Shout out to BroadwayWorld.Com for their wonderful review of my new book UNSTUCK!
In something of a sequel to her acclaimed book The Art of the College Essay, her latest book UNSTUCK, out September 1, concentrates its focus on the critical, and often terrifying, juncture in which a writer comes face to face with a blank page.
And yet that is what you face in writing your college admissions essays.
In fact, in applying to college, you are asked to write the most important essay(s) of your life — under deadline, with word limits, often answering specific prompts.
To me, this is a recipe for ANXIETY!
Rather, they are like oil and water. Once anxiety enters the picture, creativity skulks away and hides in a corner.
I think it\’s Freud who said \”Anxiety is the great narrower.\”
Anxiety makes you contract, freeze, get small and afraid.
So we want to avoid anxiety at all costs.
But how do you avoid anxiety in a high stakes game like trying to get into the college(s) of your dreams?
Actually, teaching students how to do that is one of my areas of expertise, and, in fact, may be my biggest secret to success and claim to fame. 😉
Except in rare cases, writing takes time. True, there are instances in which you sit down and write a brilliant essay from start to finish all in one go. I like to call this a dangerous piece of luck. It\’s not the norm. It\’s rare. And you can\’t count on it.
If you start early, at least you eliminate one of writing\’s most insidious arch enemies — time pressure.
But the truth is, even if you have all the time in the world, writing still seems to stir up some anxiety.
I have come to believe that this is because there are two warring parts of the brain — the creative part and the critical part — and, like Japanese fighting fish — if you let them near each other, they\’ll devour each other!
So what do you do to keep the creative and critical parts of yourself apart?
Most people, even your teachers, get them confused or think they\’re the same. They\’re not.
Product is what you are aiming for, what it should look like when it\’s done.
Process is how you get there.
To write a good college essay — or anything, for that matter — you need to know the difference between product and process.
This distinction is so important that I devote a whole chapter to it in my book The Art of the College Essay.
In this case, product is a narrative personal statement that shows the Ad Com what you\’re made of! It should be 650 words or less (for the Common App Essay). It should be compelling, revealing and authentic.
How do you write one of these essays?
Well, that\’s why I have a job!
Most people think you read the prompts, brainstorm ideas, and write an essay from A to B.
If that works for you, great!
That would give me a big case of that which shall not be named! (Writer\’s block!)
There\’s no harm in looking at the prompts for the Common App. You may get ideas just from reading them. I often read them aloud to students and ask them if anything comes up for them.
But remember, they are just prompts. They are meant to trigger ideas. In fact, prompt 7 is Topic of Your Choice. So in reality, you can write on anything you want.
There\’s no harm doing anything that generates ideas. If reading \”Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening\” makes you think of the winter your grandfather died and you ran out into the snow and wouldn\’t come back home, then Robert Frost\’s famous little poem served as a prompt for you.
Or perhaps it was a dream you had . . . a snippet of conversation . . . a moment of musing on the hidden benefits of paper clips. (Ask me and I\”ll send you an amazing college admissions essay on paper clips!)
So it really doesn\’t matter what gets you going. It only matters that you get going. And honestly, anything can trigger that.
Once you free yourself from the idea that you have to write an essay from start to finish, the world is your oyster! Sometimes when I\’m stuck, I pick a random book off my shelf. I particularly like books on astronomy and quantum physics! They are very rich in metaphor.
A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.Black holes can be big or small.
Take \”squeezed into a tiny space,\” for example. What does that remind you of? A long car ride with your brothers and sisters? Sitting in the back of the bus? Climbing into a cardboard box to hide from your mom?
And how about a feeling you might get, a \”space\” you might be in, where \”gravity pulls so much that even light cannot get out?\”
So anything can inspire you if you\’re free to be inspired.
If you squeeze yourself into a little box and believe you have to write your essay from start to finish based on one of the Common App prompts — good luck! That\’s a hard road to hoe, as they say.
— and then . . . you know what I\’m going to say . . . FREE WRITE!
