What I Wanted More from Basi

If I were to be a mentor next year, here are some suggestions I would like to propose:

• Hosting an essay writing study session:

  • Set a specific time in advance for everyone to gather and write essays.
  • Share what we plan to work on beforehand, and at the end of the session, share our progress with each other.
  • Before the application deadline, we could also use Discord to casually work on our essays together.
  • After trying this approach, I realized that it would have been even better if we had started earlier.
    • For example, if we had dedicated a few hours each week during summer vacation to focus on our essays, we could have not only improved our essay writing skills but also made more progress.
    • By practicing sharing even rough and imperfect essays, we would become more comfortable with the idea that “done is better than perfect.”
      • Reference: Essay Writing Process

• Information gathering on Scrapbox:

  • For example, basi’s Scrapbox could be a place where we compile information and advice on various topics that everyone struggles with every year, such as “Should the US college application transcript include 9 years of grades?”
  • I have already introduced this to the current mentees, so if you become a mentor next year, the environment for implementing this idea should be more established.

• Unified use of Discord/Slack:

  • It seems like Discord alone would suffice (unless there are specific reasons for using both platforms).

• Improving advice on choosing essay topics:

  • Mentors may not be aware of the potential essay topics that mentees have in mind, so they may not be able to provide advice on better options than the ones currently chosen.
    • Therefore, it was a bit concerning not being able to receive advice in that regard.
  • If mentees brainstorm as much as possible and ask questions like “Which option, A or B, would be better?” they might be able to receive some guidance.
    • This approach seemed to work with UC Personal Insight Questions (blu3mo).

• Utilizing the Times Channel:

  • This may vary depending on the person, but I thought it would have been beneficial to use the channel with mentors more actively.
  • We could have shared information and updates more frequently.
    • Although I was somewhat conscious of this already.

• Writing a Pair Essay