Still Looking for That Magic Topic? Try a Sample!

  College Admissions Essays: Samples Samples of College Admissions Essays and Personal Statements– and Why They Can Help You Write Yours!!   I always tell my students that one of the best ways to find great topic ideas is to read the essays of other...

5 Top Tips on Finding Topics for College Admissions Essays

  College Admissions Essays: Five Tips for the Perfect Topic Still looking for a college application essay topic that will set you apart from the pack?   Here are my Top Five Tips on finding compelling and memorable topics:   1. Start with a defining...

Twilight as a Topic? No Way!

College Admissions Essays: Finding topics in unlikely places   I would never have believed that writing about the Twilight series could be a super essay topic–not in a million years. But below, I’m going to share how one of my brightest students...

How to Focus your Essay

College Admissions Essays How to Give Them More Punch: FOCUS! A common challenge in writing these college admissions essays is making sure they go deep enough. That doesn’t mean you have to talk about the meaning of life, and allude to Shakespeare, Greek myths...

How to Land in the “Yes” Pile

College Application Essays Five Places to Start After helping students discover their own unique topics over the last five or so years, I can spot a great topic the minute a student mentions one. And I suspect it’s no different for the college  admissions people...

The Top Student=Bad Essay Paradox

College Application Essays How to Stay On Top of the Heap For some reason, “top students”–aka high achievers, go-getters, A-types, test-takers, straight-A students, you know who you are!–often have the hardest time writing these essays. At...