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Colleges generally include a question in their application (or their Common App supplement) asking why you’re interested in attending their school, and many students make the mistake of responding with something like this:

“School X is a highly respected school with a good business program, which will help me get a good job in the future.  Also, I like the location near the (beach/mountains/city/whatever).”

There are two problems with an answer like this:

1. It makes the school sound like every other school in the country
2. In doing so, it makes the student sound like every other John/Jane Doe applicant in the country

The fact is, no two colleges are the same, and admission officers want to know they’re admitting the students that fit best at their school.  And to quote my colleague Shannon Meairs from her article The Dirty Little Secret Colleges Won’t Tell You, colleges want students that want them.  They want students that are excited to attend, and that will make the most of the opportunities available to them on campus.

So what does this mean for the “Why our School” essay questions?  Basically, it means you need to convince every admission officer you’re dying to attend their college, whether it’s really your first choice or not.  It means your answers need to be customized, specific, and loaded with passion.  Here are a few suggestions:

1. Talk about “fit.”  The ideal college-student relationship helps both the college and the student reach their goals.  When a college offers precisely the combination of resources and opportunities the student needs to bring his or her future vision to life, it’s a great fit, and when the student makes maximum use of those resources and contributes powerfully both inside and outside the classroom, s/he is a great fit for the school.  Discuss the reasons why this is a perfect match.
2. Do your homework, and be specific.  A vague, generic response (like the one at the beginning of this post) will suggest that you’re likely to be just as happy at another school, and this is a major turnoff to admission officers.  Instead, demonstrate your passion through an awareness of the school’s uniqueness.  Discuss specific courses, professors, campus clubs, leadership opportunities, research opportunities, and/or campus traditions that intrigue you.  And connect these interests with your future goals to demonstrate the “fit” described in #1!
3. If you can, visit the campus.  Nothing provides a better sense of “fit” than a campus visit, and essays rooted in personal experience are always more powerful and vibrant.
4. If a school is your first choice, it can’t hurt to tell them so.  Colleges are always concerned about their “yield” (the percentage of accepted students that enroll), and they’ll be glad to know you’ll enroll without hesitation if admitted.

Make colleges feel special, and they’re far more likely to return the favor!

Justin

My last blog post got me thinking about “creative” essays--those obscure, tangential personal admission essays that read well but don't necessarily focus on the student.   Does your main personal essay need to be uber-creative, like nothing an admissions committee has ever seen?  Does it need to address a topic that has never been addressed, and address it in a completely fresh way?

Many of the winning college admission essays that get featured online are like this, and students often drive themselves crazy trying to create this kind of essay.  Here’s an example: LINK

But I’ll be honest: trying to write something like this for your primary college admission essay is not always the best strategy.  Here are 3 reasons why:

1. The essay above doesn’t actually communicate anything about the student (except, perhaps, subtextually, which I will address in a moment).  The approach, then, is risky.  An admission officer might read the essay and think “Wow, this is different!  What a breath of fresh air!”  On the other hand, she might think “Hmm, this is good, but I don’t know a single thing about this student except that he came up with one original idea and executed it well.  Who is he?  Will he fit into our class?  Will he succeed here?  Not enough information.  I’ll pass.”
2. Creative personal essays have to be extremely well written.   Most people probably think they are better writers than they are, myself included. And while I think I’m a decent writer, I’ll admit to not being a strong creative writer.  Powerfully poetic prose is as rare as pulchritudinous painting, and the simple fact is, not everyone can do it.  I’m not trying to throw a wet rag on creativity here, but it’s important to proceed with caution.  If you’re going to leverage an already risky approach, make sure you do so wisely.  Ask for lots of feedback on your “unusual” essay.
3. There are often other opportunities in the application to be creative.  Most applications include supplemental essay questions, and some even include questions designed to elicit creativity.  Make sure you put your best foot forward with your main personal essay, giving the admissions committee a powerful sense of who you are and what makes you unique.  If you succeed in this, the supplemental essays provide a great opportunity to play around a little and have some fun.
   

Ok, I’ll conclude with an exception to the above guidelines and some general advice. 

The exception:
If you are a creative writer, and you intend to study creative writing in college, it’s actually quite important that your admission essay be creative.  In this case, it’s probably less important that you talk about yourself; the medium IS the message.

