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Create, Verify, Edit: 3 College Essay Skills I Teach

Lyn Hawks · January 15, 2023 · Leave a Comment

In this age of AI, colleagues and I discuss what it truly means to be a human creator. Whether artist or professor, novelist or teacher, or all of the above, wise people I know are ruminating on this topic.

When it comes to the college essay, I teach students takeaway skills that allow them to work with or without bots. The lifelong skills of Creation, Verification, and Editing.

Futurists and techno-optimists are saying (at the time of this writing) that the future with AI is in the hands of those who can prompt and edit the work of AI.

At the time of this writing, I strongly discourage using AI for your college essay (and here’s why). But however you interface with AI in your future work in college and beyond, I want to make sure the skills I teach you are ones you can use well beyond the time spent with me. And human authors must always have these creating, verifying, and editing skills.

Creation

  • How to generate meaningful, unique, and memorable details. More on that here, in this “Show Don’t Tell” post I wrote for College Essay Guy.
  • How to make a path and structure through those details that means something to you, the writer, as well as your reader. More on that here in these posts:
    • Follow Your Heart in the College Essay
    • 4 Values-Focused College Essay Brainstorming Exercises
  • How to identify, enhance, and amplify your writer’s voice
  • How to own your work (and make a series of choices) throughout the creation process

Verification

  • How to research a school’s details to make a great match with yours
  • How to align your values with a school’s values
  • How to fact check any assertions or data and whether to cite or credit within an essay
  • How to stay academically honest within a college essay

Editing

  • How to revise so that you remove extraneous generalizations and focus on the storytelling “gold”
  • How to revise for flow
  • How to Cut Down Words in a College Essay
  • How to ensure your grammar and punctuation is on point

Services

Contact me if you’d like to talk about how to be a better creator, verifier, and editor

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Filed Under: Essay Coaching

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About Lyn Hawks,owner of Success Story

LynAs a Stanford graduate, as an experienced English teacher who has coached students from competitive public and private schools with their essays, as an expert in gifted education, and as an award-winning young adult fiction author, I know what stories get the attention of universities. I help talented students use powerful storytelling strategies to share their accomplishments, personality, and character to colleges. [READ MORE...]

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Testimonials from Clients

“Mrs. Hawks' coaching highlights the individual story and encourages applicants to be authentic in their essays.”
—Rachel, Elon University


“Lyn offers rich wisdom and honesty. After working with her on my essays, I gained a greater sense of self and belief in my capabilities. Lyn was an integral part of my admission to college.”
—Henry, DePaul University graduate


"Lyn did an amazing job helping my daughter choose the best prompts that drew out her true self. Lyn was so encouraging and knew how to inspire my 17-year-old."
—Amy, parent

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