In a Free Write, as you may recall, you write anything and everything that comes to mind in relation to whatever has prompted you in the first place, stream-of-consciousness-like, with no attention to spelling, grammar, punctuation or even paragraphs. Only one requirement — FULL SENTENCES.
Once you start writing, you may find yourself far afield from your original \”triggering subject.\” That\’s fine. That\’s okay. You\’ve succeeded in allowing the creative part of yourself to have free reign while the critic sits in the corner cleaning its fingernails.
The time will come for the critic to emerge and see how the whole thing might fit together.
For now, you\’ve gotten started — and that\’s what we set out to do.
It really doesn\’t matter what the prompt is for the Common App essay.
The UC Personal Insight Questions are a different story — in a way.
For those, the prompts are more specific, and you do need to address them. But there again, you start in the same way. You allow your mind to wander on the subject at hand, you brainstorm and write down whatever comes up for you, and then . . . you got it! You FREE WRITE on that subject.
I will go into more detail about the UC Personal Insight Questions as that deadline draws closer. You can also take a look at the post I dedicated entirely to the Personal Insight Questions.
For the moment, you know how to begin.
Just FYI, and to see whether looking over the topics stimulates any ideas, here are the Common App prompts, followed by the Personal Insight Questions for the UC\’s.
Allow these to inspire memories and thoughts. Don\’t be too literal and get locked into dutifully answering them. Remember, that\’s a recipe for that which shall not be named.
I\’m happy to guide you through this process, step by step. Soon my course on How to Stand Out to Get In will be available for you to use.
In the meantime, I absolutely love to help students find their way to great topics and write amazing essays that will get them in. Click here to get started!
The Common Application has announced that the 2019-2020 essay prompts will remain the same as the 2018-2019 essay prompts. Based on extensive counselor feedback, the existing essay prompts provide great flexibility for applicants to tell their unique stories in their own voice. Retaining the essay prompts provides the added benefit of consistency for students, counselors, parents, and members during the admissions process.
Plus, with essay prompts remaining the same, students rolling over their existing Common App accounts have more time to plan and prepare their applications prior to the final year of high school.
Counselors looking to get a head start with application workshops this year can take advantage of Common App Ready, a suite of on-demand resources, training videos, and infosheets, details everything students, counselors, and families need to know about using the Common App. This resource includes details on application creation, detailed descriptions of each section, and submission requirements. The tool also includes Spanish language resources.
2019-2020 Common Application Essay Prompts
1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
4. Describe a problem you\’ve solved or a problem you\’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma – anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you\’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
During the 2018-2019 application year, the most popular topic of choice was: “Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you\’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.” (24.1%). The next most popular topics were: “Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.” (23.7%), followed by “The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?” (21.1%).
\”The prompts as they exist today offer a broad range of approaches, accommodating students with a diverse set of experiences and ideas about the world to respond in a thoughtful and illuminating manner,\”\’ said Ian Watson, Associate Director of College Counseling at The Rivers School (Weston, MA).
What do you want UC to know about you? Here’s your chance to tell us in your own words.
Remember, the personal questions are just that — personal. Which means you should use our guidance for each question just as a suggestion in case you need help. The important thing is expressing who you are, what matters to you and what you want to share with UC.
1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.
Things to consider: A leadership role can mean more than just a title. It can mean being a mentor to others, acting as the person in charge of a specific task, or taking the lead role in organizing an event or project. Think about what you accomplished and what you learned from the experience. What were your responsibilities?
Did you lead a team? How did your experience change your perspective on leading others? Did you help to resolve an important dispute at your school, church, in your community or an organization? And your leadership role doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to school activities. For example, do you help out or take care of your family?
2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.
Things to consider: What does creativity mean to you? Do you have a creative skill that is important to you? What have you been able to do with that skill? If you used creativity to solve a problem, what was your solution? What are the steps you took to solve the problem?
How does your creativity influence your decisions inside or outside the classroom? Does your creativity relate to your major or a future career?
