Blog-Post Archives

Neurodiversity: it’s all of us

November 12, 2024 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

The topic of neurodiversity – which applies to all of us – has become an everyday discussion in our world. To me and Faya, it feels like there’s more awareness and acceptance than ever, and even so this topic still needs more attention.

Neurodivergence: A Possible “Superpower”

That no two people have the exact same brain function or behavioral traits is what makes each of us unique, interesting, and valuable! Out-of-the-box thinkers and highly successful people are disproportionately neurodivergent, including Albert Einstein, Richard Branson, Barbara Corcoran, Charles Schwab, Octavia Spencer, Ingvar Kamprad, Elon Musk, Greta Thunberg, and Michael Phelps – the list goes on and on. We should look at neurodivergence as a potential “superpower” that we encourage and develop, and everyone’s neurodiversity should be celebrated and embraced. Notably, self-actualization requires all students to channel their intention, enhance their metacognition and executive functions, and develop compensatory strategies in order to harness those special strengths and manage any relative weaknesses.

In the age of AI and seemingly constant technology innovations, which has also become an everyday discussion, we focus on enhanced hardware, memory chips, processing speed, and programming. When your mobile phone or laptop struggles to keep up, you simply swap out the device or you make changes to specific components when you can. Wifi mesh systems, routers, or switches can be upgraded. Cables can be swapped and upgraded. Sluggish computers can be reset with a hard shutdown and restart. Human brains don’t come with these same options, and we wouldn’t want them to! Our neurodiversity is our strength and our humanity; it’s what makes us unique, and teamwork benefits from this variation in the human experience.

Think about the adults in your workplace or family with whom you collaborate. Think about those people with exceptional creativity, focus, attention to detail, ability to identify trends, recall of details, fast processing speeds, or visual processing skills. Based on your working understandings of various diagnoses (as related to neurodivergent learners) and neurodiversity at large, can you begin to speculate as to who might have ADHD, who might be dyslexic, who might be on the autism spectrum, or who might be highly intelligent but a slower processor? What strengths do each of these people bring to the table? Are they essential members of your team? Have they developed successful compensatory strategies in order to be successful? Have you developed strategies to differentiate your approach and collaborate successfully with each of these valued people?

Generational Differences

Learning differences exist on a continuum, and we’re firm believers in advocating for students of all ages and providing targeted instruction and justified accommodations to level the playing field for each student as appropriate. The fields of neurology, neuropsychology, and psychiatry have evolved tremendously since Gen X and Baby Boomers were kids. Evidence-based pedagogical research is abundant, and our sophisticated abilities to target and differentiate instruction are light years ahead of where they were. Millennials and Gen Z have particularly reaped the benefits of better informed teaching practices, such as the “science of reading” that we regularly hear about today, which helps to explain why we see so many more comprehensive evaluations, diagnoses, IEPs, 504 Plans, private school learning plans, and approvals from standardized testing publishers in today’s environment. Gen X and Baby Boomers, for the most part, simply had to cope and stay out of trouble, which had some pluses and some minuses.

Traps With Embracing Neurodiversity

Despite our progress, there are certain pitfalls that could hold any student back, regardless of their specific learning profile or neurodiversity, and we need to avoid these traps:

