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 need to do to craft essays that will be engaging and memorable.
Take a couple minutes to watch this video, which brings you around a table of college admissions officers at Amherst College, a liberal arts college in Massachusetts, as they sort through applications. (more…)
After working with thousands of students from all over the world on writing the dreaded college application essay for the last eight years, I’ve finally been able to boil down the process to three simple steps.
Yes, just three steps.
If you follow these steps, I believe you will be able to craft a college application essay that will give you an edge in the admissions game.
How?
Each step makes sure that you share information about yourself that will make your essay effective and help you stand out from the competition. (more…)
Former Admissions Counselor
at University of Texas-Austin
Shares Insider Advice
Are you planning on applying to any of the 14 University of Texas institutions, including the most popular in Austin, Texas?
(Or Texas A&M, and even some private Texas colleges, such as SMU, TCU, Baylor and Trinity College.)
I’m excited to share some tips from a former college admissions officer at UT-Austin with you. His name is Kevin Martin, founder of TexAdmissions, and he focused these tips on the one of the 3 required essays he believes is by far the most important, based on his experience.
Kevin Martin of TexAdmissions
The University of Texas essay is called Topic C, and the prompts asks:
“Considering your lifetime goals, discuss how your current and future academic and extra-curricular activities might help you achieve your goals.”(more…)
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 not only a great way to learn how to craft a personal, narrative style essay for your college application, but a wonderful source of topic ideas.
Are you the type of student who would like to learn how to write your college application essay by listening to your headphones rather than reading a book?
If so, you might want to check out the first of a two-part podcast, “How to Stand Out in Your College Essays with Janine Robinson,” where I share all my best advice and tips on how to craft a powerful college application essay during an interview with Steve Schwartz, a professional college admissions counselor.
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.
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…)
All public universities, and some private and 2-year colleges, in Texas do not use the Common Application. Instead, they have their own consolidated system called ApplyTexas.
As a professional writing coach, I help students, parents, counselors, teachers and others from around the world on these dreaded essays!
Learn about my in-person and online tutoring, editing, workshops, books, and online courses, ... READ MORE....
Online Course
Learn to Write Your Essay in One Hour!
My on-demand, fast-and-easy online e-course: How to Write a College App Essay (Click lightbulb for details.)
Perfect for The Common App, UCs, grad school, transfer and scholarship essays!
