The Common Application members have changed the prompts for current juniors in the Class of 2018, who will become college applicants in Fall 2017. The word count remains unchanged at a maximum of 650 words. Applicants will still be required to only choose one of the seven prompts listed below. The Common Application administrators have…
Very, greatly, really, extremely, strongly, deeply…the adverb can seem genuine and necessary for emphasis in a college essay, yet can actually have the opposite effect of watering down what is described. Plus, the adverb can be an extraneous word in the precious word count of the college essay. Yet, teenage college essay writers typically include…
Every word counts, when there’s a word count. A common complaint amongst college essay writers is the the wish for more words. The tedium of examining, re-examining, thinking through each word chosen when writing a college essay can be a test of patience, as much as a test of intellect. The Thesaurus, dictionary and books…
To the Senior (i.e. novice college essay author), the college essay editing process–especially when the editor is a third party–can be expletive provoking, feeling like a nit-picking critique of a final product spawned from a laborious drafting process, which can cause tension (or exacerbate it), and get on Senior’s last nerve. Seemingly “together” seniors…
Seniors (and their parents) who’re unsure about where to start writing their college application essays should start at the beginning of the writing process. The writing process doesn’t change; the challenge is most students aren’t often taught the writing process or have developed their own process to write essays for class assignments, that don’t fit…
