the best intentions, will often offer lots of input and comments, which their child will gratefully accept. The unemployment rate for college grads is also about half the jobless rate of high school graduates. Getting a good-paying job is one of the top reasons why most people go to college. Beyond financial rewards, there are other ways college can change your life. College graduates have more earning potential on average than people who only have a high school diploma. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that in 2018, people with a college degree made around $1,198 a week. Someone with a high school diploma earned just $730. That could mean non-college grads are missing out on $1 million in earnings, over a lifetime. It is, however, a good idea for the parents to help the student brainstorm ideas for the essay prior to writing it. If they read through and make light edits, grammatical and typos, yes. If the parent re-writes or writes the essay the answer is no. But resist the urge to rewrite everything in the way you might express it. More than any other element of the application, the essay gives insight into who a student really is. So it should “sound” like the applicant, revealing personality, interests, quirks, personal style, and voice. Some parents can act as a sounding board without taking over the project, while others cannot. The reasons why you should go to college go beyond getting a solid education.