Essay Hell

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Welcome to Essay Hell!

On this site, you will learn tips, advice and strategies to write your dreaded college application essays—and escape the misery of Essay Hell.

Read the helpful posts (click the flames and icons!) and learn to navigate the complicated admissions process, discover powerful writing tools, and craft standout essays to land in your dream school.

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Click the lightbulb to learn more about my popular on-demand, online essay writing course: How to Write a College Application Essay.

Includes 11 short instructional videos, my four writing guides and related worksheets and exercises.

NEW! Includes PPs on “How to Write Supplemental Essays” and “How to Write UC Essays”!

You can start now! Only $99.

“Funnily enough, I actually used this website to help guide a lot of my application essays, including this one. So I guess this would be the perfect opportunity to say thank you! I feel like my essays definitely strengthened my entire application.”

Brittany Stinson
Accepted to all 8 ivies and Stanford
(wrote famous “Costco essay”)

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“…Janine helped my son identify areas that made him unique and topics that highlighted his strengths. We watched his essays transform from mere ideas to coherent attention-grabbing stories. The process proved to be a time of enrichment and self-discovery.”
Jack Feng, father of Jeremy, who is attending UCLA 
Laguna Hills, California
Jeremy also was accepted to UCI, UCSD, UCSB, Notre Dame, U of Washington,  NYU, and Ohio State.

Everything You Need to Know About the Four Most Common Applications
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Common Application Essays

Find help on choosing from the seven prompts for The Common Application, and crafting a “slice-of-life” essay that helps you stand out.
University of California Essays

University of California Essays

Brainstorm ideas and craft short essays for the eight new essay prompts for the University of California application.

Coalition for Access...Essays

This is a brand new application system: Find strategies for all five of the prompts to write the required personal statement essay.

ApplyTexas Essays (Most Texas Schools!)

Learn about the all-new prompts for the ApplyTexas application, and tips and advice on writing essays for Topic A, B and C.

Escape the Heat!

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Writing Guides

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Online Course

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The Essay Hell Blog

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Start Your Personal Statement the Right Way

  Ready to write your personal statement essay? It can be for your Common Application essay, or other university or college prompts, or transfers, or medical or law school, or even scholarship applications. To start, always read the prompt. If it asks you to...

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Hot Tips for new Common Application Prompt 6

3 HOT TIPS for Common App Prompt 6   In a previous post, I warned about the possible pitfalls of writing about the new Common Application prompt 6. My main concern was that in writing about one of your passions -- a "topic, idea or concept -- you will need to...

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Common Application Prompt 6: Be Warned!

  Big Red Flag on this New Common Application Prompt 6! The Common Application added two new prompts for 2017-18. Now students can choose from seven prompts (instead of five) to inspire their personal statement "Common App" essay. The seventh new Common...

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Launching My New Essay Guide with Amazon Giveaway!

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 13, just go to its sales...

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New Common Application Prompts for 2017-18

New Common Application Prompts for 2017-18: TOPIC OF CHOICE IS BACK!!   Great news for you college-bound juniors who are just starting to think about your college application essays. If you need to write your personal statement essay for The Common Application,...

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Essay Hell Writing Tips Make the Tabloids!

A friendly reporter from the popular daily tabloid newspaper, Metro, contacted me a couple weeks ago. She was writing a piece for the New York edition on college admissions, and wanted to feature some of my college application essay writing tips. (It's actually a...

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24 Top FAQs About College Application Essays

24 More Commonly Asked Questions about College Admissions Essays   How far back should I go in tracing my background? When writing about experiences from your past, it’s best to stick to your high school years in general (for Common Application and incoming...

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The Most Common Questions about College Application Essays

FAQ | College Application Essays I'm sharing below 20 of the most common questions about college application essays that I have been asked over the years, along with links to longer explanations and related helpful information. This spring I published a book with...

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UC Shares Videos on Personal Insight Questions

  As you probably know, the University of California changed its required essay prompts for 2016-17. Instead of writing two longer personal statement essays, you now chose from eight prompts (which they call Personal Insight Questions) and write four short...

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