How to get students to get feedback, love feedback, and use it to improve
Surprisingly, feedback is a big pitfall in the essay-writing process.
As essay coaches, we’ve seen essays go off track all the time — the issue is that too many reviewers (moms and dads, mostly) focus on all the wrong things (grammar and phrasing, mostly), not the right things (does the essay show the student will succeed in college and beyond?).
But, as you surely know, feedback is also critical to creating a powerful, admissions-boosting essay.
In this newsletter, we’ll explore:
The guided questions students can give to their reviewers (so Mom and Dad don’t get them off-track)
Preparing students for the need to revise their draft from scratch — it’s not that hard!
Coaching students to do a last round of feedback — focused on writing clarity
The guided questions students can give to their reviewers (so Mom and Dad don’t get them off-track)
The trick to feedback that improves (rather than impedes) is to give the reviewers clear instructions.
Have students ask the people revising their work (usually parents) these questions:
What did they learn about the student in the essay? What traits did they see depicted?
What didn’t they learn about the student that they wanted to know? (What content should the student add?)
How could the student restructure the essay to make it clearer? (Is it readable? Easy to follow? Is it clear where this essay is headed from the beginning? Or does the essay take a confusing turn somewhere?)
Students should direct their reviewers not to focus on grammar. Instead, they should have them circle where they found the writing to be unclear.
The point (which they can explain to their parents) is that the student is probably going to be making substantial changes — so grammar feedback isn’t helpful for the first revision. (That comes later.)
Preparing students for the need to revise their draft from scratch — it’s not that hard!
Armed with excellent, content- and structure-focused feedback, the student will have what it takes to win the battle of the personal statement (or supplement).
Many students need a “radical revision” at this early stage. It sounds awful, but it’s actually … not. If they start again, they’ll find that they keep in the good stuff from their first draft, but that the writing flows much better as they rewrite. We’ve seen that being radical at this stage usually saves time over trying to move things around — and gets much better results.
Whether or not the student does need a “radical revision,” they should consider the following possibilities as they assess the feedback they received:
New topic? It’s possible a student might realize they should switch to a new topic that better lets them show off how they exemplify one or more of the 5 traits that colleges look for in applicants.
New outline? It’s also possible that students will realize they should overhaul their structure or write a new outline.
The point is that students should be “content-focused” as they assess the first round of feedback — if they’re hoping to make minor grammar changes and call it a day, they’re missing out on the opportunity to seriously boost their admissions potential through some admittedly major (but not egregiously time-consuming) changes.
Coaching students to do a last round of feedback — focused on writing clarity
Finally! The student has gotten through a serious, perhaps radical act of revision. They now have an essay with a winning structure and content that compellingly proves they exemplify some of the 5 traits.
Now is the time to make sure the admissions officer can follow it. Yes, we’re talking grammar and phrasing (which we earlier kicked to the curb so rudely).
If possible, have students stick with the same reviewer. (It simplifies things to just have one so the student doesn’t have to “retrain” them.)
The student should ask the exact same questions as before — but this time the focus will likely be more on the essay’s clarity. The content that was missing will now generally be there; the content that was underwhelming will now generally be replaced with something stronger.
So the bulk of the edits at this stage will likely be lots of circles where mom or dad (or whoever) is highlighting passages that are unclear, as well as suggestions for making the essay flow more logically.
How to help your students write great college application essays
Prompt’s Essay Planning Tools help students identify what to write about and how to write about it. The tools are available for free for every student either by requesting a Prompt college application essay resource page for your school (click here to request a page) or through our integration with MaiaLearning.
Click here for a 12-minute video overview of Prompt’s Essay Planning tools.
In our next issue, CANCEL METAPHORS: CLARITY, READABILITY.
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