General advice:
As I mentioned in my last blog entry, most students should begin with a thorough exploration of the gifts, passions, accomplishments, and future goals that make them unique, and NOT with an attempt to find some random, creative thing to write about.  Once you’ve discovered your most powerful personal story, THEN you can think about the most creative way to tell it. 

Good luck!


Justin

Is there a magic template or formula for producing a great college admission essay?

No.  And yes. 

As they read that, other college admission professionals are thinking “What???  How dare you suggest there’s any possible way in which using a template might be a good idea?!”  Don’t get me wrong.  If you come across some kind of online service offering some kind of plug and play template – “write this here, then fill in this blank,” etc., you should run screaming.   Still, I think articles like this one (on another blog) may partly miss the point:

I agree with MOST of what the author says above.  It’s definitely the case that your essay needs to stand out, avoid clichés, and catch the attention of the admission committee. 

HOWEVER, I disagree the best way to do this is to start by trying to come up with a topic nobody else has written on before.  Instead, I recommend starting with intentional self-reflection.  What makes you unique?  What about your past accomplishments and future vision set you apart?  What have you done that nobody else has done?  What stirs your passion so much you can’t wait to tell the world?  Your essay should be unique precisely because you are unique – not because you figure no one else will write about the Madagascar hissing cockroach.

Once you have discovered your unique personal story, then you can think about the most compelling way to tell it.  Recount an interesting personal experience, and connect it with your future goals?  Employ an analogy or metaphor?  While I agree with my colleague that essays about changing the world can be clichéd and boring, it’s not necessarily the case.  If you have a specific, original idea about how to create positive, sustainable change, you should definitely consider writing about that!

Remember, colleges are businesses, and they want students that are going to add something amazing to their class, make the most of the resources available to them on campus, and succeed in both college and in their future careers.  Every student they accept is a risk, and your job in your admission essay is to convince your dream school you are a better risk than your fellow applicants.  Your essay needs to be unique and interesting to do this, yes, but it ultimately needs to say something compelling about you.  And having an original, personal story to tell is ultimately the best foundation for an interesting essay!

Write passionately and poetically about your unique goals, strengths, passions, and accomplishments.  Is that a formula?  If so, I guess I disagree with the party line.

With that said, I’ll leave you with a few thoughts about “bats” and “lizards.”

1. Comparing yourself to a bat or lizard could be an interesting way of writing your essay.  Again, however, you should do this because it’s the best possible vehicle for conveying your unique gifts and strengths, not because you don’t think anybody else is going to write about bats or lizards.  Choosing an analogy in advance is a bad idea, because it may not really align with your personal story at all.
2. I’ll be brutally honest: if you are an exceptional writer, you might be able to pull off an essay comparing yourself to a lizard.  But it’s a HUGE risk.  If it doesn’t work, there’s a decent chance you’ll be the laughingstock of the admission office.  You might just become known as “Lizard Boy,” and the admission staff may pass your essay around for all the wrong reasons. 

You are an amazing, uniquely gifted person.  Know yourself, and be yourself!

-Justin

A client of mine recently wrote me this note about her college essay:

"My main problem with it, currently, is that it sounds a bit cocky (for lack of a better word) to me. By saying "I intend..." or "I look forward to" (to me) implies that I'm expecting this to happen. My philosophy is that nothing is for certain, so I don't want the reader to think of me poorly because I know for certain I will succeed. I don't know, that's just how it's coming across to me, but it may just be the way I'm reading it? I'm asking for help with this part particularly because I'm having difficulty thinking of an alternative that's pleasing to me."

This is a common problem for students in the college admission process.  You want to give yourself a chance to get in, but you're a humble person and don't want to come across as some kind of jerk, right?

This was my reply:

"You're going to have to resist the temptation to be TOO humble in your college applications.  Humility is an extremely noble quality, and one of the qualities I respect most in others.  Unfortunately, it can also hurt you in the college admission process.  It's true that we never REALLY know what's going to happen, but think about it like this: let's say you're going to invest in a company, and you have two options.  Company A has a great product, and they're led by a team of entrepreneurs that have already successfully built and sold three other businesses.  They've meticulously studied the market and the competition and have checked and re-checked the numbers.  "This company is GOING to succeed," they tell you.  "We will stop at absolutely nothing to make sure of that, and to get you a quality return on your investment."

Company B hasn't done anything like this before, but they think their idea might work.  They aren't sure of it, but it might.  "Give us $100k," they say, "and we hope we'll be able to make you some money."

