What's The Supplements Launch?
The Supplements Launch is a three-session program for students facing college-specific essays. Together, coach and student map out the writing ahead, identify efficiencies, and build a plan. The Launch supports students with a project that can feel overwhelming but also offers wonderful opportunities.
Is The Supplements Launch Right for Me?
If you’ve completed your main application essay and will need to address five or more substantial supplement prompts in addition to the common “Why are you applying here?” question, we recommend The Supplements Launch for the instruction and strategic organization it provides.
The Launch is a natural next step for students who have worked with a Hillside coach in The Uncommon Essay Course or The Draft Intensive. Materials from the Discovery steps of the Uncommon Essay Course serve as a rich source of ideas and directions for supplement essays. If you haven’t worked with a Hillside coach yet, or you’re not sure which support is right for you, we encourage you to schedule a call so we can help you figure out the best plan.
If the supplements project is considerably smaller in scope, we recommend starting with a discrete Feedback Session, which can be followed by or paired with E-Feedback support.
How Does the Launch Work?
Planning
Preparation
Essay Prompts
The applicant compiles the supplement prompts for the colleges they’re applying to and sends them to the coach, along with any preliminary thoughts they have about how they’ll address them.
The Supplements Planner
The coach creates The Supplements Planner — a customized, shared spreadsheet for project management. The Planner organizes prompts, word limits, deadlines, ideas, and session notes, supporting the strategic thinking necessary for progress. The coach identifies commonalities among the prompts and revisits Discovery material from The Uncommon Essay Course.
Session 1: Project Scope and Strategy
Coach and student discuss the scope of the writing project and relevant material from The Uncommon Essay Course, identifying promising experiences to write from. Using the Supplements Planner, they find efficiencies for addressing essay prompts. Often, the core of an essay can be reused and tailored to address prompts from different institutions. By the end of the session, the applicant will have selected some experiences to write about and gathered notes to begin.
Research
Even if the question is focused on the college, don’t just use this as an opportunity to show your knowledge about the college; use your knowledge of the college to tell your own story. University of Richmond admissions officer
Sessions 2 and 3
The coach is responsive to the student’s particular supplement-writing project and to their needs and preferences. Using Hillside’s tools and their experience, coaches may structure these sessions in the following ways:
College Research Tutorial and Essay Planning
If the student needs to address any “Why are you applying here?” questions, the coach introduces Hillside’s “Why Apply Here?” Worksheet, and coach and writer delve together into research on a school. Considering the writer’s unique experiences and interests, the coach demonstrates how to engage in thorough research that will help them tell their story and articulate a genuine connection to the school. After the session, the student completes the Worksheet and receives a copy to use for additional schools. Session time is otherwise devoted to planning the drafting for high-priority essays.
Development
Priority Essay Planning or Draft Revision
Coach and writer focus on essay planning and outlining or on top-to-bottom revision of drafting, locating areas for clarification and further reflection. The coach shares effective storytelling approaches for addressing prompts with different word limits and tailoring essays to address different prompts.
Options for Further Support
We’ve designed The Supplements Launch to provide instruction, tools, and organizational help for undertaking the supplement-writing project. It is not designed to take students through outlining and revising all supplement essays. Some students approach writing these essays on their own after completing the Launch. Many students opt to extend work with their coach through Feedback Sessions or E-Feedback, which can be used for top-to-bottom revision of drafts or for planning additional essays.
What Clients Are Saying About The Supplements Launch
My children have applied the critical thinking skills you have shown them and were able to write many supplementals on their own. We are forever grateful and will reach out again once there is a need for any type of writing.Parent, Framingham, MA
Almost every other supplement I wrote stemmed from the ideas we found for that first essay!Student, Cambridge, MA