Welcome to College Essay KJ!
Words define a student: athlete, valedictorian, first-generation, coder, council leader. Words can also tell the story behind the transcript.
Two core principles drive my practice as a college essay writing instructor:
Get the story out of your head so the reader can picture you in time and space.
Your slice of life is as valuable as anyone else’s.
The first is practical because the purpose of a personal statement is to allow admissions officers to form a picture of the student on the page in their mind.
Who is this person? How will they fit in? What will they contribute to our academic community?
The second is personal, stemming from my love of storytelling and a desire to create a space where high school students can share and find value in each other’s stories.
I grew up in a culture where firsts and big feelings were minimized through comparison and the constant reminder of how others have it worse. It took me decades to trust the validity of my emotions and life experience to find my voice as a writer and educator.
After a decade of supporting AP teachers and coordinators behind the scenes with the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board, I first stepped into the formidable and often daunting world of college application essays in 2016. I spent every Saturday that fall working with a cohort of nine high school seniors in Legal Outreach’s College Bound Program on their main personal statements and many (oh, so many!) supplemental essays.
My initial goal was to help these dedicated students as they drafted and revised their essays. However, during the months we spent together, I was delighted to witness them become adept at thinking and writing about their life stories.
College Essay KJ aims to familiarize students with the art of the personal essay, prepare them to write a compelling personal statement for the Common App, and build confidence in their writing process. Instead of viewing the college essay as an eye-rolling chore, I want young writers to develop a lifelong habit of self-exploration and self-expression.
Many students fear they don’t have a story big enough or good enough to write about. Writing college essays can also be a traumatic process for students from underrepresented backgrounds who feel pressured to put their personal challenges front and center to check a “diversity” or “adversity” box. The end of affirmative action adds an extra dose of confusion for students struggling to decide how and if they should highlight their race in their essays.
As you can see, there is a lot to unpack when writing college essays! This newsletter is designed to be a resource of real talk and practical tools for tackling college application essays to help students, parents, and educators feel less overwhelmed by the process.
Paid subscribers can also comment and gain access to the complete archives. Yearly subscribers receive a packet of example student essays.
Founding members can schedule one (60-minute) private coaching session via Zoom.
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College Essay KJ will provide posts and prompts that demystify writing college essays by breaking the process down into two parts.
Part 1: Get It Down features generative exercises and close readings of example essays to help students understand the purpose of a personal statement. Students can identify multiple seed ideas and explore them further by mining their memories for sensory details that create an emotional connection with readers.
Part 2: Fix It Up focuses on revision techniques, such as crafting story starters to hook readers and landing on a memorable endnote. In the culminating virtual workshop, participants will be invited to swap drafts, read each other’s words aloud to hear their story from a new perspective, and practice providing specific, beneficial feedback to their peers.
Whether through posts, prompts, or private coaching, students will receive guidance as they find, draft, and revise an essay that opens a window into their unique character for college admissions officers.
More importantly, students will be equipped with literary tools to elevate the impact of their words as they transition to writing at the college level.
Above all, I want to encourage all to relax and enjoy writing!
Thank you for reading. Please share College Essay KJ with students, parents, guardians, and educators in your life.