In which company would you invest?  Both companies could fail, certainly, but there's no question Company A is the better risk.

The fact is, college admission is precisely like this.  Colleges are investors that take a risk on students, and the admission process is all about deciding who's the best risk.  They don't want to think you might succeed on campus and in your future career, they want to know you will.  If you aren't convinced you're going to succeed, why should the admission committee be convinced?  I know it's unnatural to brag, but it's your job in this process to come across as confident.  There's a line, of course, but your essay isn't anywhere close to it, and nobody is going to think any less of you.  I promise.  :) 

I'll leave you with a fact to ponder.  I say "fact" because this statement has been proven over the years through multiple tests involving numerous subjects and countless variables.  I encourage you to think about this, and how it might (or might not) fit into the philosophy you articulated below.  So here goes:

Things that people expect to happen are more likely to happen.

Does this mean everything we expect to happen comes to pass?  Of course not.  But the statement is still true.  Why?  Because when we expect something to happen, we live our lives as if it will.  And when we live our lives as if something is going to happen, we tend to produce the circumstances that cause it to happen.  If I wake up expecting to make a friend that day, I'll go about my day looking for that prospective friend.  I'll smile, keep my eyes peeled, and introduce myself to people.  And if I do those things, I'm far more likely to make a friend.  If I expect that I'm not going to make a friend, I'll walk with my head down, and...well, you get the rest.

I digress, but the point is this: you are a talented young woman with a noble future vision.  Walk humbly in your relationships with others, sure.  But when it comes to your vision, own it.  Believe it.  Be it.

Justin

If you haven't already seen it, the President of NACAC (The National Association of College Admission Counselors) recently published some great advice about college admission essays. Among his key points:

• Avoid generic topics (like the "jock" essay--"I learned a lot about perseverance through my role on the championship-winning team")
• Don't write about something that is easily apparent from the rest of your application (i.e. don't simply provide a laundry list of your extracurricular activities and accomplishments
• "Show, don't tell." As he puts it, "Don’t tell your reader that you compete in triathlons; instead, let her feel the rush of wind as you pedal; let her heels ache from the pounding as you run; let her shrink from the chill of the water as you dive in."

And finally, he provides some great advice regarding how to know whether your essay will be interesting to the admission committee:

• Try to step into the reader's shoes. Imagine you've already read 683 other essays; is this one going to strike you as interesting and unique?
• Let someone else read it - someone whose judgment you trust!

Need professional help with your essay? Check us out at www.fullride.com!

I know it’s hard to hear, but I’ll come right out and say it: your college admission essay probably isn’t as good as it could be. 

Don’t get me wrong; I’m sure it’s great.  I know you’ve worked hard on it, and I’m sure it’s full of interesting stuff.  But if you haven’t asked for feedback from an array of people, and if you haven’t gone through several rounds of substantial revisions based on that feedback, your essay could probably be better.  A LOT better.  Let me explain:

Several years ago, I was applying to business school, and I spent several weeks writing what I thought was the PERFECT MBA admission essay.  By the time I finished, I was deeply invested in it.  It was my baby.

So, to get confirmation of how good it was (and probably because I wanted to impress her), I sent my essay to a good friend, who also happened to be one of my smartest, most successful friends.  Her email response started like this: “OK, I don’t want you to take this personally, but…”  Then she went on to tell me the essay was terrible, and that she thought I should start over.  

I was stunned.  How could I work so hard on an essay, feel so good about it, and have it be so wrong?  The more I thought about her advice, however, the more I recognized the painful truth: she was right. 

It’s hard to tell someone their baby is ugly, but in retrospect, I’m so grateful my friend was bold enough to tell me the truth.  My final essay was ten times better as a result, and I was far more successful in the process than I otherwise would have been.  So what happened here?  Why was my final draft so much better than my first?

1. I got really invested in what I had written, and when we become invested in something, it skews our perspective.  We tend to develop a bias, downplay weaknesses, and become defensive of what we’ve done.  The main thing keeping my essay from being better was that I thought it was better than it was.
2. My sense of self – my understanding of my strengths, gifts, and passions – was probably lacking as I wrote my first draft.  Sometimes we need the mirror of a friend, family member, or other outside advisor to help us see how great we are; my friend perceived strengths in me that I had never even considered, and those strengths made for a far better essay.
3. I didn’t know anything about admissions at the time, and most of my assumptions were unfounded.  My friend had an MBA from a competitive school, had worked in the admission office while she was there, and was able to provide a wealth of valuable insights about what makes a compelling essay.  My original essay was bathed in clichés and stereotypes, and would have made excellent wallpaper in the admission offices at my schools of choice.

