Updated 10/30/2008 to reflect current web site links.

This past Saturday (October 25, 2008), I had the opportunity to attend a get-together for parents on how to fund college and universities. A lot of great materials were shared; relevant links appear below:

1. Rep. Mike Villareal’s web site–http://leaderslisten.org
2. Jeanne Russell’s presentation – http://www.leaderslisten.org/college

I’ll have to forgive them because though I thought I had my digital audio recorder in my media bag, apparently, I’d left it on my desk at home. Sigh. Fortunately, I had my quote-notepad and a pen, so I took notes as much as possible.

One of the presentations was Rep. Villarreal’s wife (Jeanne Russell) and it was by far, the best presentation. Of course, it was about something I’m very interested in, as was my future college student–Writing the College Essay. Jeanne Russell, the speaker, was a former Express-News Reporter and a huge advocate of writing in schools.

Below are my notes on her presentation:

1. Visualize the college application form–it’s mostly fill-in the blank form. Not a lot of opportunities to tell people about your character or flesh our your life story. So many students have tremendous life stories that can impress admissions officers.
2. Encourage students to use the esay as a way to tell who they are.
3. Students have powerful stories to tell and those stories are often an unexplored asset in college admissions process.
4. Taking control of your life story is a powerful experience.
5. “Write how you are different, what makes you special and unique.” – Sandra Cisneros
6. Tell a story that is true and specific to your life.
7. Writing a succesful college essay requires revision and editing with ample time for reflection and feedback.
8. First steps…write your essay online so it’s easily accessible and polish 2 essay pieces that you can re-use with some adaptation for multiple applications.
9. Texas Common Application allows you to save your essay online: http://www.applytexas.org
10. Common Application – accepted by 346 private universities. http://www.commonapp.org
    
11. College Scholarships often require an essay.
12. Essay Topics:
    a) Tell us about someone who has made an impact on your life.
    b) Share about an issue of importance to you–personal, school-related, of significance to you.
13. Tips:
    a) Figure out what you want to say.
    b) Refine your essay
14. Be yourself…tell your secrets.
15. Tell a story. Write as you and hear, like a screenplay.
16. Don’t be afraid to be different.
17. Most essays are about 500 words in length.
18. Find a good listener and/or editor.
19. Write 2 pieces then adapt them for additional submissions and scholarships.
20. Revision Tips:
    a) Print out what you’ve written
    b) Separate it out into different pieces
    c) Underline your favorite parts and put those at the beginning and/or end. The beginning and end are most important. Share details that are true to you and use verbs for word choice. Save these essays online so you can just copy-n-paste to others.
    d) What does your essay say about you?
21. Make a list of everything and when it is due.

My favorite quote of the whole presentation was this one:

Taking control of your life story is an empowering experience.

As I reflect on this presentation, the question that kept coming to mind is why Jeanne didn’t mention all the wikis available where students could publish their essays and other materials online without having to worry about them being viewed.

For example, my favorite wiki host–Wikispaces.com–allows you to lock your wiki down and prevent access by others. Why not use it as a convenient place to craft one’s college admission essays, online and “safe” from prying eyes?

Another possibility is for high schools to provide this as a service to students so that they have some place “safe” to write their essays, get feedback on them if they desire them? How hard would it be to setup a Moodle for this purpose?

What other ideas/suggestions do you have?

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