Pathologizing – we can’t allow labels to dictate or define limitations or let students wallow in any “can’t-do” attitude. Self-fulfilling prophecies are dangerous and counter productive.
Lowering the bar – maintaining high standards and a growth mindset coupled with compassionate, skillful, and targeted instruction is the only way forward. “Yet” is a small but powerful word and should be part of our key messages for all students.
Avoiding hard work – confronting challenges regardless of your learning profile is the harder road to take, and it’s critical that we support our students in choosing this path. Leaning into hard work, developing compensatory strategies, and getting comfortable with the uncomfortable is the only way to shore up lifelong success. Building confidence is best done by building skills through a scaffolded approach, racking up accomplishments, and overcoming adversity. We need to respect differences in pace and an individual student’s ability to produce, thus success should be defined situationally and on an individual student basis. “Appropriately challenging” each student requires careful consideration and ongoing partnership between all adult stakeholders.
Leaving it entirely up to schools – all schools have limited resources within the context of what they’re equipped to do and staffed to provide. Despite the best intentions or tuition cost, there is a breaking point to the level of customization and individualization that classroom teachers, learning specialists, or administrators can manage on their own, which holds true whether we’re talking about mainstream, specialized, or therapeutic school environments. We see that many independent schools, for example, are often quicker to suggest getting an evaluation than they are able to put all of those instructional recommendations and/or accommodations fully into place; an idealistic level of differentiated instruction requires parent partnership, creativity, and open-mindedness in addition to a considerable investment of time, energy, and resources.
Analysis paralysis – perfect should not be the enemy of good. Parents know their children best. When a parent senses something isn’t right, they should follow their gut instinct. See something, say something, and DO something. Don’t wait for the school to come to your rescue. Don’t wait months to dig into remedial work while you organize a neuropsychological evaluation. Put a starting plan into action and then refine it as more data becomes available.

Rising To The Challenge

As we think about raising productive, successful, and happy human beings in today’s global economy, developing grit and character remains as important as ever. So is cultivating divergent, critical thinking. Embracing neurodiversity means embracing all of us. Each person is special. Each person brings a unique perspective to the table. Each person deserves to pursue life, liberty, and happiness as defined on their own terms. Each person deserves to have their strengths celebrated. Our differences really do make the world go round.

To be in a position to make informed and strategic decisions as students age up, we need to work together and hold our young people accountable in reasonable and supportive ways. Over-protecting, swooping in too quickly, or pathologizing their challenges cuts them down rather than building them up. Blaming schools isn’t constructive. Instead, we need partnerships. Independence, critical thinking, compassion, creativity, and grit must be cultivated over time in close partnership with all stakeholders involved in helping your student to succeed. Some “tough love” is appropriate so long as it’s informed, balanced, intentional, constructive, and delivered by trusted adults.

At My Learning Springboard, Faya and I continuously experience the joy associated with our students rising to the challenge, taking the harder road, overcoming challenges, and developing the necessary coping skills and compensatory strategies to self actualize. Growing with families over time informs this perspective, and it’s the most rewarding aspect of our work. We’re inspired everyday by exceptional students, parents, grandparents, educators, and colleagues across many related fields. Our collective neurodiversity and skillfulness coupled with a growth mindset, readiness to take action, collaborative spirit, transparent communication, and tenacity are key ingredients to our success.

Scheduling An Appointment

Whatever your need or wonder may be, please don’t hesitate to contact us. An initial planning meeting is usually the best way to get started. These meetings can be 30, 45, or 60 minutes by Zoom, by phone, or in person per a family’s preference. A single planning meeting allows us to talk more substantively about your family’s specific needs, priorities, and goals so that we can determine possible next steps. We’re committed to developing unique solutions for unique learners!

We look forward to hearing from you!

Warm regards,
Brad Hoffman and Faya Hoffman,
Co-Founders and Learning Concierges, My Learning Springboard

Short-Term Tutoring and Targeted Skill Building

October 18, 2024 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

Short-term tutoring is intended to build specific skills and ultimately lead to improved effectiveness and independence. The effort scope — frequency, duration and total instructional time — is driven by a family’s specific goals and benchmarking data.

At My Learning Springboard, our approach to short-term tutoring is quite different. We work in small teaching teams and closely partner with parents and any other professionals with whom a family might want involved.

Every family benefits from a minimum of three (3) educators: Brad Hoffman and Faya Hoffman, who are both Learning Specialists and the co-founders, as well as the tutor who meets in person or remotely with students per a family’s preference. This approach ensures collaboration, shared expertise, and privacy. Checks and balances are built into the process to be sure that the work is focused and targeted. All engagements are at will and incremental decision making is encouraged.