3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
Things to consider: If there’s a talent or skill that you’re proud of, this is the time to share it. You don’t necessarily have to be recognized or have received awards for your talent (although if you did and you want to talk about it, feel free to do so). Why is this talent or skill meaningful to you?
Does the talent come naturally or have you worked hard to develop this skill or talent? Does your talent or skill allow you opportunities in or outside the classroom? If so, what are they and how do they fit into your schedule?
4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
Things to consider: An educational opportunity can be anything that has added value to your educational experience and better prepared you for college. For example, participation in an honors or academic enrichment program, or enrollment in an academy that’s geared toward an occupation or a major, or taking advanced courses that interest you — just to name a few.
If you choose to write about educational barriers you’ve faced, how did you overcome or strive to overcome them? What personal characteristics or skills did you call on to overcome this challenge? How did overcoming this barrier help shape who are you today?
5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
Things to consider: A challenge could be personal, or something you have faced in your community or school. Why was the challenge significant to you? This is a good opportunity to talk about any obstacles you’ve faced and what you’ve learned from the experience. Did you have support from someone else or did you handle it alone?
If you’re currently working your way through a challenge, what are you doing now, and does that affect different aspects of your life? For example, ask yourself, “How has my life changed at home, at my school, with my friends or with my family?”
6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.
Things to consider: Many students have a passion for one specific academic subject area, something that they just can’t get enough of. If that applies to you, what have you done to further that interest? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had inside and outside the classroom — such as volunteer work, internships, employment, summer programs, participation in student organizations and/or clubs — and what you have gained from your involvement.
Has your interest in the subject influenced you in choosing a major and/or future career? Have you been able to pursue coursework at a higher level in this subject (honors, AP, IB, college or university work)? Are you inspired to pursue this subject further at UC, and how might you do that?
7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
Things to consider: Think of community as a term that can encompass a group, team or a place — like your high school, hometown or home. You can define community as you see fit, just make sure you talk about your role in that community. Was there a problem that you wanted to fix in your community?
Why were you inspired to act? What did you learn from your effort? How did your actions benefit others, the wider community or both? Did you work alone or with others to initiate change in your community?
8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you stand out as a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?
Things to consider: If there’s anything you want us to know about you, but didn’t find a question or place in the application to tell us, now’s your chance. What have you not shared with us that will highlight a skill, talent, challenge or opportunity that you think will help us know you better?
From your point of view, what do you feel makes you an excellent choice for UC? Don’t be afraid to brag a little.
It’s a good idea to work on the questions before you enter them into the application. Here’s a word doc with all the questions to help you.
Download the freshman personal insight questions [DOC]
You need a college counselor who knows the ropes and is devoted to helping students find and articulate their strengths, choose the best fit schools for them, not just the most prestigious, and forge a path with clear sightedness and integrity in this most important rite of passage.
A few years ago, I was interviewed by Indian Currents magazine on the role of Independent College Counselors in today’s world of admissions. I was delighted to answer Kamini\’s questions.
Every high school across America has at least one college counselor to help its students with all the essentials of the college admissions process. These counselors are tasked with keeping students on top of deadlines, administering PSAT’s, and sending out official high school transcripts. In their spare time, they write college recommendations for each and every student in the school; they guide students towards the right schools for them; they counsel them on majors and career paths; they help students with their FAFSA; and finally, they edit their students’ college application essays! Not!
In fact, high school college counselors don’t have any spare time! There is often a 400-600:1 ratio between students and college counselors, even in the best of circumstances.
Without that help, they often find it difficult to choose the right schools – and most importantly – to write an essay that will help them get into the school(s) of their dreams.
The world of college admissions has gotten much more complicated than when I applied to college many years ago. High school college counselors are busy and overworked. Even though both my parents were teachers, and this was quite a few years ago, I did all that I describe above — for myself! And I didn’t do it very well. I ended up transferring after my freshman year of college.
The burden then falls on parents. But we all know how easy it is for parents to help their teenage kids with their college essays?? 😉
So here’s what I said to answer Kamini’s questions. These are questions I get asked, in one form another, all the time.
