by j9robinson | Mar 23, 2016
When I give writing workshops to students on college application essays and what makes them effective, I love to show this short video on YouTube. It’s just over two minutes long, but in that brief time, I believe many students quickly get a sense of what they...
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 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IMPORTANT: The UT has NEW prompts for 2017-18, so much of the information in this post is now outdated.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 | Jan 9, 2016
URGENT! ApplyTexas changed their essay prompts in 2017-18. Click HERE for the current essay prompts! (THIS POST IS OUTDATED!) How to Link Your Life Goals to Current and Future Activities In the previous post, I wrote about ideas on how to answer Topics A and...
by j9robinson | Dec 28, 2015
URGENT! ApplyTexas changed their essay prompts in 2016-17. Click HERE for the current essay prompts! (THIS POST IS OUTDATED!) All public universities, and some private and 2-year colleges, in Texas do not use the Common Application. Instead, they have their own...
