Writing the College Application Essay: How to “Barbara Walters” Yourself, Part 3

Continuing on the path toward discovering a unique and compelling topic for your college application essay, here are ten more “self-interview” questions. What’s the saddest thing that ever happened to you? What did you learn from it? What’s the funniest thing that ever happened to you? What did you learn from it? What is the […]

WRITING THE COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY: HOW TO “BARBARA WALTERS” YOURSELF, PART TWO

The topic of your college application essay is as critical as the quality of the writing. That’s why you need to carefully mine your experiences to find a topic that is compelling, reasonably unique (I recently read an article about high school seniors who wrote college application essays about their genitals, urinating in their pants […]

WRITING THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ESSAY – GUIDELINES FOR CHOOSING A TOPIC

I have recently read a number of articles about subjects to avoid in writing your college admissions essay and have reached the following conclusion: There is no suitable subject for the college admissions essay. From legitimate family tragedy to your high school basketball team’s double overtime championship game, college application experts have put a strong […]

Writing the College Application Essay: Guidelines for Writing Emotionally

Many of the best college application essays have a strong emotional content. They express and reveal the emotions of the writer – the applicant – and they stimulate emotion in the reader – the college Admissions Director. This fact is one reason many students find writing the essay so challenging. Throughout high school, students are […]

WRITING THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ESSAY: Diary of a College Admissions Essay

November 1, 2012 Started working on the short essay on the Common App. “Elaborate on my extra curricular?” Okay, not only am I on the volleyball team but I look really hot in my uniform. Uhm, that’s probably not it. Okay… more brainstorming. I guess I could talk about how I am absolutely sure that […]

WRITING THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ESSAY: SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS: Why That School?

Many colleges request supplemental essays, in addition to the Common Application or other required essays. Subjects range from one word responses to page and a half philosophical explorations but one of the most common is the simple question, “Why (Your School Here)?” In answering this prompt, one of the keys to a good essay is […]

THE COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ESSAY: Dealing with the Word Count

Dealing with the word count for your college essay can be tricky. You’ve worked hard, love what you’ve done and don’t want to lose a single word. But College Admission Officers have a very good sense of when an essay is too long, so you really don’t have a choice. Some ways to handle your […]