College Mentoring Program: A Reflection

This weekend a part of our class got a chance to talk to some high school seniors about their college essays and the ideas (or lack thereof) that they had regarding regarding what they wanted to write about. This was part of the College Mentoring Program from the Center for Civic Engagement, and I actually thought it was a really interesting and hopefully helpful experience for the seniors that we talked to. It kind of makes me wish that I had some college students come talk to me when I was applying for colleges back in my senior year of high school. I was paired up with Julia because there weren't enough seniors for each of us to talk to, and both of us had our share of time with the high school senior we were grouped with. Our senior was interested in film and directing movies, and he gave us a list of potential schools that he had wanted to apply to for that reason. It seems that both Julia's and my advice to him was to be honest about what he wanted to do and to write about it in his college essay. He seemed enthusiastic about his ideas, and I think that our advice and encouragement will help him when it comes time for him to sit down and write his essays. I think its very important, especially during the college admissions process, to be honest about who you are and to avoid the tendency to "bullshit" your way through the essays. In reality, a college essay is the only way a school can really know who you are and get an idea about what kind of person you are. SAT scores, grades, and all those other quantitative figures just make you another statistic. Writing, however, is a true expression of individuality and personal thought, and it is important for everyone, not just high school seniors, to remember that.