Guiding Question 2: If you start in the past, do you get to the present very quickly?
Colleges want to know about the recent you. Great essays can start more recently and weave in past events.
As I read many application essays, I see kids spending way too much time in the past without getting to who they are now. Please use the one-third/two-third rule–one-third in the past and two-thirds in the present.
You need to show how you are living proof of your ability to make a difference in your life, your community, and the world.
Colleges admit the recent you, not the past you!!!