New Common App Essay Prompts for 2015-16!

 The Five Prompts to Write your College Application Essay for The Common Application (Same prompts for 2016-17!)   The folks at the Common Application announced the five essay prompts students will choose from to write their core essay for the coming college...

5 Reasons to Write Your Own College App Essay

  With all the hype and pressure surrounding college admissions, I don’t blame students and parents for looking for shortcuts or anything that can give them an edge in the selection process. While I believe students should take the helm of figuring out...

Essay Hell’s 2015 Spring Webinar Series

  Not many images are more daunting than a blank page. The horror! But starting next month (March), I’m launching a weekly Webinar series to assist more students and families with starting their college application essays. I write this blog, peddle my three...

Listen to Me Talk About Writing Great College App Essays!

My friend, Lynn O’Shaughnessy, who is a national expert on helping families afford higher education, interviewed me recently about how to write standout college application essays. If you are struggling to figure out how to pay for your college or university,...

Comic Relief for College App Essay Writing

  This hilarious video is making the rounds on the Internet (my niece’s husband shared it with me on Facebook) just in time for many college application essay deadlines. It’s funny because the outrageous statements made by students are painfully true. A...

Get My Popular Writing Guide for Free!

Download “Escape Essay Hell” Free on Sunday, November 16!   This is the final countdown for college deadlines for most major colleges and universities. If you are already done and have turned in your applications, congratulations and please pat...

Think Your Topic is Too Broad? It Probably Is…

 How to Focus Your College Application Essay! I love all the comments students make about my posts. The most common ones ask about topics for the Common App or other core college application essays, including the University of California prompts. Students want to know...

Great Student; Not a Great Essay

I’ve been meaning to write about the hubbub around the high school student who got accepted into all eight Ivy League schools last April. It was an amazing and well-deserved accomplishment for Kwasi Enin, a 17-year-old from Long Island, New York. Because of his...