by j9robinson | Feb 10, 2016
Sample Essays:
The Best Way to Learn to Write Your Own
In my writing guide, The Writing Survival Kit, I share some excellent sample essays for college applications. In this post and future ones, I’m sharing some of them with you.
Whether you are just starting to brainstorm a topic for your own essay, or already are working on a draft, reading what other students have written can spark ideas and provide inspiration for your own pieces.
Here’s one of my favorites: (more…)
by j9robinson | Feb 9, 2016
Prove You Deserve to Win in Your Scholarship Essays
Scholarship essays are critical if you want to go to college, but can’t afford it. To win them, you usually need to write powerful and personal scholarship essays.
(Yes, QuestBridge applicants, this includes you!)
Scholarship essays are similar to the personal essays you write for college applications. They need to give schools (or sponsors) a sense of who you are, what makes you tick and what you value.
Scholarship essays, however, usually need to go one step further. Applicants need to also show and explain why they deserve to win the scholarship. (more…)
by j9robinson | Jan 9, 2016
URGENT! ApplyTexas changed their essay prompts in 2017-18.
Click HERE for the current essay prompts!
Photo Via Texas Lutheran University
(THIS POST IS OUTDATED!)
How to Link Your Life Goals to Current and Future Activities
In the previous post, I wrote about ideas on how to answer Topics A and B in the ApplyTexas college application.
Students who want to apply to most public colleges and universities and some private colleges in Texas must use the ApplyTexas application.
Depending on the school(s) in Texas that you are applying to, there’s a good chance you will need to answer any combination of Topics A, B or C. (more…)
by j9robinson | Nov 24, 2015
UPDATE: as of March 23, 2016
The University of California announced NEW essay prompts for 2016-17.
Read about how to answer them HERE.
It’s Not Too Late to Write Your College App Essays
Before the Nov. 30 Deadline
Yes, you have waited until the last minute. But don’t despair!
There’s still time to pound out two awesome essays!
If you’re working on your two college application essays for the University of California freshman application, I’ve put together a short list of my most helpful posts.
Read through them, watch the videos, and get crankin!!
Prompt 1: Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations. (more…)
by j9robinson | Oct 12, 2015
Last week, a new student came to my home for help on his college application essays.
I asked this eager senior about his target schools. He told me Stanford was his top pick, but he was applying to most of the ivies, along with a couple UCs (Cal and UCLA).
Then he handed me a printout of his essay. It was one he had written for his English teacher at our local high school.
It was about a mission trip. To a South American country. And he wrote how he loved working with the kids, and how he realized how privileged he was, and how he hoped to make a difference in the world.
I tried not to let my reaction show. (more…)
by j9robinson | Sep 22, 2015
You Don’t Need Tragedy to Write
a Standout College Admissions Essay!
This is the time of year that the frenzy surrounding college admissions starts to grow.
Early decision deadlines are just weeks away.
Students who put off writing their college application essays are running out of excuses—and time.
Those who finally sat down to figure out the Common Application are shocked at the number of additional supplemental essays they need to pound out.
Compounding the looming sense of doom are some of the myths about these essays. (more…)
by j9robinson | Aug 4, 2015
The 2015-16 Common Application is officially out. If you’re applying to college, you will be making a lot of decisions in upcoming months. Important ones.
What schools should you apply to?
What should you write your college application essay about so you get accepted?
Once you get in, what do you think you will want to study or do in college?
Even though I mainly try to help students figure out great topics for their essays, I think all these big decisions have one thing in common: You can help yourself immensely if you take a little time to identify what matters most to you in your life. (more…)
by j9robinson | Jun 22, 2015
A lot of pieces go into crafting a college application essay that will help you stand out from the competition, and quite possibly push you through the door to your dream school:
It needs to be engaging, especially at the start. (Here’s how you do that.)
It needs to have a topic that’s unique and interesting. (Here’s how you do that.)
It needs to showcase something about you that the college wouldn’t otherwise know. (Here’s how you do that.) (more…)
by j9robinson | Jun 2, 2015
or
Why Bad Writers
Write the Best
College Application Essays
If you think you can’t write, and you need to write a college application essay, this is your lucky day. There’s a higher-than-average chance you will write an awesome essay.
(If you think you can write, there’s still hope for you, too. But you might have more work to do.)
Let me start by asking you why you’re so sure that you can’t write, at least not well.
Is it because you got average to low grades in English class? Or even flunked out. (more…)
by j9robinson | May 31, 2015
Short Answer:
ONE College Application Essay
for The Common App
The Common Application comes out officially August 1. But they already announced the changes for this coming 2015-16 season.
The most important were changes to the five essay prompts. (You can write your main Common App essay about one of the five.)
Beside the prompts, there were two other significant tweaks you should know about: (more…)