When someone asks me what I do, I say that I help students realize their dreams. What does this mean? It means helping them succeed in school and get in to where they want to go. It means helping them make choices about the courses they take, the extra-curricular activities in which they engage, the schools to which they apply, the topics on which they will write their college essays. Private college counseling is no different than what a high school counselor does, except as a private counselor, you can have much, much more frequent and targeted one-on-one sessions with students, and tailor your approach accordingly. High school college counselors are stretched very thin and also have to deal with red tape. For this reason, it has become increasingly popular for people to use private college counselors. If there weren’t such a dire need for my services, I would be out of a job! But as it is, my phone is ringing off the hook!
In the almost thirty years I’ve been working in college counseling, the application process has gotten more and more complicated. Take the UC’s for example. For the last eighteen years or so, there were two questions required to fulfill the UC Personal Statement. Now there are eight questions, of which students must choose four. There used to be only the Common App. Now there is the Coalition App and the Universal College Application. When I was a student, you took the SAT’s once. You didn’t prepare in advance. You just took it. Now you must choose between the SAT and the ACT. And then there’s the SAT 2 Subject Tests! It has become a great challenge to navigate the college application process. Even experts like myself have to work hard to keep up with the changes so we can advise our students accordingly.
Believe it or not, I sometimes see students in 8th grade. Once I even saw a 5th grader!! (That’s a little too early 😉 But I would say it’s most beneficial to meet with a college counselor at least once in freshman year and once in sophomore year, early in each of those years. And then it’s a good idea to make a concrete plan for SAT/ACT prep and begin that prep at the end of sophomore year or in the summer between 10th and 11th grades. The earlier you start, the better chance you have of taking the right courses, signing up for the right extracurriculars, and finding out about summer programs and internships that might interest you. When I meet a student in 11th grade, I often say, “I wish I met you a year ago!” Start early! It will make all the difference in the world.
I answered this in a general way in question 1. But more specifically, I can’t imagine students could find someone better to work with on college essays 😉 I literally wrote the book on it –– The Art of the College Essay! College essays are my area of absolute expertise. I even train teachers in the methods I use to help students optimize their chances of getting into the schools of their dreams. So there\’s that. In addition, because I\’m not wedded to any one institution, I have a lot more flexibility. I\’m not grooming higher achieving students to get into Princeton, Stanford, etc and discouraging the others. I can help every student find the path that is right for them, and then pull out all stops to get them into the school(s) of their dreams. I\’m not overworked. I love what I do. And I have been extremely successful. Almost everyone I work with gets into their top school — and takes a deep and beautiful journey to get there. Does that answer your question? 😉
As I mentioned, I am incredibly busy. There is a HUGE need for my services. Students have no idea how to write their essays. They are filled with anxiety and stress. And they don’t know where to turn. A big part of my job is helping them calm down, find their stories and write winning essays that will get them in.
I always tell parents and students that though I cannot guarantee acceptance 100% of the time (only about 94%), I can guarantee that when they press send, students and parents alike will be super confident in their applications and essays, that in fact, they will know in their hearts they could not, under any circumstances, have done better if they tried. That\’s a good feeling. The rest we leave up to the gods!
I’ll let parents and students speak for themselves. You can also take a look at this video to get a feel for what I do and who I am. If you think you’d like to find out more, please give me a jingle at 415-637-1955. If you know you’d like to work with me, don’t hesitate to Book Now!
Gabrielle Glancy is amazing at connecting with teenagers.
We have worked with her for our son (now a junior in the UC system) and currently she is working with our daughter who is in the middle of the process now — Gabby does everything she can to make a real connection with our amazing young adults and to help them learn and develop the tools to be successful with the test-taking, essay-writing process.
The college process is daunting, but Gabby is there with the kids and the parents to guide the way!
