4 Ways Parents Can Help Their Teen With College Essays

With millions of students applying to college each year, it’s necessary for colleges to streamline their methods of evaluating college applicants. For this reason, there are many ways in which the college application process reduces college applicants to a series of statistics. These numbers, from SAT scores to GPAs, become a large part of the screening process when a college reviews an application. This might seem unfair to students who aren’t naturally good test takers or who stumbled midway through high school before finding his or her feet. Some parents might wonder if there’s any way for a student to redeem him or herself if the numbers don’t quite add up. Other parents might wonder if there’s any way to stand out in a field of applicants who are otherwise very similar on paper. Luckily, there is one part of the college application that allows your teen to speak his or her truth — the college essay. In this post, we’re going to break down the purpose of the college essay, its importance in the application process, and four ways that you can help your teen as he or she tackles the college essay. The college essay, also sometimes referred to as a personal statement, is generally your teen’s opportunity to speak to his or her unique experiences, qualities, or beliefs that aren’t elsewhere represented on the application. Though prompts might vary from the specific to the vastly broad, most give applicants the opportunity to break away from the data that defines them on paper and provide a glimpse into who they really are. In short, the college essay is the admissions committee’s chance to get to know the real person behind the application. In a college essay, admissions committees are generally looking for something that sets an applicant apart. They are asking themselves, does this person write about something truly unique, or does the applicant write about something common in a new and interesting way? Does the applicant write about an aspect of his or her application that needs further explanation? All of these are great ways to maximize the potential of a college essay. Estimating your chance of getting into a college is not easy in today’s competitive environment. Thankfully, with our state-of-the-art software and data, we can analyze your academic and extracurricular profile and estimate your chances. Our profile analysis tool can also help you identify the improvement you need to make to enter your dream school. This of course varies from one college to another. At many large schools, a college essay won’t be reviewed unless an applicant meets specific screening requirements first. For example, applicants may have to reach a benchmark standardized test score to advance to another round of application screenings. At other colleges, particularly those at which standardized tests are optional or at which admissions committees boast of a more holistic approach to admissions, college essays are a pivotal piece of the application. The bottom line is that your teen can never know which element of his or her application will become a defining piece of it, and the college essay provides a unique opportunity to shine in ways not offered on other parts of the application. In short, the college essay doesn’t always determine whether or not a student is accepted, but it can and may and should be treated as such. For this reason, we offer four ways to help your teen as he or she tackles the college essay. One way in which you can prepare to help your teen is to read as many college essay prompts as you can get your hands on. Start with the Common Application . Anyone can open an online account to review the Common Application and doing so will allow you to read not only the essay prompts on the Common Application itself, but also the supplementary prompts required by many of the colleges that accept the Common App. You can also find examples of past prompts and of previous successful college essays, often available on college websites. Check out the websites for Vanderbilt, Connecticut College and Johns Hopkins to get a good idea of what a strong college essay looks like. Though your teen might not ever ask for you advice about his or her essay, if he or she does, you’ll be poised and ready to maximize the opportunity. And if he or she doesn’t, odds are that you’ll still be able to sneak some insights into your casual conversations. The best time for your student to write a killer college essay is over summer break before senior year. While this probably sounds like a bummer to your teen, it is ideal in a number of undeniable ways. First, it means that your teen will have plenty of time to revise and refine the essay before submitting it, and won’t have to stress about Early Decision or Early Action deadlines if he or she chooses to go that route. Second, writing the essay over the summer means that your teen won’t have the usual distractions of other school work. Odds are that he or she will be able to find some dedicated time to focus on it 100% in a way that simply isn’t possible during the school year. Lay this out for your teen during the spring of his or her junior year, and do whatever you need to do to facilitate a successful writing environment over the summer. This might mean allowing him or her a week off between summer programs or a week away from work in order to focus on the essay. This dedicated time won’t be available during the school year, so plan for it now, while the opportunity presents itself. Your teen’s college essay needs to be a reflection of who he or she truly is at this point in time. As parents, it’s our temptation to jump in and solve problems for our kids, but this is a time to step back and allow your teen to work through the challenge on his or her own. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t lend plenty of perspective and insight. Instead, it simply means that your advice should be a response to what your teen creates and thinks up on his or her own. Don’t be the one who provides essay topics and examples. Instead, ask provocative questions to get your teen thinking. Rephrase prompts to clarify their intent. Ask your teen to brainstorm times that he or she was challenged, stood up for his or her beliefs, or did something out of the ordinary. You can help your teen to find his or her own direction, but resist your temptation to take the lead. The college essay is the kind of piece that gets worked over, read, and reread so many times that it can become stale to your teen and even to you. There are only so many times that you can read something with fresh eyes and provide renewed insights. Of course, your teen should be the first to edit his or her work, keeping an eye focused on organizational details, grammar, spelling, and tone. Often, you will be the second set of eyes to review the essay, but beyond that, it’s wise to seek some outside help at some stage. Â   Encourage your teen to share his or her essay with a trusted teacher, guidance counselor, or mentor who understands the college admissions process. You might even consider enlisting the help of a professional editing service that will help your teen to polish his or her work in a way that shines brightest for college admissions committees. ’s Essay Review can return edits and revisions in as quickly as a few hours. If your teen continues to struggle with the college essay, consider the benefits of ’s Applications Guidance service. Here, students are paired with a personal admissions specialist who can provide step-by-step guidance through the entire application process, including how to optimize the college essay.

