by j9robinson | Aug 19, 2014
I confess: I love anecdotes. These are basically when a writer shares a mini-story about a real-life moment or experience. Usually, they are plucked out of the past, and presented without much introduction. Their power is that they draw you into a story, or...
by j9robinson | Aug 14, 2014
Oops. Not again! We are talking about supplements for college application essays. Not vitamin supplements. Geez! Even though supplemental essays usually are short—usually a paragraph or two—many students are stumped on how to structure them. Or on just how...
by j9robinson | Aug 13, 2014
Oops. Wrong SUP. We are talking college application essay supplements here. Haha. I just gave a workshop on how to write college supplement essays to a group of college-bound students yesterday, and wanted to share some of the advice and tips on how to make them stand...
by j9robinson | Aug 11, 2014
The middle of August is when I first notice a dramatic spike in visitors to Essay Hell. A few students get that early start on their college application essays at the beginning of summer, but the majority seem to wait until now through fall. I thought I would try to...
by j9robinson | Jul 6, 2014
Parke Muth, a veteran college admissions counselor and writer from Virginia, interviewed me recently about my opinions and advice regarding college application essays. I thought I would share the interview, which he featured on his own highly informative blog. ...
by j9robinson | Jun 30, 2014
When you write a college application essay, you want to “grab” the attention of your reader from the start. My favorite writing technique to hook readers is to engage them with an anecdote, which is a real-life moment or incident. You might have...
by j9robinson | Jun 19, 2014
I watched this inspiring trailer video today about students from Stockton, California, who are learning to tell their stories using both poetry and investigative journalism (digging up facts.) Since the economic downfall starting in 2008, their city turned into a...
by j9robinson | Jun 15, 2014
For more than five years now, I’ve encouraged students to write their college application essays using a narrative style. Sharing true-life stories to reveal your personality, character, interests, dreams and goals is the best way to tell about yourself...
by j9robinson | Jun 10, 2014
To help kick off the college admissions “Season,” I’m offering my new collection of inspiring college application essays–Heavenly Essays–for under a buck. Yup, you can download an ebook copy from this blog, and start reading right...
by j9robinson | Jun 9, 2014
Over the years, I’ve heard almost every imaginable complaint and concern about writing college application essays. Like most common fears, they are almost all in your head. That doesn’t mean they don’t feel real. But if you can realize that a...