Key Questions To Inform Short-Term Tutoring Planning

What is currently observed at home and at school?
How is my student performing now?
What is the desired outcome?

Through discussion and close partnership, meaningful planning unfolds. Tutoring efforts range from a single session, to a multi-week engagement, to a longer-term engagement depending on the specific needs and situation.

Short-term tutoring efforts include but are not limited to the following areas:

Language Arts

Reading support targeting decoding, comprehension, and fluency.
Developing a 5-paragraph persuasive essay.
Effectively writing at the paragraph and multi-paragraph level in a way that demonstrates strong organization, varied sentence structure (sentence fluency), and word choice as well as the integration of text evidence and/or supporting details to demonstrate comprehension and/or make compelling arguments.
Effectively proofreading and editing for proper syntax (grammar), accurate spelling, and punctuation.
Incorporating dialogue and quotations with correct punctuation usage.
Studying grammar and applying techniques in order to achieve varied sentence structure. For example, what is a preposition and how does that help me to open with prepositional phrases? What is a noun, a verb and, specifically, a present participle, and how does that help me to start with a gerund? What is a conjunction and how do I combine sentences with correct comma usage? Let’s not rely entirely on tools like Grammarly without an underlying understanding of grammar rules!
Making use of student statements and personal statements for middle school, high school, and college admissions processes to teach the above described writing skills.
Effectively summarizing fiction text to include the title, author, setting (time and place), major characters, theme, rising action, climax, and resolution.
Effectively summarizing non-fiction text to include the source, author, date, main idea, and relevant details that justify the stated main idea.
Creating a structure to build vocabulary at any age.
Writing legibly in manuscript or cursive, which we still believe has an incredible value even in an age of keyboarding and dictation.

Mathematics

Automaticity of basic facts in all four (4) number operations, including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
Multiplication with multi-digit numbers and decimals.
Long division with multi-digit numbers and decimals.
Effectively working with fractions, including common fractions, decimal fractions, and percentages.
Algebraic reasoning from an introductory level at the elementary grades and progressing through middle school.
Math problem solving at the elementary and middle school levels that emphasizes universal problem-solving strategies, such as “working backwards,” “making a diagram”, “looking for a pattern”, or “using logical reasoning”.
Reasoning through multi-step word problems that integrate various concepts and skills.

Technology

Developing typing skills with fingers on the home keys and eyes on the monitor
Effectively organizing an email inbox by using labels, filters, color coding, and archiving
Effectively using Google Calendar in conjunction with school-based portals and making use of advanced functionality, including sub calendars, color coding, and accepting and sending calendar invitations
Effectively organizing Google Drive using specific and intentional file names and subfolders, adding shortcuts, and moving files within a student’s “My Drive” main folder or from a student’s “Shared With Me” folder and into their “My Drive”
Effectively formatting and editing a Google Sheet using text wrapping, freezing rows and columns, inserting hard returns for visual tracking, and applying a spelling check within a Google Sheet and its worksheet tabs
Effectively formatting a Google Drive document using horizontal and vertical text alignment, page margins, tables, bullets and numbered lists, indenting features, and applying a spelling and grammar check
Managing sharing settings for Google Drive folders, subfolders, and individual documents and sheets

Organizational and Study Skills

Developing tactics for improved time management, goal setting, and self assessment.
Organizational coaching leading up to midterms, final exams, or surrounding specific project efforts.
Making use of a specific research project to teach students how to determine reputable sources, aggregate information across sources, and strategically use these sources to defend their thesis statement? How can a student more effectively take advantage of office hours and in-school resources to support their drafting process?
Taking advantage of an upcoming assessment to scaffold what it means to study for this subject matter. How should a student backmap their studying from an expected test date? How should a student make use of class notes, previous quizzes and homework assignments, and other classroom resources to effectively study? How can a student more effectively self-advocate and take advantage of office hours and in-school resources in preparation for an assessment?
Preparing for standardized tests, including the ISEE, SSAT, ACT, or SAT among other tests.
College essay coaching and related project management and organizational skill building.

