by j9robinson | Oct 27, 2012
College Admissions Essays: Five Tips for the Perfect Topic Still looking for a college application essay topic that will set you apart from the pack? Here are my Top Five Tips on finding compelling and memorable topics: 1. Start with a defining...
by j9robinson | Dec 28, 2011
So you have a rough draft for one of your college essays. You answered the prompt, read it many times and believe it’s a solid piece of writing. And you may be right. But even a solid essay can have one fatal flaw–-it’s boring. The last thing you want is for the...
by j9robinson | Jun 9, 2010
College Application Essays How to Tell a Story In journalism, writers often use “anecdotal leads,” that is, starting a news or feature story with a mini-story about a real-life event, one that puts the reader in the middle of the action. Usually, the anecdote only...
by j9robinson | May 19, 2010
I just went back over college essays my clients wrote over the last several years. Despite the classic list of what not to write about (see previous post), I would say many wrote about mission trips, volunteering activities and sporting experiences anyway. Some pulled...
by j9robinson | Feb 4, 2010
I began this blog when my daughter was a junior in high school and starting her college application process. Like a lot of parents and applicants, I thought she needed some amazing experience in order to write a fabulous essay. The good news is that I was wrong! In...
by j9robinson | Aug 25, 2008
Some college counselors advise students to think of their life as a book and write down some chapter titles. Then pick one you like and expand upon it. This naturally directs the essay into a narrative (story-telling) delivery. I thought of a few from my own...
