Online High

Spring is in the air. Well, almost, and a young boy turns his fancy to college admissions essays. Which is as it should be. However, if it is too good, if it is too mature, if it is really written by a parent or a professional admissions essayist, this is not a good thing.

Some admissions offices even call this “DDI” meaning “Daddy Did It.” If it is too good, admissions offices have been known to cross-reference your essay with the essay portion of the SAT. Oops. Easy to forget that admissions officers now have a second readily available writing sample.

Dude, do your own work.

From the Boston Globe:

Sometimes it is the choice 10-cent word or two, a spot-on sublime or consummate, that is the giveaway. Maybe it is a series of suspiciously skilled turns of phrase, syntax the envy of Strunk and White, or some pitch-perfect metaphors that raise the red flags.