Before drafting, ask what quality this prompt Is seeking: resilience, curiosity, leadership, self-awareness. Writing toward that trait, rather than the literal topic, produces a sharper essay every time. • Re-read the prompt and underline the verb (it usually reveals the real question). • Name the trait the prompt is testing for before drafting an outline or a single sentence. • Check the final draft against that trait: does it actually demonstrate it?

In an early draft, feedback should stay almost entirely at the level of: what is this essay actually trying to show about the student, and does the structure support that. Line-level polish is the very last step, not the first one. What to do about it • Share a rough, even messy, first draft rather than waiting for a clean one. • Ask readers to respond to the structure and the "so what," not the sentence-level writing. • Save grammar and word-choice polish for the final one o

Parents frequently ask where to start the college conversation. The honest answer isn't a spreadsheet of schools; it's a single question: describe yourself in three sentences, using only things you've actually done.

Admissions offices at selective schools read essays in large volume each cycle, and essay readers are consistently trained to weigh voice and reflection over subject matter. The topic is rarely the problem. The absence of a distinct thinking pattern is. How to test for it Read the essay's last paragraph and ask whether it reveals anything that couldn't be true of dozens of other applicants. If the answer is no, the essay is describing an experience instead of demonstrating

Students pour weeks into the Common App personal statement and then, exhausted, treat the supplements as an afterthought. For most selective schools, that order of priorities is backwards.

Most college essays fail for the same reason — and it's not grammar. Here's the fix, plus a free Essay Brief download.