Is Homeschooling a Good Topic for College App Essays?

Is Homeschooling a Good Topic for College App Essays?

by | Sep 20, 2015

   How to Find the Homeschooling Advantage in College Application Essays I received an email from a student named Hannah who told me she was homeschooled, and that she had been advised to write about that for her college application essay. Hannah said she was...

How to Write the UC Transfer Essay: Why This Major?

by | Aug 21, 2014

The University of California CHANGED its prompts for transfer students this year (2106)! Read Strategies for the New University of California Transfer Essays for the updated information on the new prompts.   CLICK HERE FOR UPDATED POST ON NEW UC TRANSFER ESSAYS!...

If your essay starts by relating something that happened, the reader is going to dive right into it and not stop until they are satisfied–until they know what happened.

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Work First, Surf Second: A Lesson in Mundane Topics

by | Sep 17, 2013

A student who I will call Ryan arrived for his tutoring session yesterday, and showed me what he had written for his English class. His essay started with how he worked with Habit for Humanity and a trip he took to work with Native Americans. Oh no. Not the old...

How Will They Dub You?

by | Jul 27, 2013

Everyone is looking for that magic topic for their college application essay that will help them jump out from the essay pile, and shout, “Yes, that’s me!” I’ve written a lot about how you can go about landing on that unique topic. Here’s...

Become a Storyteller in Under Five Minutes

by | Jun 21, 2013

College Application Essays A Mini-Lesson from a Storytelling Pro   I found this brilliant little example of how to understand what makes up a good story today in a column written by the talented sportswriter and journalist named Tommy Tomlinson. If you are...

College Essays Are Like Mini-Memoirs

by | Aug 14, 2010

I just read a memoir where the author shared a piece of writing advice that Toby Wolff gave her.  Wolff wrote “This Boy’s Life,” one of the best memoirs out there. Anyway, memoirs are books written about yourself. In a way, college essays are like...

Jobs Can Make Excellent Topics for College Essays!

by | Jul 6, 2010

My students have discovered some of their best topic ideas for their college application essays from their job experiences. I’m not sure why they make great fodder for college essays, but I believe that simply working for others naturally reveals a complimentary set...