Essay Lessons From a College Applicant Superstar

What You Can Learn From Michael Brown’s College Application Essay   I must have watched the viral video of Michael Brown learning he got into Stanford at least three times in a row. Such a feat and well-deserved accomplishment for what seems like an...

How Brittany Stinson Wrote Her Costco Essay

A Q&A With The Author of the Viral Costco Essay Last month, Brittany Stinson learned she got into five Ivy League colleges, as well as Stanford and many other top schools. When a newspaper reporter asked her to share her college application essay, Brittany...

Warning: 5 Ways to Blow Your College Application Essay

  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...

Listen to Me Talk About Writing Great College App Essays!

My friend, Lynn O’Shaughnessy, who is a national expert on helping families afford higher education, interviewed me recently about how to write standout college application essays. If you are struggling to figure out how to pay for your college or university,...

Great Student; Not a Great Essay

I’ve been meaning to write about the hubbub around the high school student who got accepted into all eight Ivy League schools last April. It was an amazing and well-deserved accomplishment for Kwasi Enin, a 17-year-old from Long Island, New York. Because of his...

What Makes a College Application Essay “Great”?

Are you starting to think about writing your college application essay? If so, you need to know what makes a great essay to know how to start brainstorming and writing your own. You can often recognize a “great one” when you read or hear it—but...