I’ve read thousands of college admission essays, and these truths stand out:

1. Most essays (probably at least 90%) are kind of like wallpaper.  They tend to look like every other essay and blend into the background.
2. Most applicants think they’re part of the other 10%; they think theirs is that unique, compelling essay that will make them unforgettable to the admissions committee.  Most of them, of course, are wrong. 

I don’t claim to be the ultimate authority on college admission essays, but I will say this: I’ve never seen one I couldn’t make better.  And if you intend to apply to competitive colleges, your essay probably needs to be better than what you first created.  It needs to articulate your unique personal “brand,” and it needs to do so with elegance and power.  With that in mind, here’s my advice to you:

1. Get feedback!  Give your essay to at least three people you trust, and ask them to be brutally honest with you.  Ask them to consider these questions: Does this essay capture the essence of what is best and most interesting about me?  If not, why not?  Does it flow well?  Is it interesting and captivating?  If not, why not?  What do you think I could do to improve it?  When you’ve got an almost-final draft, ask the best editor you know to give it a full editing pass.
2. Don’t get defensive about your essay.  If somebody you trust thinks your essay needs work, an admission officer will probably think the same thing.  This person is on your side; you can fight them tooth and nail and try to convince them they’re wrong, but why?  You won’t have that chance with the admission officer.  They’ll just put a big, fat DENY on your application.
3. Be willing to work hard.  The #1 time we get defensive about something we’ve done is when that something has taken a great deal of time and effort.  I know you don’t want to re-write your essay; you worked your tail off to write it, and you’re sick and tired of this.  But this is the next four years of your life we’re talking about here!  Suck it up!
4. Revise, revise, revise!  The bottom line is this: if you want to get into a competitive college, you need a great essay, and great essays don’t happen overnight. 

The "Additional Information" Section

Many students applying to college struggle with how to handle this section. Let me start with two pieces of seemingly contradictory advice:

1) Don't add something to this section unless you have something interesting to add, and...
2) Do add something to this section!

Yeah, sorry - I know that may not feel very helpful, but the bottom line is that it's great to add something compelling here, and if you can, you should!

What you shouldn't add:

1) An additional essay that essentially repeats something mentioned in a previous essay.
2) An additional essay that isn't particularly interesting, or doesn't add something new and exciting to your profile.
3) A LONG essay - even if it's pretty good. The admission officers have already given substantial time to your application; you don't want to make them feel like you're demanding a disproportionate amount of their time.

So what should you add? Here are some possibilities:

1) Add something that complements your unique personal story or "brand" - something that drives home your main point, makes the reader smile, and doesn't make him/her think, "Aw, crud - this applicant added an additional info piece." If you're a songwriter and you've discussed that in your main personal essay, how about attaching the lyrics to a song you've written? If you're an architect, you might consider adding one of your designs. An aspiring entrepreneur? Submit a brief executive summary for one of your business ideas. A poet? Submit a poem!

2) If you can't think of anything like that worth adding, another possibility is to submit a nice, polished resume. The extracurricular section of the Common App only allows you to list a few key activities, and if you've done more than that, it might help to let your readers know that. They probably won't mind taking a look at a resume, because it won't take long to read, and might show off some interesting accomplishments. However, if you're going to attach a resume, make SURE it's polished and edited, with a nice, clean format. If you need professional help with this, contact us at www.fullride.com.

3) You can use this space to address a glaring problem in your profile. Did you mess up your sophomore year in high school because you were facing a difficult personal issue from which you've since recovered? If so, you might consider mentioning it here. HOWEVER, I generally encourage students to be very cautious when doing this. You don't want to (1) draw attention to a problem that might not have concerned the reader in the first place, or (2) dwell on the problem. If you take this approach, be sure to describe the problem quickly and concisely, and then focus for the remainder of the piece (don't make it long) on what you learned, how you've addressed the problem, and how well you're doing now. End positively!

One final piece of advice as you approach the additional info section:

Have fun with this!!!

