SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2017 | P Workshop Overview
NATIONAL COLLEGE ADMISSIONS CONFERENCE SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2017 | POMONA COLLEGE Workshop Overview: Telling Your Story Purpose The goal of this workshop is to provide students with advice on how to tell their unique story in their college application. Logistics Groups of 20 to 25 students will be paired up with groups of two to three admissions representatives for the Telling Your Story workshop. The workshop will last for 45 minutes; it is important not to run late as it will impact the session following yours. We have prepared this PowerPoint presentation to ensure that every student at the conference gets the same information. Please feel free to draw on your own experience to provide additional tips and anecdotes to the PowerPoint content. Students will already have printouts of the slides from this presentation in their binders. Curriculum The workshop consists of three parts:
Advising students to approach a college application as an opportunity to tell their unique story Tips on writing effective college application essays An activity
Part 1: PowerPoint presentation (slides 1-7) This part of the presentation seeks to advise students to use every opportunity possible on the application to give background and context so that their achievements can be evaluated in light of their circumstances. The main message we are trying to communicate is that students should include all of their relevant background details in their application and view the application as a way to share information about themselves, their background, or demonstrate intellectual curiosity. We suggest that rather than approaching an application as a series of questions to be answered, students should first think about the information about themselves that they want to present to the admissions committee at a college, and then work to include all of that information somewhere in their application. We encourage students to highlight pieces that are important to them and describe how they’ve become the person they are today. We provide examples of two sample students and compare how they present themselves in various sections of the application. Part 2: PowerPoint presentation (slides 8-22) The PowerPoint presentation continues with details on how to approach the essay. There are five essay strategies that help them to get started on thinking about topics for their essay, how to share their unique story, and how to stand apart from the rest of the applicant pool. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Choose a topic only you can write about. Demonstrate emotional maturity. Focus on your passions - not just your career Remember the admissions officer’s perspective Edit and proofread.
The presentation ends with a few tips to guide students as they move forward in their essay writing. Part 3: Activity (slide 23) In the student binder there are two sample essays (you have these samples in your binder as well, found in the “Telling Your Story” tab). Please have the students read the essays and complete the questions at the bottom of the page: 1) In one sentence, summarize what you learned about the writer; 2) List two things the writer did well; and 3) List two things the writer needs to work on. To tie things up, please ask for students to share their thoughts and/or provide feedback from your point of view. Please note there are also two other essays, examples of a weak and a strong essay in response to the same prompt. These are more of a reference for students to use after the conference, and don’t need to be addressed during the workshop.
Advising students to approach a college application as an opportunity to tell their unique story Tips on writing effective college application essays An activity
Part 1: PowerPoint presentation (slides 1-7) This part of the presentation seeks to advise students to use every opportunity possible on the application to give background and context so that their achievements can be evaluated in light of their circumstances. The main message we are trying to communicate is that students should include all of their relevant background details in their application and view the application as a way to share information about themselves, their background, or demonstrate intellectual curiosity. We suggest that rather than approaching an application as a series of questions to be answered, students should first think about the information about themselves that they want to present to the admissions committee at a college, and then work to include all of that information somewhere in their application. We encourage students to highlight pieces that are important to them and describe how they’ve become the person they are today. We provide examples of two sample students and compare how they present themselves in various sections of the application. Part 2: PowerPoint presentation (slides 8-22) The PowerPoint presentation continues with details on how to approach the essay. There are five essay strategies that help them to get started on thinking about topics for their essay, how to share their unique story, and how to stand apart from the rest of the applicant pool. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Choose a topic only you can write about. Demonstrate emotional maturity. Focus on your passions - not just your career Remember the admissions officer’s perspective Edit and proofread.
The presentation ends with a few tips to guide students as they move forward in their essay writing. Part 3: Activity (slide 23) In the student binder there are two sample essays (you have these samples in your binder as well, found in the “Telling Your Story” tab). Please have the students read the essays and complete the questions at the bottom of the page: 1) In one sentence, summarize what you learned about the writer; 2) List two things the writer did well; and 3) List two things the writer needs to work on. To tie things up, please ask for students to share their thoughts and/or provide feedback from your point of view. Please note there are also two other essays, examples of a weak and a strong essay in response to the same prompt. These are more of a reference for students to use after the conference, and don’t need to be addressed during the workshop.
