by j9robinson | Sep 20, 2010
College Application Essays: They Are Easier Than You Think! A friend just told me his daughter was not going to apply to the UC (University of California) schools because she would need to write two college admissions essays. Instead, she was going to stick to the Cal...
by j9robinson | Sep 9, 2010
It feels like a set-up. First, you are supposed to reveal how wonderful you are in 500 words–about the number you can cram onto a postcard in your teensiest handwriting. Second, you must sell yourself to the college of your dreams—setting yourself apart from the...
by j9robinson | Sep 4, 2010
College Admissions Essays A Step-By-Step Guide to Telling Your Story Step 1: Write down 3-5 “defining qualities” about yourself. Think of how one of your parents would sum you up to a stranger. My Julie, why, she’s creative, ambitious, caring...
by j9robinson | Aug 14, 2010
I just read a memoir where the author shared a piece of writing advice that Toby Wolff gave her. Wolff wrote “This Boy’s Life,” one of the best memoirs out there. Anyway, memoirs are books written about yourself. In a way, college essays are like...
by j9robinson | Jul 6, 2010
My students have discovered some of their best topic ideas for their college application essays from their job experiences. I’m not sure why they make great fodder for college essays, but I believe that simply working for others naturally reveals a complimentary set...
by j9robinson | Mar 9, 2010
(for this to make sense, you probably need to read the previous post) Once you get the idea of how this Ladder works, now find some sample college admissions essays that you like. See if the writer shifts back and forth between the specific and the abstract. (Just jot...
by j9robinson | Aug 25, 2009
From article in the New York Times: June 23, 2009, 12:22 PM As an inaugural post, Martha C. Merrill, the dean of admission and financial aid of Connecticut College, and a graduate of the class of 1984, encourages incoming high school seniors (with her Top Ten tips):...
by j9robinson | Mar 30, 2009
In a recent profile in O magazine, novelist Wally Lamb talked about teaching autobiographical writing to female prison inmates. Although many of these women have juicy stories to tell, Lamb asks all of us, “Which of us is so self-aware that we could not...
by j9robinson | Oct 2, 2008
Get some books! There are a ton of books on how to write these essays. They are filled with great advice, but can also be overwhelming. Here is how you can use them to help your student in a non-threatening way (I did this with my senior daughter and it helped...
by j9robinson | Oct 2, 2008
About me… Janine Anderson Robinson is a journalist and credentialed high school English teacher from Laguna Beach, California, who has spent the last decade coaching college-bound students on their college application essays. Today, with more than 8 million...
