NEW University of California Essay Prompts for Fall 2017!

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...

College Application Essays and the Admissions Puzzle

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...

Sample Essays: “Fast Doesn’t Always Win”

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...

Sample Essays for College Applications

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...

ApplyTexas: Help for Essay Topic C

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   (THIS POST IS OUTDATED!)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...

Last Minute Help for UC College App Essay Writers!

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...

Creating a College-Bound Culture along the Texan Border

 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...

Dig Deep: Show Intellectual Vitality in Your College App Essay

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...

Dig Deep: How to Add Depth to Your College App Essays

  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...