Looking for College Application Essays to Publish!

***Looking for help starting your essays? Check out my affordable Jumpstart Webinars! Adding more for July. Only $30. FREE if you can’t afford them. Have a College Admissions Essay You Love? Send It In! It been a little over five years since I published my...

How to Record Scratch Your College App Essay Stories

                       How to Background an Anecdote (Includes 5 writing examples at the bottom!) If you’ve done your homework on how to write an effective college application essay, you probably know the place to start is with your real-life stories. The...

How to Self-Reflect for College App Essays

Who Are You? Tips and Resources to Think About Yourself If you are working on your personal statement for The Common Application or other college applications, the first step is to start to think about yourself. Sounds easy enough. Who am I? What am I like? How did I...

Why Kids CAN Write–If You Teach Them How

Students Stress Over College App Essays Because for the First Time They Want to Write But Realize They Don’t Know How The New York Times ran an article yesterday called “Why Kids Can’t Write.” Great piece, but I didn’t agree with the...

How To Give College Admissions Officials Essays They Want

Colleges Love Your Stories Especially Those That Seem Almost Ordinary!   I’ve read several news articles in recent weeks featuring college admissions officials sharing what they liked about college application essays they read over the last year. This...

3 Fixes for Cliche College Application Essay Topics

Should You Write About a Cliche Topic for Your College Application Essay? If you are just starting brainstorming ideas for your college application essays, one of the first pieces of advice you might stumble upon is to avoid “cliche” topics. I always warn...

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...

Defining Qualities Rock College Application Essays!

Some of my tutoring students skim through a college application essay prompt (such as the five options for The Common Application essay requirement), and in a flash, find one that speaks to them. Others come armed with a long list of topic ideas they have been toying...

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...

Common Application Essay Prompts and Strategies for 2016-17

Stand Out in Your Common Application Essay   So you are ready to start writing your Common Application Essay? Congratulations! You have found the best source of specific tips and strategies on exactly how to brainstorm topics for each of the 5 prompts–and...