How NCAA Football Can Help Find the Right College, Wait…what?!?

During college football games, the fans, the close referee calls on memorable plans and multi-generational rivalries can all make an impression about a particular college campus.  Once a student is building his/her list of colleges for application, watching college football can be an entertaining way to learn more, supplementing college websites and the hundreds of…

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Top 10 Remarks NOT To Make At Holiday Gatherings

Seniors and their entire immediate family are experiencing the college application process close up and personal. So in the spirit of holiday giving, if you don’t make ANY of the following top 10 remarks to a college applicant, they’ll appreciate the super-bonus holiday gift: 10. “So, where are you applying to college?” 9.  “What are…

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The Emotional Side of Applying to College

Most students expect that completing college applications will be a short-term effort, temporarily inconvenient to the rest of their schedule, but generally able to be subsumed within their daily lives.  In reality, the challenge of opening one’s life to analysis, in order to write autobiographical essays required in applications can create an unexpected emotional response,…

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Thank Your Third Grade Teacher: She Was Right About the Thesaurus

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…

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The Truth About College Essays

College essay writing is difficult enough already without believing the myths about what makes a strong college essay.  Creative Marbles latest video dispels two urban legends about college essays: one, that a dramatic event is THE ONLY topic that creates a compelling college essay, and two, that a personal statement drafted with sophisticated written language…

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A Moment of Impatience Can…

Anxiety can cause anyone to make otherwise irrational decisions.  “People are constantly spoiling a project when it lacks only a step to completion”, declared Lao-Tzu in the 6th Century BC.  Lao-Tzu’s observation might give today’s college applicants some perspective about why they’re wanting to impetuously click the “submit” button in the days before the application…

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