College Essay Writing 101

The college essay writing season is officially underway!

Note to every single student out there: If you think ai is the best and most efficient way to knock out your essay, please reconsider.

1. AI doesn't know you and your feelings/motivations, which is what a college wants to see.

2. AI wants you to feel good about what you're writing, feel confident, so it will shower you with things like, 'That's a great idea!', but at the end of the day, ai isn't the human on the other side who will be reading it.

3. Writers (ie, the ones who may be reading your essay) are well-aware of human writing vs ai writing. And even if they don't catch it, their ai-detecting software will. It's not worth it.

Start early, think it through, and work with someone who will help bring out the best. Those are your best chances, and if you want to ask, Chat GPT would probably agree.

Send a message to learn more

A word of advice to parents weighing in on your child’s college essay:
If your advice is to suggest your child stuffs their essay with ALL of their accomplishments, it will take from the essay rather than add to it. Don’t give into the temptation! The student’s resume will have all of that info, or they can work it into the supplemental questions/short essays.

“Stuffing” the essay takes from the story and narrative (which should be the focus!). It is far more effective to make sure the essay reads like an interesting, creative, engaging and on point story (keep the prompt at the top of the working copy of the essay and regularly look back to make sure the essay fits the prompt).

Need some help? Reach out!

The application deadline clock is officially ticking!

NOW is the perfect time to start thinking about and choosing an essay topic!
I met with a student last week who was convinced she had ‘absolutely nothing’ about her of her life that could be spun into her Common App essay.
Using gentle interviewing skills I honed as a journalist, I asked the questions that helped her uncover what it is about her life that is SO unique, resulting in her perfect essay topic.

After just 90 minutes, she had her idea and is now well into a draft of her essay, months before the due date and before the stress of application season officially arrives.

If your student is struggling to come up with a topic, book a session today!

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I’m starting to get questions about the right time to start thinking about college essays and if you think it’s too early, I promise it’s not!

Now is the time to start talking about topics.

Are you working at a job that is something new, something challenging? If so, take notes

Did you face a personal challenge recently or are you going through something difficult? If so, take notes.

Is there something going on in the world that’s inspiring , or making you rethink a career choice? If so, take notes.

Taking a minute now to jot down some feelings, impressions, creative descriptions, whatever it is that will help you remember those details, they will help immeasurably when you sit down to write your essay. What you think you will remember will be that much easier if you have a cheat sheet.

Need some last-minute feedback on your essays and short answers?

Offering a one-time, one-hour, essay assessment to make sure everything is solid before you hit the “send” button.

✅ Is the topic an appropriate answer for the prompts?
✅ Does the essay flow and keep the reader engaged?
✅ Do you need help editing the essay down in order to hit the word count?
✅Have you, in the strongest way possible, made your case for WHY admissions should consider you?

The application season is quickly winding down so this is the last chance to put your best foot forward.

Message me for availability and additional information!

In a month or so, most rising seniors will be preparing for and heading back to school. Homework, tests and projects, combined with college applications and essays, can quickly overwhelm even the most organized students.

NOW is the best time to get essays completed, when students are rested (sort of 🤣) and able to focus, without rushing madly to hit looming deadlines.

If your student needs help finding the best topic, organizing ideas, or even editing a rough draft, send a message and we’ll get started!

School is wrapping up for the year, and for rising high school seniors, that means it’s time to start their college essays!

The summer will speed by, and before they know it, application season will officially be underway.

I will only be taking on FOUR more students this summer (first come first served) so if your student needs help finding/choosing a topic, organizing ideas, beginning their essay, or even having a thorough read-through and critique, let me know!

3 years ago, during that little life-glitch called lockdown, all video production was completely shut down. Like so many others, I did a pivot. It started innocently enough, helping my own daughter with her college essays.
Soon enough, her friends started asking for help. When it went beyond friends, and others were reaching out for help, it was clear my journalism and copywriting skills could be put to another use, one that I found so fulfilling that I decided to keep it going.

I’m limited in how many students I can work with each season, but that feeling of fulfillment is present each and every time I see a student light up when their final essay sounds and feels exactly the way they intended.

If you’ve been a student client, thank you!! And congrats to you because your appreciation, satisfaction (and acceptances! Holy cow are they impressive!) and referrals speak volumes.

2 lessons here…..

1. Find what you love, what brings you joy, and know that those skills do not have to be limited to any one career. Diversification is fun!

2. Essay writing is a process…it takes time and patience, and each student begins at a different starting point.
The end result should be honest; possess a clear theme; be engaging (a bored application reader is NOT ok); and maybe the most important: The essay should not be a recitation of achievements found elsewhere within the application. Avoid the temptation! This is the time to tell them something they won’t already know about you.

It's been a little while since I've posted a free tip (it's been a BUSY season helping students with their essays!) but I saw this quote in a NYT article today and couldn't help but share it.

To ANY student who thinks that AI can write your essays for you, this is a warning that using ChatGPT or any other version of A.I. is NOT a good idea and you could be sinking your chances:

".... A.I. chatbots, which are trained on vast databases of digital texts, are designed to predict the next word in a sequence. And they liberally make stuff up — which could be problematic for students relying on A.I. tools to fill out their college applications".

It’s the homestretch and while it’s SO tempting (and sometimes successful) to repurpose essays from one school for another, don’t let your fatigue guide you! Many essays will work when plugged into another slot as many schools use very similar prompts, but read the prompt carefully! It can be abundantly clear to an essay reader when you’ve cut and pasted an essay that doesn’t adequately address the topic.

Any questions? Reach out!