by j9robinson | Mar 14, 2016
This is the time of year when my former students drop me emails letting me know where they have been accepted for the fall. I love hearing from them, and am emboldened by how many land in their dream schools. And I usually ask if I can share their essays with...
by j9robinson | Feb 19, 2016
After working with thousands of students from all over the world on writing the dreaded college application essay for the last eight years, I’ve finally been able to boil down the process to three simple steps. Yes, just three steps. If you follow these...
by j9robinson | Feb 16, 2016
How to Avoid College Application Essay Booby Traps No matter where you are with writing your college application essay, you should double check that you are on the right track. It’s way too easy to inadvertently torpedo your chances of writing an essay...
by j9robinson | Feb 15, 2016
College Application Essays: One Piece Of the Admissions Puzzle This is the time of year many high school juniors start to get serious about their college admissions strategy–including their college application essays. Some have been all over the...
by j9robinson | Feb 13, 2016
Stand Out in Your Common Application Essay So you are ready to start writing your Common Application Essay? Congratulations! You have found the best source of specific tips and strategies on exactly how to brainstorm topics for each of the 5 prompts–and...
by j9robinson | Feb 13, 2016
IMPORTANT: The UT has NEW prompts for 2017-18, so much of the information in this post is now outdated. Here’s the link to the update-to-date information on UT prompts: New Essay Requirements for UT. Former Admissions Counselor at University of Texas-Austin...
by j9robinson | Feb 10, 2016
Sample Essays Can Inspire Topic Ideas! In a previous post, I shared a sample essay from my college application essay writing guide, The Writing Survival Kit. Here’s another original sample essay from the same collection. I believe reading sample essays is...
by j9robinson | Feb 10, 2016
Listen Up to Write Your College Application Essay! Are you the type of student who would like to learn how to write your college application essay by listening to your headphones rather than reading a book? If so, you might want to check out the first of...
by j9robinson | Feb 10, 2016
Sample Essays: The Best Way to Learn to Write Your Own In my writing guide, The Writing Survival Kit, I share some excellent sample essays for college applications. In this post and future ones, I’m sharing some of them with you. Whether you are...
by j9robinson | Feb 9, 2016
Prove You Deserve to Win in Your Scholarship Essays Scholarship essays are critical if you want to go to college, but can’t afford it. To win them, you usually need to write powerful and personal scholarship essays. (Yes, QuestBridge applicants, this...
