by j9robinson | Sep 27, 2010
College Admissions Essay Title or No Title? I like titles. But they need to be good. A title should be short and witty. Not cutesy. The tone of the title and essay should match. The best ones don’t give away too much about the essay, and only hint at what’s to...
by j9robinson | Feb 3, 2023
Sorry, Artificial Intelligence Won’t Save You From the Dreaded College App Essay. Yet. When I first heard about ChatGPT, and how this new artificial intelligence bot could write college essays for students, I thought, “Ugh oh, looks like my no one is going...
by j9robinson | Jun 16, 2022
I’m excited to work with students this summer who get to attend the My Pathway to College pre-college experience in sunny San Diego. During the weeklong conference, which will be held on the gorgeous campus at the University of San Diego (the private liberal...
by j9robinson | May 16, 2019
I’m back! Haven’t posted for many months.I don’t know about you, but the recent college admission scandal gave me a total gut punch. All these rich people buying and cheating their way into colleges. Disgusting. (In case you don’t know what...
by j9robinson | Aug 24, 2018
How to Background an Anecdote (Includes 5 writing examples at the bottom!) If you’ve done your homework on how to write an effective college application essay, you probably know the place to start is with your real-life stories. The...
by j9robinson | Nov 5, 2017
If you are just starting to write your four short UC essays (called Personal Insight Questions), here are ten simple tips that can help you crank them out. I’ve written longer posts on how to brainstorm and map out answers for each of these questions for the...
by j9robinson | Aug 9, 2017
Confused on How to Format Your Common Application Essay? Here are 9 Hot Tips The 2017-18 Common Application opened for business earlier this week (August. 1). Chances are you will soon need to know how to format your common application essay. If you are on the ball,...
by j9robinson | Aug 3, 2017
Students Stress Over College App Essays Because for the First Time They Want to Write But Realize They Don’t Know How The New York Times ran an article yesterday called “Why Kids Can’t Write.” Great piece, but I didn’t agree with the...
by j9robinson | Feb 12, 2017
GET IT FOR FREE FOR LIMITED TIME! I’m introducing my hot-off-the-press writing guide, “Essay Hell’s 50 Most Commonly Asked Questions about College Application Essays” by giving it away for the next 5 days on Amazon. Starting tomorrow, February...
by j9robinson | Jan 11, 2017
Here are 6 sample essays from Heavenly Essays: 50 College Application Essays That Worked, by Janine Robinson. They are all narrative, slice-of-life essays that used real-life experiences to illustrate points the students wanted to showcase about themselves. Brock...