Last year, I was pummeled with one question: “How’s AI affecting your college application essay work?” I shrugged. I didn’t know yet. Answers are coming into focus. This morning, I read a story on Reddit about the Common Application Essay that convinced me I need to share my thoughts. And share what I’m learning about Continue Reading »
I created Don’t Sweat the Essay 18 years ago because college application essays were so daunting to so many students. I’ve worked on Common App essays, MIT essays, and the California PIQ essays with about 800 students around the world. They learn to write about their interests, ambitions, and accomplishments, presenting their best selves to Continue Reading »
When writing college application essays, we often think that this is the hardest part of the process – the difficulties of applying and getting in. But financial aid and paying for college has become an increasingly challenging hurdle! The evidence is in the rising costs every year – and the growing list of colleges offering Continue Reading »
Dear Readers: The long-awaited SCOTUS decision ending affirmative action has just been announced. Affirmative action is essentially over, in this 6-3 decision. I have not yet had a chance to study the decision, but it DOES address the college application essays as follows. The bottom line: you CAN write about race as it has affected Continue Reading »
College application essays matter. Now more than ever. And they will matter in the 2023-24 cycle. Now that “test-optional” and “test blind” (the entire University of California system) are the default for most of the country’s most selective institutions, applications have spiked. That means acceptance rates have plummeted, and the admissions landscape is more unpredictable Continue Reading »
In these uncertain days of The Virus, every bit of good news is magnified by ten or maybe by 100. So I’m especially excited to share this year’s news from my clients about where they’ve been accepted. This year, clients got in early action/early decision to Harvard, MIT, Tufts, and Notre Dame, and regular decision Continue Reading »
UPDATE! The 2022-23 U Chicago essay prompts are out! Click right here to read about them. The following post is from two years ago, but the University of Chicago is so unconventional that you can use a prompt from any year if you wish. Read on and use your imagination: “You’re on a voyage in Continue Reading »
I have it on good authority that 40 percent of college admissions officers search Google when they are reviewing a student’s application to their college. Which 40 percent? Anyone’s guess, but there is no time like the present to keep this in mind as you post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and wherever else you post, Continue Reading »
Today’s Washington Post brings one of the more revealing – and surprising – articles about college applications essays that I’ve ever read. The key words are Yale, pizza, and Auburn University. But the main point is that the Yale Admissions Office reads students’ entire applications, whether the prompts are from the Common Application or the Continue Reading »