Enrichment Teaching, Internships, and Career Readiness

Independent study with a faculty mentor in any discipline, including but not limited to STEM, creative writing, humanities, or the arts
Researching internship opportunities at the high school or college level while developing specific skills related to drafting cover letters and resumes as well as interview preparation
Creating and enhancing LinkedIn profiles for professional endeavors

These links below provide more information about our differentiated approach and value proposition with regard to short-term tutoring:

To learn more about short-term tutoring for your student, please contact us to schedule a planning meeting so that we can better understand your needs and priorities and further discuss an approach that will work best for your family.

By Brad Hoffman and Faya Hoffman, Board Certified Educational Planners and Learning Specialists

Navigating Test-Optional Policies

March 30, 2024 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

Over the last several school years, we’ve seen an increase in the number of colleges and independent schools adopting test-optional policies. Moreover, some schools adopted a test-blind policy, which is different from a test-optional policy. The intention is good, but the practical navigation is complicated and often more stressful because we’re living in a gray zone. And notably many independent schools and colleges have already started to reverse their test-optional policy.

In theory, doing away with standardized testing seems like a welcome change, but — in effect — it has upended the application cycle and resulted in a HUGE increase of applications and stiffer competition for spots. Moreover, many private schools have just developed their own assessments and placement tests in lieu of standardized testing, and many colleges have required testing later in the process in order to secure certain majors or to opt into more advanced coursework during a student’s first year. Therefore, the majority of competitive applicants continue to submit standardized test scores in an effort to exceed admissions standards and differentiate themselves from their equally competitive peers while keeping all doors open and avoiding unwelcome surprises later in the application process.

While families should consider a number of factors in deciding whether their child should take a standardized test or which test is the best fit, in the vast majority of instances, we recommend that families pursue testing, even in the current climate with test-optional policies in place. Choosing to test makes sense for a number of reasons:

Test scores are a useful data point.

We believe that there are no “false positives” with test scores. A strong score on a given test section, or across the board, indicates that the student has achieved facility with the skills tested, whether they be math, reading, or a subject area such as those assessed by the AP exams. Because tests are generally timed, a strong score also illustrates the student’s ability to perform under pressure. This is helpful data that, combined with the other pieces of information in a student’s application package, helps admissions officers envision how that applicant will fit in at their school. This data can be advantageous and differentiate applicants in a test-optional environment. Moreover, strong test scores help to demonstrate academic mastery in a climate where there is some concern about grade inflation.

Testing sharpens students’ time management techniques.

It is true that, in many situations, a timed closed-book test is not the best way to measure a student’s abilities. However, it is equally true that timed closed-book tests remain popular on the middle school, high school, and college levels. Good test preparation helps students learn to stay focused and to use their time wisely. These techniques can help them perform better and reduce stress as they take exams and various classroom assessments.

Test preparation is a vehicle for skills enrichment.

The SAT asks students to read seminal historic documents. The ACT asks students to think analytically about charts, graphs, and scientific experiment design. The ISEE and SSAT asks students to expand their working vocabularies and enhance their math skills and problem solving strategies. As students undertake test preparation for a specific assessment, the work they do helps them excel in their broader academic pursuits. A test-optional policy helps to reduce the pressure around high stakes testing, but the preparation itself is leveraged well beyond the official testing.

Test scores can clear the path to advanced classes.

In the case of Advanced Placement tests (and previously the SAT subject tests, which were abruptly “retired” by the College Board in January 2021), a high enough score in high school can vault a new college student over the introductory courses and straight into higher-level work. In a test-optional environment, and with distance learning changing the nature of course-based assessment, these strong data points help to further differentiate a candidate.

Test scores keep students’ options open.

After a student takes the ACT or SAT, the scores are generally considered current for at least three years. If a student who took the test in high school later wants to transfer colleges, they only need to focus on keeping their grades up and applying to new colleges. However, if they never took the ACT or SAT, they might have to add test preparation to their already busy schedule. It’s difficult to predict if a future college consideration may have (or maintain) a test-optional policy.

