by j9robinson | Sep 4, 2013
I already featured this list of my favorite books on how to write essays–narrative-style, “slice of life,” personal essays–at the end of an earlier post. These are exactly what you want to write for your college application essays....
by j9robinson | Aug 31, 2013
I love anecdotes. Especially for starting narrative essays for college application essays. They can take a little practice to compose, but what a deceptively powerful writing tool. Actually, if you start almost any type of writing with an anecdote–from a college...
by j9robinson | Aug 29, 2013
Maybe I’m just grumpy because it’s 90+ degrees in my garage office and I tweaked my back in yoga last week (while bowing and saying “Namaste” at the very end. really.) But I just received an email from a desperate parent that really sent me. It...
by j9robinson | Aug 22, 2013
College Application Essays Underprivileged or Underrepresented Students: This Means You! Why You Must Share Stories That Show Your Grit As a writing coach, I work mainly with students I consider “privileged.” This means they can find support writing...
by j9robinson | Aug 17, 2013
College Application Essays Yes, You Can Go Too Far Colleges are encouraging students to get creative with their essays. This is great. However, I think students should be careful of trying too hard to showcase their creative writing skills. Rather, I believe...
by j9robinson | Aug 7, 2013
College Application Essays Humility Goes a Long Way Many of the students I work with are from privileged backgrounds. (Hey, it’s expensive to hire a tutor!) They live in affluent communities, go on extravagant vacations and enjoy pricey hobbies and...
by j9robinson | Jul 27, 2013
Everyone is looking for that magic topic for their college application essay that will help them jump out from the essay pile, and shout, “Yes, that’s me!” I’ve written a lot about how you can go about landing on that unique topic. Here’s...
by j9robinson | Jul 26, 2013
Insider Writing Tips From a School That Knows Creative Writing When I read this post by an admissions officer at Tufts University named Lee Coffin (who has been dubbed “Hip Dean”) on word limits for Common App essays, I discovered he also included some...
by j9robinson | Jul 25, 2013
The Colorful New World of College Application Essay Prompts But What Does It Really Mean? University of Chicago: “Tell us your favorite joke and try to explain the joke without ruining it.” Brandeis University: “If you could choose to be...
by j9robinson | Jul 22, 2013
At our local public high school in Laguna Beach, the English teachers assign juniors to write college application essays at the end of the year. It’s a great idea. For many students, this may be the only time they get any guidance on how to write these essays....
