The Main Point of Your College App Essay

Know the Main Point You Want to Make About Yourself In Your Essay! Or else…   I don’t know why I haven’t written about this before. It’s soooooo important to writing a college application essay that will give you that edge in landing your...

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...

Essay Lessons From a College Applicant Superstar

What You Can Learn From Michael Brown’s College Application Essay   I must have watched the viral video of Michael Brown learning he got into Stanford at least three times in a row. Such a feat and well-deserved accomplishment for what seems like an...

New Trick for Finding Killer College Application Essay Topics

Let Lynda Barry Help You Find and Tell Your Best Stories! Try One of Her Awesome Brainstorming Exercises If you’re starting to brainstorm that perfect topic to craft your dreaded college application essay, I have a new writing technique you might find helpful....

The Big Eclipse: A Lesson in College Application Topic Ideas

  Don’t Even Think About Writing About the Eclipse And What to Write About Instead   When I was invited to give one of my college application essay writing workshops to students at Colorado Academy in Denver, Colorado, I had no idea it would be on the day of...

How to Format Your Common Application Essay

Confused on How to Format Your Common Application Essay? Here are 9 Hot Tips The 2017-18 Common Application opened for business earlier this week (August. 1). Chances are you will soon need to know how to format your common application essay. If you are on the ball,...

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...

The Trouble with Boys and College Application Essays

Who Writes Better College Application Essays: Boys or Girls? When I gave one of my summer college application essay writing boot camps this last weekend in my hometown of Laguna Beach, I had 11 boys and one girl. As the students showed up, I casually mentioned this...

Cultural Backgrounds Fuel Standout College App Essays

  Everyone Has a Cultural Background Yours Could Make an Awesome College App Essay Topic! I love working with students from all over the world. I’m always surprised, however, how many of these students overlook their rich backgrounds when brainstorming...