There are six phases of a college essay. Don’t try to do all of them at one time. What does that mean? It means the first draft of your college essay is NOT the final draft! Work through these steps to build a strong essay that reflects your voice: College Essay Phase 1: Brainstorming Put … Read more
I. Thou shalt not allow your parents (or anyone else!) to write your essays, in whole or in part, for you. College admission counselors know the difference between a 17-year old’s writing, and an adult’s. It is not in your best interest to have anyone else write your essays for you – only YOU can … Read more
We’ve published many, many posts about college essays – aside from building your college list, it’s probably the topic that challenges and confounds students the most. If you’re looking for college essay advice – there’s lots of it out there! Just last week, Georgia Tech Admissions Director Rick Clark, whom we quote and link to … Read more
School’s out – it’s time to start your college essays! Can’t figure out where to start? Here are a few quick links to resources to help you brainstorm as you begin writing your college essays! Here are the Common Application essay prompts for the Class of 2019 (write one of the 7 prompts; max word count … Read more
When we tell people what we do as independent college counselors, they usually have one of three reactions: Wow, I wish someone had done that for me when I was in high school. Wow, I wish I met you two years ago when my son was going through that. Wow, you must have the most … Read more
Are you deep into college essay writing at this point? YOU SHOULD BE! It’s time to get those essays going, so you don’t have to spend your entire Thanksgiving (and winter?!) break working on your college applications. Just a little time each day will add up to save you a chunk of time later! Here … Read more
This Guest Post is courtesy of Ethan Sawyer, The College Essay Guy. His website is here. Your Common App personal statement is one of the most important things you’ll ever write. The process may seem daunting at first, but with the right guidance the process can be pretty awesome. Here are some things I get … Read more