For seniors, it’s crunch time. The essay that has been sitting on their desk since school started needs to be finished, especially if she is applying early decision or early action. Procrastination is not a good plan when it comes to writing the college essay. But how do you motivate your college-bound teen? She certainly won’t respond to nagging, but if she’s drowning, she may be unable to tell you why or know when or how to ask for help.

Following are my best tips for motivating for teen to finish the essay:

Go to the source.

Get tips from the admissions officers. Find out what they are looking for and how to give it to them. While no essay can save an unqualified application, an outstanding essay can push an otherwise mediocre application into the “yes” pile.

However, writing a good application essay is hard. Many students write essays that are too cliché or too shallow; others write essays that are impersonal and uninformative; some are even unfortunate enough to write essays that cause their own rejection.

This isn’t surprising. The application essay is drastically different from the typical high school assignment—deeply personal, rather than merely informative.

Read more of the 5 things admissions officers look for in an essay

Follow these dos and don’ts.

The essay is your student’s chance to give the admissions committee an inside look into who they are. Even with the common application essay topics provided, its important how they approach the essay and the type of impression it makes on the college. Generally speaking, there are topics your student should avoid and tactics they should use when writing.

Read more for 10 tips to write more competitive college essays

Read other essays.

If your student is stumped and simply can’t get his creative juices flowing, it might help to read some other essays. This doesn’t mean he should copy them, but other essays can give him a feel for what he should do to start the writing process.

If you wonder where you can find examples, the College Essay Guy has some of the best essay examples on his website. While you’re there, read all of his essay tips and get inspired!

Here’s one that I absolutely love: Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?