Think of your application as your first impression to a university. If you were meeting them for the first time, what would be the key insights that you would want them to come away knowing?

It’s important to remember that the essay is one part of many on your application. Consider the other elements of your application, such as the activities page… Read more “Put It in Context”

Why waste precious time your senior year? Don’t feel rushed to get everything together in the fall. The Common Application Essay Prompts are out for 2017-2018. They’ve… Read more “Start Your Personal Statement NOW”

How is your relationship with that word count?   Here are a couple tips to condensing the language:   Make words count. The essays aren’t terribly long,… Read more “Which Words Work?”

Be you, yes, but keep in mind that this is formal writing. Keep your personality, but omit obscure colloquial phrases that may stunt your message.

You’ve written the first draft of your essay. Congratulations!   So…now what? You may be thinking it is time to submit your essay, but think again! Editing… Read more “Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you The First Draft!”

Be You. Every student has an ideal topic for themselves. Don’t worry about if your friends are writing about this or that. Focus on you, your life… Read more “What to know about the writing itself”

Now, it’s time to brainstorm for your chosen essay prompt.   Generally, I like to begin this by asking a series of targeted questions in order to… Read more “What does your topic have to offer?”

Notice in the previous post that I mentioned brainstorming a topic, not necessarily choosing or outlining, which will eventually be the ultimate goal.   Take time to… Read more “Discovering the Perfect Essay Topic”

What do you want a college to know about you? This is really what you are answering in the Personal Statement. The essay prompts are relatively broad,… Read more “Getting Started”