Best College Application Essays Have Touch of Gray

Learn How to Avoid Black-and-White Thinking to Add Depth to Your Essays   It’s exciting to see that word is getting out to collegebound students, and those who support their admissions quests, that real-life stories power the most effective college...

Timeless Life Advice from 2016 Commencement Speakers

I arrived home to California yesterday from St. Louis, Missouri, after attending my son’s graduation from Washington University in chemical engineering. (Woot Woot!) As part of graduating from college (as well as high school), my son and other students are...

How Brittany Stinson Wrote Her Costco Essay

A Q&A With The Author of the Viral Costco Essay Last month, Brittany Stinson learned she got into five Ivy League colleges, as well as Stanford and many other top schools. When a newspaper reporter asked her to share her college application essay, Brittany...

Coalition for Access Essay 4: Teenager Advice

  Coalition Prompt 4: What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What’s the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)? When I first read through the five prompts students have to choose from to...

Coalition for Access Prompt 3: A Belief Challenged

You Believe That? Coalition for Access Essay Prompt 3: Has there been a time when you’ve had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs? So you need to write your core essay for the new Coalition for...

Coalition for Access Essay Prompt 2: Volunteering

If you’re using the new Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success to apply to one or more colleges for 2016-17, you need to write a core essay that responds to one of their five prompts. First, I encourage you to read through the five prompts and see if...

Coalition for Access Essay Prompt 1: Tell a Story

  Tips and Ideas for Coalition for Access Essay Prompts: The First and Last   If you are using the new Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success to apply to college for 2016-17, you first need to check if the college or university you want to attend...

UC Essay Prompt 7: Volunteer Your Best Story

University of California Personal Insight Question 7: Time to Talk About One of Those Volunteer Experiences UC essay prompt 7: What have you done to make your school or your community a better place? The minute I read UC essay prompt 7, I thought most students would...

UC Essay Prompt 6: Your Favorite Academic Subject

University of California Personal Insight Question 6: Brainiacs, Nerds, Geeks and Former Slackers—This Essay is For You!   UC Essay Prompt 6:6.  Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or...