School-specific Supplemental Essays

While it's true the Common App can save you a great deal of time, it's not quite the case that "one application works for all the schools." You'll only have to fill out one personal info section, one activities section, etc. But when it comes to essays, many schools want to see more than just the personal essay and the activity essay. Why? Well, it may be that they really think they need more information in order to make an informed admission decision, but I think it's equally likely that:

• They want to know that students are really interested in their school, and they're afraid that without additional requirements a bunch of students will apply just to see if they can get in, with no interest in attending - which will ultimately hurt their "yield."
• They want to give the impression of being a more competitive school.

To address this, many schools create a Common App supplement. Anything is fair game; some schools will include an extra form or something. Typically, however, the supplements consist primarily of additional essays and/or short answer questions. These questions might cover anything from "What would you like to tell your future roommate?" to "Our school values diversity; how will you contribute to the diversity of our student body?" A common question, and one for which you need to have a good answer, is "Why our school?" I'll address this in another post, but for now, suffice it to say that when colleges include questions like this, they want to see you show some love to their school. You've got to know why you're a good fit for them and vice versa, and your answer shouldn't be the same for every college. Do some research and be ready to talk about specific classes, programs, and resources. And whatever you do, DON'T turn in an essay for one school with another school's name in it. (Ugh, I once submitted an essay to Stanford telling them why I thought UC Berkeley was the perfect fit for me. Stanford apparently agreed.)

Content

• Whatever the question is, answer it! If you try to adapt an essay you've already written, be very, very careful. Sometimes students try to do this, and it looks forced. You don't want to make it look like you adapted an essay intended for another purpose, and you don't want the essay to end up coming across as convoluted and awkward. Be clear and direct.
• Pay careful attention to word limits and any special instructions.
• As you write, keep in mind the "brand" you developed in your personal essay. Whatever you write should be consistent with, and hopefully build upon, what you've already written. Perhaps it goes without saying, but you don't want to leave a college admission committee confused about who you are and what's important to you. For example, if you've written your personal essay about your passion for classical music and your desire to be a composer, your "Why our school?" essay probably shouldn't focus exclusively on the school's location, pottery club, and athletic teams. Instead, rave about the school's creative atmosphere, leading music composition program, music-related clubs, and a particular professor with whom you can't wait to study.

What happens if a supplemental question asks something already addressed in the personal essay?

This is a challenging one, and if you apply to enough schools, it's likely to happen. The best solution, if you can do it, is to answer the supplemental question in a way that is sufficiently different from, but complementary to, the personal essay. DO NOT submit the same essay twice or turn in a supplementary essay that is almost indistiguishable from the personal essay. What about changing the personal statement? Well, this is a little tricky, because you can't just change the personal essay for one school. If you change it for one college, you change it for all of them (except the ones that are already submitted), and this would only be a good idea if you decided the re-written essay were better at conveying your personal brand and vision than the original. There is, however, a work-around: you can create another application from scratch. If you really like your personal essay, but feel it's important that it be changed for just one school, you can create a separate verson to submit to that school. The downside is that you have to fill out the entire app again. For information on how to do this, log into commonapp.org, click "Instructions," and then click "Application Versions."

Next time: the "Additional Information" section!

The Activity Essay

With the personal statement done, the next type of essay you'll see on the Common Application is the "activity essay." This essay is a brief 150 word (max) piece that all your Common App schools will see. Here's the prompt:

"In the space provided below, please elaborate on one of your activities (extracurricular, personal activities, or work experience) (150 words or fewer)."

While this piece won't be weighted nearly as heavily as the personal essay, it's a great chance to add a little texture to your application. A few pieces of advice:

• Write the personal essay first. It's your primary "brand ambassador," and should definitely include the strongest aspects of your story. Once that's completed, you can use the activity essay to complement the personal essay. You don't want to focus on something you've already discussed in detail, but it's great if the activity essay can somehow underscore your brand. For example, suppose you are an artist and choose to write your personal essay on your unique, new approach to sculpting. The activity essay would be a great opportunity to discuss a specific art competition and the piece you entered.
• If you can't think of a good way to make the two essays complementary, utilize the strongest activity in your arsenal not discussed in the personal essay.
• Be as specific as possible. It's much more interesting to read about a specific accomplishment than about a broad, generic pursuit. In other words, DO talk about the exciting battle of the bands in which your band won first place. DON'T write an essay that reads: "I'm in a band. We play rock music. It's fun."
• Once you have your topic, think carefully about the most important points to hit. 150 words isn't very many, and most students struggle to keep it that short. Be sure to cut the fluff and include only the most impactful information. If your essay is too long, it's probably a good idea to get someone else - a parent, teacher, or counselor, perhaps, to take a quick look and provide feedback on the best things to cut. Oftentimes, we work so hard on each point that we become overly attached to our writing, and an outside observer can help us see the big picture!
• And as with all essays, EDIT, EDIT, EDIT!!!

