College Essay Applications

On Saturday, we met with a group of high school seniors who were beginning to come up with their topics for their college essays. My student had several ideas about possible essay topics for the common application; she had a series of possible topics she thought she would be able to write about. I asked her which ones she thought were the most interesting to her and she revealed that she liked 2 or 3 topics the best. I wanted her to focus on a topic that would show growth in order to demonstrate the person she has become. She then revealed her possible idea for the Richmond supplement essay which asks the student to discuss an experience in which they went out of their comfort zone. She started talking about how she was a mentor and the experience with mentoring brought her out of her comfort zone because she no longer hesitated to help people and had no problems talking to people. As we continued to talk, however, she mentioned that she had gone out of the country for the first time last summer. She talked about how she had to adapt to a new culture, as well as having to use her limited knowledge of Spanish for the first time in her life. I wanted her to write about her feelings of the trip whether it was what made her nervous or what she overcame. She began to brainstorm about her experience by showing positive outcomes about her time in Barcelona and also about what made her go out of her comfort zone. By the end of the session, she had told me her doubts before going to Barcelona and what she had gotten out of the experience. Through our session together, she realized that she had a lot to say about going out of her comfort zone and had ideas for a promising essay. I'll be excited to see what she comes up with when I see her again in November!