We recommend students begin preparing for their tests well ahead of time, although we recognize that many juniors are getting a later start again this year. That’s okay, we believe any time can be the right time to start becoming a stronger tester. Ideally, we work with students over a longer period of time so that test preparation does not feel like cramming. We find that extended periods of time for preparation help students to significantly reduce test anxiety, master content, and internalize strategies.

As a general process, our students applying to grades 5 through 12 (ISEE/SSAT) and college (ACT, SAT, and/or APs) begin by taking a practice test that serves as a benchmark a year or more in advance of actually taking an official test. Based on this performance, we recommend a plan to maximize preparation time. For the ISEE, SSAT, ACT, and SAT, we most often have an English teacher and a math teacher working with a student as the math, reading, and verbal reasoning sections require specialized expertise. Often they require different efforts, too. With all the changes surrounding test-optional policies, it’s more confusing than ever for parents and students to navigate. We can help.

Brad Hoffman and Faya Hoffman, Board Certified Educational Planners and Learning Specialists

Preparing For An Evaluation IEP Meeting

February 29, 2024 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

You’ve been worried for some time and suspect that something more might be getting in the way of your child’s classroom achievement and interest in school. You’ve talked informally with teachers over the years and perhaps provided some extra support at home, but it’s still not enough. You finally decided to make a formal request to your child’s school stating your concern and requesting that an IEP meeting take place. Within 10 school days, you will receive a phone call inviting you to discuss your student and begin the IEP process, and, within 60 days, you will be invited to an educational planning meeting for your student’s IEP. Whether it’s your initial referral meeting, or a re-evaluation meeting, there’s preparation to do, although the two processes definitely have differences. In this article, we’re going to focus on the initial referral meeting, also called an IEP Evaluation Meeting (or Educational Planning Conference per NYC DOE paperwork).

If you suspect your child has an educational disability, you may request an educational evaluation or screening by contacting the school in writing. Your request should state that you suspect that your child has an educational disability and that you would like the assessment process to begin. No matter the school system, evaluations must be completed and shared with you at a meeting within 60 school days from your request. In NYC, the first step the school must take, after receiving a request for an evaluation, is to schedule a meeting with a social worker to take a social history and to secure written informed consent before starting the evaluation. At My Learning Springboard, we advise that you organize a private, comprehensive evaluation, in which case you’ll share it with the school once it’s finalized and at least 5 to 10 days ahead of the scheduled meeting. The school system will then propose any supplemental testing they feel is necessary when you meet.

To prepare for an initial referral meeting, whether it is with the school team, an intake social worker, or school psychologist, you should have the following information organized and available:

Documentation of your area of concern(s), such as poor achievement on school and standardized tests; work samples; report cards and report card comments; conference notes from school personnel; and/or outside assessments or reports. NOTE: outside assessments or reports need to be given before a meeting—if they are shared at the time of the actual meeting, the team has to stop the meeting and reconvene at a later date after the private testing has been properly reviewed. The timeline for “in advance of the meeting” isn’t perfectly clear, so allowing for at least 5-10 school calendar days is recommended.
If your child has behavioral and/or social-emotional issues, you should have documentation of those as well in the form of teacher comments; outside interventions; or school-developed behavior contracts. A Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and/or a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) only exist after an initial meeting is completed and are part of the IEP, so the school would already have these on file.
A chronological history of your child, including early interventions by professionals as well as any concerns noted and/or actions taken in pre-school or earlier;
If your child is taking medication or has taken medication to address areas of concern or allergies, you should have a complete list, including dosage amounts, in chronological order available as well.
If you’ve already completed a private, comprehensive evaluation, you should share it with the school team for review in advance of the scheduled meeting. Any other private evaluation, such as psychiatric evaluations, OT reports, or speech and language evaluations should be shared as well in advance of the scheduled meeting. Again, the timeline for “in advance of the meeting” isn’t perfectly clear, so allowing for at least 5 to 10 school calendar days is recommended.