My daughter is a senior in high school and missed the second half of her sophomore year due to an illness. She came out of the hospital in June and had to start summer school right away. College applications were the last thing on our mind as she started her junior year. I contacted Gabrielle Glancy (as well as some other consultants) and found that Gabby\’s style and approach matched our needs. From the outset she respected my daughter\’s experience and was all about listening to her and helping her discover her story and communicate it in a compelling way. I feel like Gabby is not trying to make my daughter into someone else just to look good in an application.
The essay writing process, in particular, has been amazing and will have lasting benefit!
The process of free writes, reflection, developing insights and meaning, and connecting meaningful moments into stories has been a wonderful growth process for my daughter. She is becoming a better writer, even using some of the techniques in her school work. The reflective essay writing process has been a great opportunity for my daughter to think deeply about herself and authentically tell her story. This alone has been worth it. Working via Skype has been terrific too. No driving in rush hour to make an appointment and wasting time. They pop into Skype together and get to work. At the end, my daughter has her to-do list and knows what she needs to do. I have been hands off but check in and get involved only when necessary and it has been terrific. I could never have guided this process myself. Each session is based on what my daughter needs – discussing edits or issues in an essay, working through writer\’s block, strategizing about how to use various pieces of writing in different essays. Wherever my daughter is, Gabby has a technique or approach to support her and help her move forward. My daughter started the process skeptical, with concern and some anxiety since she missed school etc., not sure she had anything to say, but she is really enjoying working with Gabby and has found her confidence and power. We\’re applying early action, to UCs, CSUs, and some East Coast/Ivys. It is a lot of work!
Gabby has created a very do-able process and flow of work. Gabby is busy, but I have found her flexible and supportive throughout the process
Gabby worked with my daughter on her college essays and I’m so thankful we found her! What I found was that the process of digging deep to write an amazing personal college essay takes time and a lot of effort. Gabby uses a free-write process to get ideas flowing and gets these kids thinking outside the box to come up with something unique. The results do not come overnight but THEY DO COME! Gabby is super busy. Scheduled back to back most days. But when it’s your time, she is there 100%. My daughter never felt rushed or stressed by Gabby. My daughter felt as if she was working with a trusted friend throughout the process. But my daughter truly received a master class in writing, and has already used techniques she learned from Gabby in applying for an honors program in college.
Our daughter absolutely LOVED working with Gabby Glancy.
I don\’t think college essay writing can be done in even a few sessions; it really is a process, and in fact, requires a particular style of writing that many students don\’t really learn in high school. Our daughter worked with Gabby starting early in her junior year and through the mid-point of her senior year. Gabby was a huge help, support and inspiration, and taught her some invaluable ways of writing. Gabby taught her a whole new way of writing that really captures her unique voice and experiences, which is why the \”free writes\” that the parent below mentions are so important. These college essays must really be the student\’s authentic voice and experience – and that requires a process of discovery, experimentation, reflection, writing, editing, feedback and then more writing and editing. We knew that the colleges our daughter were interested in place a high value on the quality of the essays, and that they really need to stand out. Using the writing techniques Gabby taught her, our daughter got into a very competitive summer fellowship (5% admissions rate), and she just got into a highly competitive, top-choice college early decision. Gabby has a strategy for helping young adults dig deep within themselves and find ways to work through writing blocks to come up with compelling, meaningful, authentic and excellent essays. I would definitely give her a call. She\’s very organized, accessible and fun to work with.
I would like to add to the many recommendations for Gabby Glancy as a college admissions counselor. She worked with my daughter on all aspects of the application process, from helping her choose the right schools for her, to SAT tutoring, to writing essays.
Gabby is a former college admissions officer and really knows her stuff.
She helped bring up my daughters SAT scores significantly after just a few sessions, and really pushed her to write essays that she was proud of. My daughter said that her writing skills, which were already good, have improved so much since working with Gabby, and I think that that is worth its weight in gold. These are skills that will.
Gabby also clearly enjoys working with kids at this stage in life and really understands them.
She acted as a therapist to my daughter throughout the process, giving her pep talks exactly when she needed them.
