To effectively answer essay prompts, an integral component of applications for many US colleges as well as other countries scattered throughout the globe, requires understanding of the autobiographical writing process. According to the Oxford Dictionary, autobiography is “an account of a person’s life written by that person.” How does a teenager, or one of any…
Tag: Autobiography
Down the Rabbit Hole
Every college applicant, whether high school senior or community college transfer student, has now awakened in their own Wonderland, the Alice of their own journey to discover: To write competitive autobiographical college essays, applicants must reflect on their experiences, in order to define “Who they are” as well as their aptitude, so they can best…
Know Your Frenemies AKA Writing College Essays?
Every college, transfer and graduate school applicant is facing their own “mirror” as they brainstorm their life’s story to draft their college essays, which being autobiographical will be some of the toughest writing they’ve ever done. Being educated isn’t just about learning reading, writing and ‘rithmatic, but also understanding ourselves so we understand our life’s…
Creative Marbles Summer College Essay Intensives
In August 2017, the experts on Creative Marbles editing team will offer Summer College Essay Intensives for a select group of seniors. Not only will participants begin the complex drafting of their life stories, they’ll develop a college essay writing strategy with educational experts, who have twenty years of experience helping students be competitive in the admissions process.…
Grammar Shmammer
The rules of grammar can be annoying, especially when an English paper is “bleeding” with red ink marks, noting every single punctuation and grammar error. However, the purpose for grammar, which is to articulate the author’s ideas clearly to the reader, can get lost in trying to follow the rules of grammar. To help all the college…
Common Application Essays Part 6: Essay Prompt 4 Explained
The next podcast in our Common Application Essay series defines the fourth of five essay prompts. Applicants must choose only one of the five prompts to help structure their essay. Yet, considering topics for all five essay questions, before focusing on one, can help applicants write the most meaningful essay possible and remain competitive across…
“The Three D’s: Death, Disease & Divorce”
When beginning to write college application essays, students often worry about having lived an “ordinary” life, under the assumption that a dramatic event is a compelling topic to persuade college admissions officers. A few years back, a stressed-out Senior, with tears welling in her eyes, exclaimed to her dad, “Why couldn’t you have died?!? Then,…
The A B C’s of the New Common Application Essays
College essays that add value to the application explain the meaning of the applicant’s life experiences and give insight to the applicant’s personality. Being able to craft that content, while in the middle of the fall semester of Senior year, and fit their 17 years of life into 500 words or less can be a…