To prepare for a re-evaluation meeting, you should have the following information organized and available:

Updated medical history, including any changes to medication, diagnoses, and/or treatment plans.
If you have completed an updated private evaluation, you should share it with the school team for review in advance of the meeting.
Any additional information from private providers, including tutors and therapists.

Once the school system determines that it will move forward with an evaluation process, the evaluations must address the following questions:

Does the student have an educational disability?
If so, does the student need special education intervention? If yes, then the team will move to development of an IEP. If not, the student may be deemed ineligible for special education service and you may request the development of a 504 Plan.
What accommodations or modifications to the curriculum are necessary?
Are related services necessary?

The initial evaluation process must include:

A social history
A psychoeducational evaluation
A classroom observation
And in NYC, a recent physical evaluation. Other jurisdictions may accept a review of medical records on file at the school.

Members of the initial IEP team must include:

Parent or guardian of the child.
A special education teacher or provider.
A general education teacher or provider.
The school psychologist or an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of the evaluation(s) results.
The student, when appropriate.
A person who is knowledgeable about the availability of district resources and is qualified to supervise special education and knows the standard grade level curriculum. This often is the school psychologist or special education teacher present.

Prior to the post-assessment IEP meeting, be sure that you have received copies of ALL documents that will be shared and discussed at least 5 business days prior to the meeting so that you and your team have time to review them. Make this expectation known, in writing, when you sign the informed consent document. The information derived from the evaluations will be used to determine if your child has an educational disability and, if so, if he/she needs special education intervention to access the curricula. The specifics of the interventions will be determined at an IEP development meeting, which will be scheduled for another time.

It’s important to note that you may bring anyone you would like to the evaluation IEP meeting, but it’s best practice to notify the school team in advance. If you don’t notify the school team in advance and receive their consent, it’s possible you’ll encounter friction on the meeting date, which is stressful for everyone and best avoided. Arriving with unannounced experts sets a negative tone.

It’s advisable to have an expert special education advocate attend with you, and that advocate’s role may vary depending on the situation and desired outcomes. It is also advisable to retain a special education attorney because IEPs are a legal matter, but attorneys usually don’t attend school-level or CSE meetings for strategic reasons. Therefore, it is better for expert advocates to attend instead — which Brad Hoffman and Laurie Gross do for our families in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and Washington, DC — and a collaborative effort has led to the greatest success for our students and families.

Once the meeting has occurred and the school team completes their review, they’ll determine if an IEP is justified based on an educational disability. Notably, an IEP process falls under special education, whereas a 504 process falls under general education. An IEP requires specially designed instruction in addition to justified accommodations, whereas a 504 process simply formalizes accommodations in order to access the general education curriculum and level the playing field, typically for students with a medical need, such as ADHD or anxiety.

If an IEP is developed, it is subject to an annual review, which brings the full team back together every 12 months from the date of the implemented IEP. There is also a triennial meeting, which occurs every 3 years. Each meeting has nuanced differences, but the point is to continually review the need for the IEP and to refine the goals and services as appropriate. While the school system messages that IEP meetings only happen once annually, in fact, parents can request an IEP meeting at any time if there’s a particular concern. Because IEP and 504 processes are federally regulated, there are bureaucratic intricacies that must be followed both by the school system and families. Keep in mind that the school system is held to the standard of providing a “free and appropriate” education (FAPE), which is not the same as a platinum-level standard that families and outside professionals may have in mind. Ideally this can be a collaborative, constructive process, but sometimes it becomes contentious, hence the importance of having a trusted advocate and special education attorney on hand.

Written by Brad Hoffman, Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist, and Laurie Gross, Educational Consultant and Special Educator.