Argument Diet coke (it's bad in health, waste money, contributes to Essay - 1

Argument Diet coke (it's bad in health, waste money, contributes to greenhouse gases because the product is shipped in lots of p - Essay Example Similarly, there are other adverse effects of Diet Coke on health. The beverage also contributes to greenhouse gases, and environmental issues due to its non-recycleable packaging. The Coca-Cola company with the Carbon Trust has given details on â€Å"the carbon footprints of some of the company’s most popular drinks, including Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero† (Mohan, 2009). This is the first time the Carbon Trust has certified the carbon footprint of any brand of carbonated drinks. Thesis Statement: This argument paper supports the view that Diet Coke is detrimental to weight loss, to maintaining good health and to the environment. The Adverse Health Outcomes of Consuming Diet Coke According to Pat Thomas, although Diet Coke is strongly associated with sports and health, it is composed of a â€Å"worrying mixture of neurotoxic and potentially carcinogenic high intensity sweeteners, tooth and bone destroying acids and DNA damaging colourings† (Thomas 31). Fur ther, the beverage also contains psychoaddictive caffeine and other ‘flavorings’. ... Soda manufacturers have continued to mix benzoates and acids due to a lack of pressure from regulatory authorities to change their formula to prevent the formation of benzene. â€Å"Ironically, the high fructose syrups used in regular drinks seem to slow this reaction down, and the formation of benzene appears to be most problematic in diet drinks† (Thomas 31). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved of the sweetener acesulfame potassium, or Sunett, for use in various instant beverages and other food products. The sweetener is manufactured by Hoechst Celanese Corporation. The company’s tests have not proved that the product is safe; on the other hand, research studies by some of the scientists at the company’s laboratory have indicated that the product may even cause cancer in laboratory animals. The FDA is â€Å"now reviewing Sunett for soft drinks, the biggest and most competitive market for artificial sweeteners† (BBN 7C). The annual sales o f low calorie soft drinks such as Diet Coke at retail outlets in the United States reached $3.8 billion, according to Information Resources Inc. The Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has stated that if Sunnet is approved for use in Diet Coke, millions of Americans will be further exposed to large amounts of the additive. The Cocal Cola firm plans to use a blend of Sunett with NutraSweet (the brand name for the artificial sweetener Aspartame) in Diet Coke popular as â€Å"the nation’s leading diet soda and the third-largest selling soft drink† (BBN 7C), after Sunett’s approval by the FDA. The Hoechst Celanese disputes the CSPI’s opposition to the artificial sweetener, â€Å"arguing that Sunett is already in some 3,000 products in 80

Financial management Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Financial management - Term Paper Example By international standards, this indeed was a phenomenal growth. The balance sheets of commercial banks exhibited rapid increase during the entire eighties decade but started showing signs of slowing down in the first half of nineties as interest differences tended to taper off and banks started depending more and more on fees as their primary source of income. There was another tell tale sign of continuous increase in the size of the international financial superstructure and that was a marked increase in the volume of securities outstanding (mainly in the form of bonds and money market papers) in the total quantum of financial claims while there was an almost parallel decline in deposits and loans. However, what all analysts and financial experts preferred at that moment to turn a blind eye to was the increased specter of massive amounts of bad debts. Things were further complicated by the fact that while household sector balance sheets started exhibiting an increase in both assets and liabilities, there was a marked decline in deposits within gross household assets and an almost comparable increase in net financial wealth in the form of securities. (Blommestein 1996) This was possibly a direct offshoot of the remarkable innovativeness that was witnessed in the financial markets during this decade when one was overwhelmed by the sudden spurt in derivatives markets and advent of commercial papers in a very big way. Practically all forms of regulations and restrictions that were considered vital for maintaining stability in international financial markets were given a go by as almost all OECD countries abolished exchange controls. The banking sector also got rid of almost all forms interest rate controls and controls over credit expansion. The capitals markets also witnessed removal of controls over fees and commissions. In some countries, the existing