Timeless Life Advice from 2016 Commencement Speakers

by | May 23, 2016

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

by | May 12, 2016

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

by | May 11, 2016

  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

by | May 10, 2016

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

by | May 9, 2016

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...