Jumping to Conclusions: How to End Your Essay

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...

Got Grit? Then Show It!

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...

Just How Creative Should You Get?

College Application Essays Yes, You Can Go Too Far   Colleges are encouraging students to get creative with their essays. This is great. However, I think students should be careful of trying too hard to showcase their creative writing skills. Rather, I believe...

Is Your Privilege Showing?

  College Application Essays Humility Goes a Long Way   Many of the students I work with are from privileged backgrounds. (Hey, it’s expensive to hire a tutor!) They live in affluent communities, go on extravagant vacations and enjoy pricey hobbies and...

Writing Advice from a Hip Dean

Insider Writing Tips From a School That Knows Creative Writing When I read this post by an admissions officer at Tufts University named Lee Coffin (who has been dubbed “Hip Dean”) on word limits for Common App essays, I discovered he also included some...
Colleges Want More Creative Essays. Wonder Why?

Colleges Want More Creative Essays. Wonder Why?

The Colorful New World of College Application Essay Prompts But What Does It Really Mean?   University of Chicago: “Tell us your favorite joke and try to explain the joke without ruining it.” Brandeis University: “If you could choose to be...

Grab Your Readers with An Anecdote

College Application Essays How to Write An Anecdote About Almost Anything   Before one of my college application essay writing workshops yesterday, I skimmed over some of the rough drafts the students had written last semester for their English classes. The...

Open Up: How to Connect with Emotion and Pathos

One of the best ways to connect with your reader in your college application essay is through emotion. In my new book, Escape Essay Hell!, I share writing techniques and devices you can use to bring pathos to your essay, and forge a bond with your reader. (With my...

Go Green with Your College Application Essays: Recycle!

If you are applying to multiple colleges this fall, you will need to write multiple essays for the different applications. The Common Application helps you consolidate many of your applications and only requires one main essay. But if you are applying to public...

CBS Digs Essay Hell’s Topic Tips!

  College Application Essays Tips for Finding Topics That CBS Finds Worth Repeating A couple days ago, Lynn O’Shaughnessy, a journalist who covers college admissions issues for CBS, featured this blog in her column for MoneyWatch. How cool is that? She...