Everyone says, “junior year is the most important year” but why? Well, junior year will be the last full year colleges see before they decide whether to admit you or not. This means it’s your last chance to impress them…
If you’re like most high school seniors around this time, then odds are you’ve already submitted your college applications. And some of you may have also received college acceptances. Now many may be wondering, “do my senior grades matter at…
I have edited nearly 100 essays THIS cycle alone and one way I can tell whether a student is going to do well in the college admission process is how s/he approaches writer’s block, which is something ALL applicants will…
Another major mistake to avoid in your college essays is writing about an experience in which its limitations do not justify its minimal benefits. Many students often fixate on a particular essay idea that they completely miss the unfavorable message…
I have edited dozens of college essays and see students fall for the same mistakes, such as making frequent redirections. Redirection is a word I coined to refer to a shift in your readers’ attention (often through the introduction of…
What many students get wrong in their college essays is picking one approach but writing it as if it were the other. The most common mistake I see students make is choosing approach #2 when their writing is best suited…
Another mistake to avoid in your college essays is narrating your resume (listing all of your experiences with little regard to the prompt). This is problematic because when you introduce many tangential points, they dilute and detract from your main…
ALL students make mistakes in their college essays, even strong writers. One of the most common mistakes is writing “garble,” which is a term I coined to refer to filler words that sound like you’re saying something but are so…
This is the third and final part of common mistakes I have seen students make in their college essays. In this article, I will explain each mistake and give tips you can use to avoid them. I will also include…
I have edited countless college essays and see students make these mistakes ALL the time, even among strong writers. In this article, I will explain each mistake and give tips you can use to avoid them. I will also include…