Blog
Notes from twenty thousand essays. Practical, specific, and usually shorter than the essay you are working on.
Brainstorming for the personal statement
Ten guiding questions for brainstorming your personal statement, so you can get past the blank page and find a story worth telling in your college essay.
Creative writing techniques for your personal statement
Five creative writing techniques that bring a personal statement to life: showing vs. telling, sensory detail, figurative language, dialogue, and pacing.
Strategies for personal statement topic selection
A four-step method for choosing your personal statement topic from your brainstorm, plus an outline template to develop the idea you pick.
Revising and editing your college essay
A three-step checklist for revising and editing your college essay: big-picture edits, line-level polish, and proofreading before you hit submit.
Topics to avoid: the traumatic trap
How to write about a traumatic event in a college essay without oversharing: keep the incident brief and focus on growth, with a sample revision.
What is the personal statement, and what structure should I use?
What the college personal statement actually is, why it's a personal narrative, and which structure to use: five-paragraph, diary, manifesto, or pivotal.
10 tips to prepare for the college interview
Five things to do and five to avoid before you sit down with an admissions officer or alumni interviewer.
Key tips for writing your personal statement
The habits that separate a memorable personal statement from a forgettable one: start early, brainstorm, stay on one theme, rewrite.
Acing the college interview: 13 questions and what they're really asking
Thirteen common college interview questions, what admissions interviewers are really asking with each one, and how to answer with specifics.
Tackling the Common App prompt on challenging a belief
How to approach the Common App essay prompt about a time you questioned or challenged a belief or idea, what prompted you, and what came of it.
Tackling the Common App prompt on failure
How to tackle the Common App prompt about failure, setbacks, and obstacles: describe the failure briefly and spend most of the essay on what you learned.
Tackling the Common App prompt on an accomplishment, event, or realization
How to write the Common App essay about an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked personal growth, without bragging or overreaching.
Supplemental essay: a character, historical figure, or creative work that influenced you
How to write the supplemental essay about a character, historical figure, or creative work that influenced you, with a short sample and analysis.
Supplemental essay: evaluate an important experience and its impact on you
How to answer the supplemental essay prompt asking you to evaluate an important experience and its impact on you, with a sample response and analysis.
Supplemental essay: discuss an important issue and its importance to you
How to write the supplemental essay on a local, national, or international issue that matters to you, with a sample response and a quick analysis.
Essay topics to avoid
The topics admissions officers have read a thousand times this year, and what to write instead.
Stylistic tips: what to avoid in your college essay
Common college essay style mistakes, from wordiness and clichés to weak verbs and the passive voice, with before-and-after examples of each fix.
Types of college application essays
The four types of college application essays you'll see most: the personal statement, favorite activity, why school, and intellectual curiosity.