I only wish we had met with her earlier in the process….my son is a freshman, and I\’m going to take him to see her this Spring!
Everything you need to know about the results is on her website, but what really convinced us to find the money to get our two high schoolers tutoring with her was the woman herself. I was skeptical when I heard about the service and results she promised; my son was WAY behind on college prep; it was already October of his senior year and he hadn\’t begun to apply to schools, and though his grades were passable, his SAT scores were only 1530.
For parents of teens who are flummoxed by the complexity and competitiveness of SAT prep and college application process, I have a recommendation: Gabrielle Glancy of New Vision Learning.
My daughter, a hard-working Junior, wanted to get a head start on her SATs and needed help with writing and vocabulary in particular. Grudgingly, I scheduled a consult with Glancy in San Rafael. I was immediately taken by her intense passion, her ability to connect to my kids and motivate them with specific goals and the encouragement that only someone who has spent a good number of years in education could muster.
Glancy is determined to help students find their own strengths and work with them to identify the possibilities without selling them pie in the sky.
My son\’s SAT scores have risen to 1730. His math and writing have improved, and he\’s been motivated to apply to colleges and follow up like never before. He\’s already been accepted at Long Beach State and UC Riverside. We never thought we\’d be promoting an SAT and college prep tutor, but Glancy has taken two concerned kids and their parents and given us all the tools and wherewithal to not only survive today\’s college application process, but even enjoy it.
You get what you pay for. Glancy\’s a master.
She goes around the country giving talks on writing college essays and wrote a book on it. She took our son through the process from beginning to end. It wasn\’t cheap, but he got into UCLA and some other great schools.
You feel like you\’re in good hands working with her — expert hands.
I highly recommend Gabrielle Glancy as a college counselor. We went through the process without a counselor for our oldest, and decided, given the personality of our second, that it would be a good idea to enlist some outside help. Gabby worked with our daughter for 8 months (from spring of junior year through applications submission on 12/30), and, thanks to her, most of the stress at home around college apps was eliminated. This meant that our home was not a battlefield but rather a calm place–very different from two years ago when our oldest was at the same stage. Sophie stayed focused and on track both with the apps and with working to get her grades up (part of our agreement with her and with Gabby).
My daughter heard from her first school last week–she was accepted into their honors program with a scholarship that will cover 50% of all expenses. Gabby is worth every penny!
Gabrielle Glancy is truly the best. Our daughter worked with Gabby two years ago and got into the school of her dreams.
We started our son at the same time as our daughter even though he was only a sophomore. Gabby helped him every step of the way — with SAT\’s, his college list and the entire college process. As a rising senior, he is now working with her on his college essays. In this area, I cannot imagine anyone better. She has helped him come up with really unique topics that express his true essence, is teaching him how to write in ways he and we could never have imagined and has helped him gain confidence in himself throughout the process. I have seen them work together and they have a great rapport.
Gabby is easy to talk to but really sharp and on her game. My son always comes out of her office (or SKYPE) smiling.
He\’s calm around her and she gets his creative juices flowing. Catch her early if you can. She\’s busy. Her book The Art of the College Essay came out last year and she\’s started working with students all over the country and all over the world. She\’s worth every penny. A rare find. You can also check out her website which is pretty thorough and informative.
Gabby is the best in the business! I have three sons and I have never met someone who has as much expertise and rapport with kids as Gabby has.
She’s truly an expert in her field. As a former Admissions director, she knows from the inside out what students need to get into college.
Working with Gabby is really one-stop shopping. She is worth every penny!
Our daughter had done previous preparation for the SAT’s, but eight sessions with Gabby was worth all of the rest of it put together. She has some techniques that seemed to unlock previously locked doors for Sophia. And then she helped her find her voice and write the most beautiful essays.
We did our college process from start to finish with Gabrielle Glancy and everything that is said about her is true.
But this is far from the truth!
In fact, admissions often read the shorter ones first, especially the “Why?” Wouldn’t you?