Check in soon for part 3 of this blog entry, which will cover school-specific supplemental essays!

The Common Application saves time and energy by allowing you to apply to several schools with one application.  As I write this, there are 347 colleges and universities using the Common App, most of which are private (though about 25 public institutions are now included).  The school list is available HERE.

Common App essays take three forms:

• A main "Personal Essay" of at least 250 words
• A brief "Activity Essay" of no more than 150 words
• School-specific essays included in school supplements
• The "Additional Information" section

The personal essay is perhaps the best tool you have in the college admission process for articulating your unique brand - the "you" story that sets you apart and catches the attention of admission committees.  All the Common App schools to which you apply will receive this essay, and all are likely to give it considerable attention.  For the 2008-2009 application cycle, these were the available topics (topics are unlikely to change much for 2009-2010, but I'll keep you posted):

• Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
• Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
• Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
• Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
• A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
• Topic of your choice.
  
  

Which topic should you choose?

I typically answer that question this way:
If one of the essay options really speaks to you, and provides the perfect opportunity to tell your unique story and build your "brand," go with that one.  Otherwise, go with option #6 - the "topic of your choice."  The fact that this option is included means you can write absolutely any essay you want for the personal essay, so you need to use the best arrow in your quiver.  As an added benefit, option #6 can help you stand out a little more; many students will choose options 1-5, and admission committees may tire of reading hundreds of essays on the same topic.  That said, remember that options 1-5 are provided to help students find direction, and the inclusion of option #6 is not an excuse to write a direction-less essay.  Don't write something that doesn't help a college better understand who you are and why you'd make a great addition to their incoming class.

How long should the personal essay be?

This is a commonly-argued topic, and many students wish the Common Application would just go ahead and offer a maximum length.  The minimum length of 250 words is the only guideline provided. Most generally, your essay should be long enough to fully articulate your brand, without being too long to powerfully hold the attention of readers throughout the entire essay. Remember, your readers will be reading hundreds (if not thousands) of essays, and the last thing you want to do is bore them.  More specifically, then, the consensus seems to be that 500-700 words is ideal. Don't go too far under 500 - the admission committee may think you don't have much of a story to tell.  Over 700 or 800 is probably not a very good idea, and over 1000 is definitely not a good idea.

Check in next time for Part 2 of this post, where I'll cover the activity essay!

As a general rule, counselors like to say that 60% of the college admission decision is based on academics and 40% on everything else. So while a good GPA and solid test scores are still fundamental to a successful admission campaign, they're far from the only thing. And with application numbers rising at America's most competitive schools, admission officers increasingly rely on the "everything else" to differentiate students, many of whom have equally formidable academic qualifications. I heard recently that Harvard claimed it could have built, from its 2009 applicant pool, at least five entering classes as academically qualified as the class it accepted.

What does this mean for you, the applicant? Well, for one thing, it means admission essays are your friends. Consider the following:

• Essays are your best chance to articulate your "brand" - the unique, compelling story of what sets you apart and why a college can't afford to pass on you. Every year, students with perfect or near-perfect academic records lose spots to students that catch the attention of the admission committee with once-in-a-generation brands.
• Essays provide the greatest bang for your buck, especially once your senior year begins. While it takes several months of dedicated work to raise a test score and an entire high school career to build a solid GPA, great essays can be written in a matter of weeks.
• If you don't end up with the grades and scores you'd like, admission essays provide an opportunity to make up a lot of ground. I worked with a student this year whose academic record, by his own admission, was a little below average - largely due to a learning disability. But while his transcript didn't set him apart, he had a great story, and was ultimately accepted to his second-choice school. Stay tuned - I'll ask him if I can post his main admission essay here!

This blog will cover anything and everything related to college admission essays, with the ultimate goal of helping you get into the school of your dreams. We'll discuss essay themes, length, editing techniques, the Common App, school-specific essays, DOs, DON'Ts, and much, much more. On occasion, I'll try to post some examples of great essays to stir your thinking and provide inspiration. And if you have any questions you'd like me to address, please don't hesitate to ask.

Here's to the perfect college admission essay!