Start Your College Essays Early

February 28, 2024 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

The process of applying to colleges is an arduous one. Standardized tests, campus visits, alumni interviews, and navigating the complexities of Naviance and SCIOR all add up to hours of work, on top of the time students must spend actually doing their schoolwork. The biggest task, however, is writing the many essays universities require for admission – not just the Common App, but the countless supplemental essays and short answers, each with their own twists on “Why us?” Most students, when faced with the yawning chasm of work and the high stakes of completing it “perfectly,” choose to put off this part of the college admissions process until the fall of their senior year, or the summer before it. This is a mistake. Start your college essays early!

While these essays are meant to persuade the admissions committee to accept a student into their school, they are not driven by argument so much as feeling, tone of voice, and narrative. Students trained in the craft of building a sturdy five-paragraph essay or writing a research paper are not well prepared to do this kind of writing, and they won’t learn it formally in school.

The earlier a student starts the process of ideation, composition, and revision, the better off they will be. Because this writing is both uncharted and high stakes, students need time to experiment, possibly fail, and begin again. Often, ideas that don’t work for a Common App essay can be recycled into supplemental essays. The lesson being that the effort of writing, no matter the result, is rarely wasted.

Some students may object to the idea of writing their college essays before the summer of their senior year, banking on the hope that they will do something really interesting in July and August that will provide them with just the right material for an essay. Others will spin their wheels in an effort to find a dramatic tale of hardship overcome or lives radically altered. None of this is necessary to begin writing. As my colleague, Liz Walters says, the best college essays are “vivid, memorable, and a pleasure to read.”

To arrive at such an essay requires work, beginning with students choosing prompts that interest them from the Common App website. Though the portal doesn’t typically become available for rising seniors until early August, the prompts for 2024-2025 are already confirmed and posted. Year to year, the prompts don’t change much, and this year there are no changes at all; the final, open-ended prompt means that if a student has an idea that doesn’t fit into any of the boxes offered, they shouldn’t reject it. Remember that prompts are not assignments; they are springboards meant to help students craft essays that will tell the admissions committee something interesting about this person that isn’t reflected in grades, test scores, recommendation letters, or a CV.

During this initial period, it can be helpful to read examples of past students’ essays, which are usually available on a college or university’s admissions page. They may reveal unconventional approaches to familiar subjects, offer a model of pacing and structure, or show a student that it’s OK to be funny on the page (if that’s their inclination). More importantly, careful reading and analysis will show that these texts did not spring wholly formed from their authors’ minds. Many drafts will be required.

Once a prompt has been selected, students should just start writing. Sometimes a brainstorming session is useful to come up with a list of potential ideas, but don’t let too much time elapse between ideation and composition. It’s best to run with an idea while it’s still fresh. Some students will find they can write through to a completed first draft without help, but others will need prompting after the first or second paragraph. This is where a skillful writing coach can help a student turn a topic into a story, finding ways to dramatize a change that might otherwise seem internal. Always, students should expect to write at least two or three drafts, ideally with some amount of time between rounds to give them a fresh perspective.

Conversely, other students may write a gripping story, but leave out any reflection on what the story means to them or how the event shaped their character or outlook. A common student objection is a fear of sounding “cheesy.” The capacity for self-reflection is a sign of maturity, and simply put, many high school students haven’t had to really examine themselves in a sustained and honest manner. Others may allow that this self-analysis is a necessary ingredient but show a resistance to the idea that they can apply knowledge retrospectively–hinting at things they only knew later.

What is central to all personal college essays is that the author allows themselves to think on the page, thoughts that Columbia professor Phillip Lopate calls “quicksilver and spontaneous” in his book on creative nonfiction To Show and To Tell. “There is nothing more exciting than following a live, candid mind thinking on the page, exploring uncharted waters,” writes Lopate. A great personal essay will exhibit this quality, giving readers insight into not just what the author has done, but how they think about the world and their place in it.

Written by Daniel Penny, an educator and writer with an MFA in creative nonfiction from Columbia University, a BA in English from Grinnell College, and an AA in liberal arts from Bard High School Early College, Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed., Board Certified Educational Planner, and Faya Hoffman, M.A., Board Certified Educational Planner.