Think about it. Rather than dive into a 650 word essay, which might or might not be worth your time, why not read a shorter one and see if it grabs you. And wouldn’t you want to know if the applicant’s interest is sincere?
Although we often start working on the Common App Personal Statement first, there is no harm in downloading the supplemental essays and starting to brainstorm on possible topics for these.
Sometimes, in fact, in the process of thinking about one of the supplementals, you might stumble upon a topic for the Common App you would not have otherwise come up with.
This is an additional benefit in not waiting too long before finding the supplements for each of your schools.
Recently I was helping a student with her Common App essay and she was stuck. Wellesley was her first choice school and she intended to apply there Early Decision.
“Let’s look at Wellesley’s supplements,” I suggested.
I knew full well what the question was and suspected it would help us think about other supplements and essays.
Then I read her an essay written by a student who applied and got in EARLY DECISION to Wellesley.
Take a look at this deftly written pair of essays by Rose Miller whose subjects were Hilary Clinton and the Lulu Library. Rose later used both of these subjects for other essays and parts of it, amended, for the Common App. And by the way, if you like this one, you will find another essay by Rose Miller in Best College Essays 2018.
Surrounding me was a wall of solemn and powerful, larger-than-life portraits of the former presidents of Wellesley. I immediately realized they were all women! The enthralling tour ended in the majestic Lulu. Looking up at her jagged corners, the many shades of layered brown, I noticed another oddity: there were no right angles in the building. This is female power, I thought, this is female ingenuity. Women think outside the box, or in this case, outside the lines. What I saw was the true nature of women: we are strong, creative, and fearless.
And they were fearless, my group of political neophytes. The journey started with a plea for funds to take students to the state capitol. Although I got a lot of no’s, I got just enough yes’s to make bus reservations. As Chair of the California High School Democrats, it was my responsibility to make sure students had the opportunity to be civically engaged and make a tangible impact. Finally, there they were, these aspiring young politicians gazing over the whole expanse of the capitol building. I saw a bit of trepidation in their eyes. I gave them a look of reassurance, one that said I’m here to support you. This is going to be great! It was on these very steps I met one of the most famous Wellesley alumnae, Hillary Clinton. The lodestar of my political aspirations, she showed me how to be a resilient and intelligent leader. During that life-changing meeting I looked over her shoulder, just a momentary glance, at Wellesley in my future. And now, with stoic determination, my posse walked in. Calm and assured, I gave them a thumbs up: You can do this, too. And they did. Their courage was beautiful. I watched as they went up and spoke about their personal experiences. “We deserve to afford every woman the right to choose her own destiny,” they argued. My group of California High School Democrats walked out of the capitol building, grinning from ear to ear. A few months later, we heard that the resolution passed. I hope someday to be looking the other way: from Wellesley to the steps of the United States Capitol. Though there may not be a right angle in Lulu, there is an intersection, like that between my love of politics and my desire to help fellow women succeed. This intersection, like going to Wellesley, is the structure of my dreams.
And they need to be excellent in their own right.
Take a look at the Stanford Short Questions below. Any one of these could be used, in an expanded version, for the Common App.
What is the most significant challenge that society faces today? (50 word limit)
Words entered: 0 Min: 3 / Max: 50
How did you spend your last two summers? (50 word limit)
Words entered: 0 Min: 3 / Max: 50
What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed? (50 word limit)
Words entered: 0 Min: 3 / Max: 50
What five words best describe you?
Words entered: 0 Min: 5 / Max: 10
When the choice is yours, what do you read, listen to, or watch? (50 word limit)
Words entered: 0 Min: 3 / Max: 50
Name one thing you are looking forward to experiencing at Stanford. (50 word limit)
Words entered: 0 Min: 3 / Max: 50
Imagine you had an extra hour in the day — how would you spend that time? (50 word limit).
Helping students write the best essays of their lives is my area of absolute expertise. I would be happy to guide you to the right topics and help you every step of the way. Click here to begin writing great essays now!
