procrastinate

Procrastination and the College Essay

Procrastination and the College Essay

Even an aspiring Stanford applicant with perfect test scores, a GPA of 4.46, research referenced in the New England Journal of Medicine, and the captain of her varsity golf team, started procrastinating when it came time for her application essays. Procrastination knows no bounds. In fact, recent research indicates three out of four college students label themselves procrastinators (Thriving in College, p326, Cuseo), of whom 25% have chronic tendencies. It’s a serious problem

Two leading theories explaining essay procrastination include:

Conquering College Essay Procrastination

Conquering College Essay Procrastination

There are students who go through the grueling months of SAT preparation, take full loads of AP classes, and pull together summers of impressive extracurricular activities. However, when it comes to the actual task of writing college application essays, these seeming stars fade away, avoiding writing their essays until the last possible moment. This is very unwise. Procrastination can have a deadly impact on one’s candidacy. If you’re a borderline candidate (and who isn’t at Stanford, Harvard, or Princeton?) your essays can be the ultimate deciding factor. They’re one of the few things you can actually control, but only if you’re willing to devote the necessary time and effort to perfect them and breathe life into them.

College Presidents Write an Admissions Essay

College Presidents Write an Admissions Essay

The 6 May 2009 Wall Street Journal ‘turned the table’ on a group of college presidents from some of the most elite colleges in the country, including the University of Pennsylvania, Pomona College, Wesleyan College, and the University of Chicago.  The article entitled “Holding College Chiefs to their Words,” (6 May 2009, Wall Street Journal, p. D1 and D6, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124155688466088871.html)  featured each president tackling a challenging essay question from his or her school’s supplement to the Common Application (all the schools use the Common Application).