MORE! College Application Essay Writing Tips
Here are two more guidelines that will help you write the best college application essay you can possibly write. Answer the Prompt While this may seem obvious, many students veer away from fully answering the essay prompt, and wind up hurting their chances for acceptance. Admissions Directors are expecting all aspects of an essay prompt […]
Write Your BEST College Application Essay (#1)
Last year, I did a series of blogs called, “Twenty Five Ways to Make Your College Application Essay the Best Writing You’ve Ever Done.” The blogs included conceptual guidelines for writing an effective essay, as well as many technical writing tips. Longish title notwithstanding, response to the series was extremely positive. For this year, and at […]
Writing the College Application Essay: The Parent Trap
Writing the college application essay is a family endeavor. Of course, this doesn’t mean that parents should actually write the essay, that job belongs solely to the student. But parents are part of the process and can help tremendously. Writing college application essays is stressful because … High school seniors usually don’t have much experience […]
Your College Application Essay “Idea List”
START BUILDING YOUR COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY IDEA LIST TODAY! One of the best, and easiest, ways to start preparing to apply to college is to create a college application essay “Idea List.” Whether you do it on your phone, computer, or in a dedicated composition notebook, this will be an evolving catalogue of potential essay […]
THE “#BLACKLIVESMATTER” STANFORD APPLICATION ESSAY
#BlackLivesMatter One Hundred Times For many years, one of Stanford University’s (www.Stanford.edu) college application essay prompts has been, “What matters to you, and why?” It’s a wonderful essay topic and has often been answered with passion and creativity. This past year, a student responded to the prompt by writing “#BlackLivesMatter” (www.blacklivesmatter.com) one hundred times. That […]
Don’t Get Hacky – Keep Your Standards High!
Don’t Get Hacky – Keep Your Standards High What does writing your college application essay and writing an episode of Full House have in common? Well, frankly, not that much, unless you count the caffeine intake. Having spent a good deal of time in television “writers room,” however, I’ll share with you a writers’ expression you […]
Avoid the Last Minute Essay Writing Panic
Welcome, students and parents. Please come in and lie down on the couch. I assure you, everything is going to be all right. October 1 is almost here and, students, you have not yet written your college application essays. You’ve entered the last minute essay writing phase of applying for college. Many of your friends have […]
Don’t Let Your College Application Essay Topic Get Too Cute!
A GREAT IDEA FOR AN ESSAY, OR IS IT? Cyrus had a great idea for his college application essay. In answer to Common App Essay Prompt #4 – about an intellectual challenge he’d like to solve – he would write a question mark. That’s it, one giant question mark. For the entire essay. The more […]
Outlining Your College Application Essay
Rolling with the College Application Essay Josh figured he’d write his college application essay like he did everything else – making it up as he went along. After all, wasn’t that how he became the freestyle skateboard champion of Bakersfield, CA? Bringing this approach to his Common Application essay, however, proved difficult. He would start an […]
Essay Dialogues #4: A High School Senior Meets With the School’s College Counselor
RANCE, a high school senior, meets with his school’s college counselor, MS. LEWIS. MS. LEWIS: Hi, Rance, how are you doing with your Common Application essay? RANCE: Solid. Making progress. MS. LEWIS: Can I read your first draft? RANCE: Sure, here you go. (Rance hands Ms. Lewis a sheet of paper.) MS. LEWIS: Uhm, this […]