by j9robinson | Dec 16, 2013
Stumped by the University of Colorado Supp? Me, too! I’ve had quite a few students this “season” who were flummoxed by the supplement for the University of Colorado. It kind of threw me a bit as well. But behind all that blah, blah, blah, I believe...
by j9robinson | Nov 3, 2013
UPDATE: The University of California announced NEW essay prompts for 2016-17. Read about how to answer them HERE. The following content in this post is no longer relevant and is outdated! About three years ago, I wrote a post to try to help students applying to the...
by j9robinson | Oct 26, 2013
Tips for Writing Essays College Admissions Folks Want to Read While trying to think of topics for college essays, students often try to guess what the admissions officers are looking for, or what they want to read. It often feels like such a mystery. But in a...
by j9robinson | Oct 4, 2013
URGENT UPDATE! The University of California CHANGED its essay prompts for 2016-17. Learn about the all-new requirements by clicking HERE! THIS POST IS OUTDATED! How to Describe a Place in a College App Essay If you are applying to the University of California,...
by j9robinson | Sep 26, 2013
A smart dad sent me an email recently asking how college-bound students could work in related achievements and accomplishments into their personal, narrative-style essay, without sounding like they were blowing their own horn. It’s definitely a fine line....
by j9robinson | Sep 23, 2013
When people visit my Essay Hell web site, I can see where they come from on my Google analytics page. (I know, kind of creepy, but that’s just how it works now.) I noticed a recent spike of visitors from a blog written by an English teacher in Southern...
by j9robinson | Sep 16, 2013
How to Conclude Your College Admissions Essays Here’s an excerpt from my ebook guide on how to write a college application essay using a narrative, storytelling style. I pulled this from my chapter on writing conclusions. Some students find ending their essays...
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 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...
