by j9robinson | Mar 24, 2016
First New University of California Essay Prompts for their College Application in 10 Years! The University of California just listed brand new college application essay prompts—for the first time in a decade! In the past, incoming freshman wrote two core essays...
by j9robinson | Mar 23, 2016
When I give writing workshops to students on college application essays and what makes them effective, I love to show this short video on YouTube. It’s just over two minutes long, but in that brief time, I believe many students quickly get a sense of what they...
by j9robinson | Feb 15, 2016
College Application Essays: One Piece Of the Admissions Puzzle This is the time of year many high school juniors start to get serious about their college admissions strategy–including their college application essays. Some have been all over the...
by j9robinson | Feb 10, 2016
Sample Essays Can Inspire Topic Ideas! In a previous post, I shared a sample essay from my college application essay writing guide, The Writing Survival Kit. Here’s another original sample essay from the same collection. I believe reading sample essays is...
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...
by j9robinson | Jan 9, 2016
URGENT! ApplyTexas changed their essay prompts in 2017-18. Click HERE for the current essay prompts! (THIS POST IS OUTDATED!)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...
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...
by j9robinson | Oct 16, 2015
First-Gen Students Learn to Write College Application Essays Last month, I had the privilege to work with a group of teachers and students on their writing and college application essays from the Rio Grande Valley in the southernmost tip of Texas. Almost all...
by j9robinson | Sep 12, 2015
Go Deep to Reveal Your Intellectual Vitality! When writing narrative-style college application essays, I advise students to start by sharing a real-life story that illustrates one of their defining qualities or characteristics. Once a student shares a real-life...
by j9robinson | Sep 11, 2015
Go Deep in Your College Application Essay! When writing narrative-style college application essays, I advise students to start by sharing a real-life story that illustrates one of their defining qualities or characteristics. All stories contain some type...