Northwestern University’s 2012 Common Application Supplement Essay Defined

Northwestern University includes one essay question as part of their Common Application Supplement.  The question is designed to gain insight to the student’s interests and their potential match with Northwestern, which reads: What are the unique qualities of Northwestern – and of the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying – that make you…

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University of San Diego Supplement Essay Defined

The key to writing a competitive college essay is understanding the prompt.  (Sounds simple, but in the heat of writing college essays, while still keeping up with 15 hours a week of extracurricular activities, plus going to school and completing everyday homework,  clearly defining the prompt may be overlooked.)  Not to worry, we’ve done half the…

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Teaching Style Can Create Stress Among Some Students in a Classroom of Thirty Five Students

Today’s podcast is an edited conversation with a client (high school junior) who was attempting to identify pressure surrounding the day-to-day academic grind. Within the broader conversation, the student suggested that the teaching style of their AP English teacher was creating undo stress and anxiety on the part of the student and their family.

College Selection and Financial Aid in the Age of Rising College Tuition: Part Three

We finish our podcast series today on College Selection and Financial Aid, by discussing the need to define the value of college in an era where tuitions are rising faster then the cost of pretty much everything else we consume. Furthermore, we offer simple questions that any family can ask early, and often, in helping…

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Happy, Happy Thanksgivings To One and All From Your Friends at Creative Marbles

Our resident seven year old history teacher–while once again practicing the oral tradition of concentrating when listening to an instruction and sharing it from memory with others–recites a historical synopsis of Thanksgiving in helping to define the importance of this day. At Creative Marbles Consultancy, we take a somewhat day off today (college deadlines happen…

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College Selection and Financial Aid in the Age of Rising College Tuition: Part Two

We continue our series on college selection and financial aid, by discussing the clash between the demand–and even right to attend college–and the dawning reality that rising tuitions (at a rate greater than inflation), alongside  average student debt increasing at an unsustainable rate, are beginning to price some deserving candidates out of the college marketplace.…

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Defining Claremont McKenna: Understanding the Supplement Essay Prompt

The Supplement questions of the Common Application are not only another opportunity for applicants to state WHY s/he is a strong candidate for admissions to ________ university, they reveal more about the college’s values and academic environment the student may join, eventually.    As previously stated in earlier posts, competitive essays start with a thorough…

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The Inside Scoop about the University of California Essay Prompt #1

126,000 single applications received by the University of California (UC) system for Fall 2012 Freshman admissions.  That means at least 252,000 essays were written and included within those applications.   (Mind you: These numbers are only for unduplicated applications, and DO NOT include that each application may have ben considered by multiple UC campuses.)  …

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Unlocking the University of California Application Essay Prompt #2

The most effective communication model yet may be when all parties involved are actively participating. When clarifications are needed, it is naturally asked and answered as many times deemed necessary. Now best communication practices aside, what happens when person A, someone from someplace–an admissions officer–with his/her sum of experiences, is to read person B’s essay,…

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