A College Application Essay Tutor Reflects

During the ten years I’ve been a college application essay tutor, I have always focused my blogs on practical ways students could improve their essays, and their writing in general. I have written about how to start an essay, end it, deal with the word count, describe feelings rather than events, and much more. (https://collegeessaysolutions.com/how-to-make-your-college-application-essay-the-best-writing-youve-ever-done-1-of-25/) […]

LOOKING BACK ON WRITING MY COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAYS by Shane Patterson

The following was written by a student I worked with last year. I asked him to try to capture the experience of writing his essays in a way that would give hope to seniors who are currently working on their own. I think he did a wonderful job! LOOKING BACK ON WRITING MY COLLEGE APPLICATION […]

FIVE THINGS I LEARNED FROM THE 2012 COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SEASON The college admissions “season” runs generally from mid summer to the end of the year, although applications are certainly filed during other months. The 2012 season was a fantastic experience for me; here are five things I learned. 1. The students moving on to college […]

The Holiday Season Can Inspire Your College Admissions Essay

If you’re still searching for a topic for your college admissions essay, try getting inspiration from this emotional holiday season. Family, gratitude, the spirit of giving, travel, commercialism, spirituality and over eating are all in the air and can wind up being potential subject areas. During the coming holidays, therefore, no matter which of them […]

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: 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 ADMISSIONS ESSAY: HOW TO HANDLE THE WORD COUNT #2

Here are five more methods that will help you wrestle your college admissions essay to the appropriate word limit. 6. Cut adjectives. In the desire to write descriptively, students will sometimes load their essays up with too many adjectives. Faced with the need to cut, look for places where you might have used two adjectives […]

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 […]