Guiding Question 3: Do you write only in the first person and not spend too much time describing anyone or anything else? Use my one-third-two-third rule. You may not spend more than 1/3 of the essay describing anything other than your own activities and goals. That group, person, or community […]
Yearly Archives: 2012
Guiding Question 2: If you start in the past, do you get to the present very quickly? Colleges want to know about the recent you. Great essays can start more recently and weave in past events. As I read many application essays, I see kids spending way too much time […]
Guiding Question 2: If you start in the past, do ...
Make Your Stories Pop: 10 College Application Essay Guiding Questions Working on the drafts of your personal statements for your college applications? The drafting process is critical and can help make your stories and messages clearer. Please be willing to draft and re-write to make your essays stronger. Here are […]
Make Your Stories Pop: 10 College Application Essay Guiding ...
Brainstorming Tip #10: Don’t be bound by five paragraph essays. Your story will guide the form of the essay. You can use dialogue, quotes, song lyrics, poetry. Let your story and message guide you to the number of paragraphs you need to express your message. Push boundaries.
Don’t be bound by five paragraphs: Brainstorming Tip #10
Great, great essays can take us through an event and weave in core features: Brainstorming Tip #9 Do not feel confined by any rules other than to engage and stimulate the admissions officers to see you come to life before them in your personal statements. And yes, you must grammar […]
Great, great essays can take us through an event and ...
Follow Dr. J’s Into, Through, & Beyond Approach: Brainstorming Tip #8 Your essay needs to grab readers from the first word. You are competing for the fleeting attention of admissions officers who have dozens if not hundreds or thousands of essays and files to process. So don’t waste their precious […]
Follow Dr. J’s Into, Through, & Beyond Approach: Brainstorming Tip ...
Read sample essays from older kids at your school: Brainstorming Tip #7 Ask to see essays kids from your school wrote for match colleges. But don’t copy. Just get ideas. You need to truly match your writing and style to the level of school. Admissions officers are begging for gripping, […]
Read sample essays from older kids at your school: Brainstorming ...
Read past and present essay topics from other colleges: Brainstorming Tip #6 Find the Common App essays too broad? Read other college’s essay prompts. They may spark an idea. The University of Chicago has great supplementary essay topics every year. A couple of years ago, one topic was: “It Isn’t […]
Read other college’s essay topics: Brainstorming Tip #6
Write a “Where I’m From” Poem: Brainstorming Tip #5 Read George Lyon’s “Where I’m From” Poem. http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html Think of where you are from. Read the poem to get ideas to write your own and start an amazing essay.
Write a “Where I’m From” Poem: Brainstorming Tip #5
Boston College Adds Supplemental Essay-WOW!!! Here they are: Different and not easy to mass-produce. Should make for an interesting year for BC admissions. Students frequently ask what they can do to enhance their applications and furnish us important additional insights about themselves. Toward this purpose, the Admission Committee presents […]