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 […]
Writing the College Admissions Essay: Last Minute Changes
The day students submit their college application essay brings intense feelings of accomplishment , joy and yes, relief. But it is also a time of danger. As they read their essay one last time, students are sometimes tempted to make one last tweak, change one last word, delete a phrase that never felt right to […]
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 […]
Writing the College Application Essay – MANAGING THE FEEDBACK
Once you’ve completed your college application essay, it’s always a good idea to get feedback from other people. But who those people are, and how you manage their feedback, can often be the difference between a good essay and a great one. Here are six ways to manage that feedback, and use it to your […]
Writing the College Admissions Essay: SIX WAYS TO CREATE A POWERFUL OPENING
Admissions Officers at most universities read hundreds of application essays each year, many of them responding to the same prompt. That’s why, to set your essay apart, it is critical that your essay grabs the reader’s attention, right from the beginning. Here are six ways you can do that. 1. Pose a question that the […]
Writing the College Admissions Essay: SIX WAYS TO CREATE A POWERFUL OPENING
Admissions Officers at most universities read hundreds of application essays each year, many of them responding to the same prompt. That’s why, to set your essay apart, it is critical that your essay grabs the reader’s attention, right from the beginning. Here are six ways you can do that. 1. Pose a question that the […]
Writing the College Application Essay: No Salespeople Allowed
When writing their college application essays, students will sometimes feel compelled to spell out exactly what they are thinking, which is often some variation of, “I’ve got great test scores, a 4.2 GPA, and I served Thanksgiving dinners at the local shelter every year. How can you not accept me?” While this feeling may be […]