Author of Acclaimed Business Memoir Creates New Company To Help Students Write College Admission Essays

Alan Stransman, author of the business memoir “Don’t Let Your Dream Business Turn Into a Nightmare”, which has been taught in university entrepreneurship programs, has created a new company to help students from all around the world who are applying to universities in Canada and the United States write the all-important college admission essay.

In recent years, Canadian and American universities have placed increasing emphasis on the college admission essay component of the application process, in an effort to gain insight into the values and interests of the applicants, and to enrich the campus community with individuals who are passionate and articulate, in addition to having demonstrated superior academic ability.

“The elements that go into writing a compelling college admission essay are very much like the qualities of a compelling memoir”, explains Stransman, whose account of his experience in launching one of the first day spas for men in the world has been called one of the most original business books of the past decade. “To get the attention of a College Admission Officer, who may only have five minutes to spend on each submission,” says Stransman, “ a college admission essay must have insight, a distinctive voice, rich detail and a strong narrative, and those are the qualities that also make for a strong memoir. The overwhelming majority of students do not have either the analytical or writing skills to compose a really compelling essay on their own, and need of a writing coach to guide them through the process.”

Stransman’s new company is called My College Admission Essay Coach (www.mycollegeadmissionessaycoach.com) and will take full advantage of the technological advances of the internet. One-on-one coaching services will be provided using video chat services like Skype and Google Talk. “The internet has made it possible to offer coaching services in a virtual, ‘face-to-face’ format to clients anywhere in the world, “explains Stransman, “without either party having to leave the comfort of their home or office. I have wanted to offer writing coaching services to students before, but it just wasn’t feasible, as long as it entailed having to travel to a mutually convenient location. With the current technology, a face-to-face coaching experience can be delivered online, which makes it easy for the coach and the client.”

Prior to launching The Men’s PowerSpa, Stransman was a multi-award-winning writer/producer/director in the broadcast television industry, having created numerous informational series, including Spectacular Spas, which was broadcast in over 50 countries around the world. He is a former teacher of English at the high school and university levels, and is a graduate of the Master’s degree program in Telecommunications at the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University.

 

 

 

A Writing Coach Can Really Improve the Quality of Your College Admission Essay

In an article entitled “Writing The Essay: Sound Advice from an Expert”, Parke Muth, Senior Assistant Dean and Director of International Admission at the University of Virginia, states that ninety percent of the college admission essays submitted to the university as one of the application requirements, consist “primarily of abstractions and unsupported generalization”.

The Assistant Dean refers to these essays as “McEssays”, intending no disrespect to McDonald’s, but suggesting that the consistency of product quality that is a desired result in the fast food industry is the kiss of death in the college admission essay business.

In short, if your college admission essay or personal statement reads like every other essay or statement that the Admissions Officer reads, you will not improve your chances of being accepted into the college or university of your choice.

That is, you bore, they snore, you lose.

So, how can you make sure that your application stands out?

There are many hallmarks of good writing, regardless of the genre, but the college admission essay or personal statement, because it is, by definition, autobiographical, needs to have, at least, the following three elements:  1) insight 2) a distinctive voice and 3) rich detail

Let’s consider each of these elements:

1)      Insight

It is not enough to simply relate or describe an incident or experience in your life. You must relate that experience to an insight that you gained through that experience. What the Admissions Committee is looking for is an ability to reflect upon your past experiences and to express what you learned, how you were changed and, most importantly, how you have grown through the experience. Reflecting upon the past is meaningless unless it leads to greater self- awareness and maturity, and that is what your essay needs to express.

2)      A Distinctive Voice

Your college admission essay has to grab the attention of the Admissions Officer in the first sentence, or if not, in the first paragraph. The way to do that is not by using big words or by writing about a very unusual topic. The best way to make an impact on your reader is to have a confident, distinctive “voice”. That means writing in a way that expresses your unique personality. Developing a distinctive “voice” is one of the most challenging aspects of writing for anyone, even experienced writers. The simplest advice for a very difficult challenge is to “be yourself”.

3)      Rich Detail

In almost every genre of writing, authentic details are interesting and abstract generalizations are boring. In the college admission essay genre, an ability to relate an incident or describe an individual in rich, authentic detail will make your essay stand out from the others, because the particular details of your life are unlike the particular details of anyone else’s life. Similar to, but different. Focusing on specific details in essay will demonstrate your ability to think and write with acuity, another key skill that Admissions Officers are looking for.

Writing a college admission essay or personal statement that stands out from the rest is a significant challenge for the vast majority of students, and that is precisely why it is one of requirements of the application process. College and universities want students who will enrich the campus culture and community, and in order to do, a students has to stand out in some way, not blend in. Hence, the importance placed on the essay portion of the application.

If you are in the minority of students who posses the analytical and writing skills to create a college admission essay without any assistance, then you would be well advised to put those talents to use, and write the very best essay you can. However, if you are like the vast majority of students, you could probably use some help and guidance. That's where a Writing Coach comes in. A Writing Coach is like any other kind of coach; any good coach, that is. The role of a Writing Coach is to guide you through the process, and bring out your best performance. When you consider how much is riding on the college admission essay, a Writing Coach could be the best investment you ever make in your future.