Over the summer, the staff of the Garden City High School Writing Center developed an after school workshop to help demystify college application essays. Originally, a single workshop was planned for Oct. 1. However, because student response was so overwhelming, two additional workshops have been scheduled for Oct. 28 and Nov. 12. The workshop focuses on understanding the role played by the essay in the admissions process and helping students gain greater confidence in choosing subject matter.

Since the Writing Center opened three years ago, countless seniors have brought their essays to be reviewed by members of the staff. It soon became apparent that many students made poor choices of subject matter. They didn't understand what the colleges wanted or how to approach the essay. Often first draft essays had to be abandoned completely because they simply didn't do the job. To address this need, Carol McCavitt and Catherine Oriani wrote a 90-minute workshop to address the problem.

At the first workshop, students learned that the essay portion was a unique opportunity to distinguish themselves by providing personal information that might not show up in other parts of their application. Almost all schools want to create a diverse student population made up of individuals who will give something back to the institution. Not only do they want to know that the individual writes well, they are also attempting to find out if the student is a good fit for that particular college. Since the greatest number of students drop out during their freshman year, schools do their best to assure that the students they do accept are "keepers."

Almost all colleges will ask an essay question that requires students to tell them about themselves. The "you" essay allows the admissions officer to get to know the student better. The tone should be conversational and friendly. The student should focus on one or two traits that they believe reveal their true essence. This is not as easy as it may sound because students are not often asked to describe themselves. The workshop offered a number of techniques to help students identify adjectives that elicit a true picture. Once students accurately define themselves, they must now write an essay that proves their interpretation. They are encouraged to write anecdotally about events in their lives that support their depiction. The workshop concentrated on helping students to accurately describe themselves.

Another frequently seen essay topic can be summed up as the "why us?" essay. This type of question is designed to demonstrate to the college that the student has a rich understanding of the values, philosophy, specialties and demographics of the school. Once again, colleges are attempting to be sure that students understand who they are, to prevent disappointment and a potentially poor fit.

The last type of essay that students may confront on their applications is the "creative" essay. It usually requires exhibiting some level of scholarship and also indicates something about who the student is as an individual. Examples might be: identify a character in fiction that you admire and explain why or choose a controversial national issue that you feel strongly about and defend your viewpoint. Colleges can tell something about the individual based on the subject matter chosen. They can also determine how well informed and analytical the writer is by their presentation.

Students are invited to visit the Writing Center at any point in the essay writing process. Staff members assist with the brainstorming stage of choosing a topic, selecting anecdotal examples to personalize the piece, organization, as well as editing. Although the essay writing portion of the college application appears daunting at first, the Writing Center has tackled the problem of demystifying the process.