How to Ignore College Application Essay Hype

Need Help Starting Your Essays?  I have a Jumpstart Webinar THIS Saturday morning, June 22! Only $30, includes my online essay writing course, too! Webinar Details Click Here! Keep Your Summer Chill! Many of you are already out for summer, or at the finishing line....

A Q&A With Me!

One of my favorite student-run blogs on college admissions, The Prospect, featured this interview with me last week. I thought the writer, Oriana Halverson, did a terrific job, and flushed out some helpful information:   Essay Hell’s Janine Robinson: Everything...
Essay Contest! Winners Will Be In My Book!

Essay Contest! Winners Will Be In My Book!

You Already Wrote It. Why Not Submit it? Enter Your College Application Essay in Essay Hell’s Heavenly Essays Contest! One of the first things I advise students to do when they start working on their college application essay is read sample essays. There’s...

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.

Read more

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...

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...

English Teachers Don’t Always Get It Write

At our local public high school in Laguna Beach, the English teachers assign juniors to write college application essays at the end of the year. It’s a great idea. For many students, this may be the only time they get any guidance on how to write these essays....

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...