And here, for your information, are the prompts for the longer essays, just so you have them 😉
Choose one of the following prompts for your personal essay. The Coalition recommends you write an essay between 300 and 400 words and no longer than 500 to 550 words.
Choose one of the following prompts for your personal essay. The Common App sets a 250-word minimum and a 650-word maximum.
Please write a short essay in response to each of the below three essay topics. There is a 100-word minimum and a 250-word maximum for each essay.
Stay tuned for specific advice on writing each of these essays. For now, use them as jumping-off points to help you brainstorm ideas.
While it is impossible to know what prompt you will be given when you sit down to write your ACT Essay, it is possible to prepare ahead of time so you will be able to use that very brief 40 minutes wisely.
In 2015, the ACT Essay changed completely. Whereas previous to 2015, you were asked to take a personal position on a general question such as your view of what makes a hero, a hero, the current ACT asks you to analyze multiple perspectives, come to an understanding of these perspectives, and eventually come to a position (a thesis) that expresses your own viewpoint given these various perspectives.
Your job is to read and understand the perspectives as quickly as you can and then figure out what you think about them and use this understanding in a personal argument either supporting or qualifying the positions you are given.
That’s a tall order in 40 minutes!
Take a look at the rubric provided by the ACT itself. Here they outline what they are looking for in a top scoring essay.
This analytic scoring rubric presents the standards by which your essay will be evaluated. The following rubric overview will help you to better understand the dimensions of writing that this assessment evaluates.
This task asks you to generate an essay that establishes your own perspective on a given issue and analyzes the relationship between your perspective and at least one other perspective. In evaluating your response, trained readers will use an analytic rubric that breaks the central elements of written argument into four domains: Ideas and Analysis, Development and Support, Organization, and Language Use and Conventions. As you review these domains, think about the role each plays in a written argument that accomplishes its purpose.
Scores in this domain reflect the ability to generate productive ideas and engage critically with multiple perspectives on the given issue. Competent writers understand the issue they are invited to address, the purpose for writing, and the audience. They generate ideas that are relevant to the situation.
Scores in this domain reflect the ability to discuss ideas, offer rationale, and bolster an argument. Competent writers explain and explore their ideas, discuss implications, and illustrate through examples. They help the reader understand their thinking about the issue.
Scores in this domain reflect the ability to organize ideas with clarity and purpose. Organizational choices are integral to effective writing. Competent writers arrange their essay in a way that clearly shows the relationship between ideas, and they guide the reader through their discussion.
Scores in this domain reflect the ability to use written language to convey arguments with clarity. Competent writers make use of the conventions of grammar, syntax, word usage, and mechanics. They are also aware of their audience and adjust the style and tone of their writing to communicate effectively.
Remember, for the ACT Essay, there will be two readers, each giving you a score from 1-6. Then your scores is added up so that your final scores is how many points you get out of a total of 12. Almost no one gets 6’s/12’s! That would be a perfect score. Possible in Math. Almost impossible in writing. Even an 11 (a 6 and a 5) is nearly impossible because it means one reader gave you perfect score. I have seen it in the course of my career, but very rarely! That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t shoot for the stars! You should. But most excellent students — those who end up going to Harvard, Stanford, Yale, etc — get a 10 or better.
What I have described above are the format, the scoring, the rubric for the ACT Essay.
These say nothing about how you write it. They describe the product and the assessment of the PRODUCT.
How you write the essay is a whole ‘nother story. Now we are dealing with PROCESS.
As I describe in my book The Art of the College Essay, there is a huge difference between product and process, although they are often conflated and confused.
Product is what you end up with. Process is how you get there.
Almost no one every teaches you anything about process.
Take the five-paragraph essay you are asked to write for school.
Your essay must have an introduction. The introduction must have a thesis and points supporting your thesis. You must have three body paragraphs,each of which will begin with a topic sentence. And then you must have a conclusion which restates in different words the idea of your thesis and perhaps adds an interesting twist or counterpoint at the end.
Voila! Your essay!
Not.
This is ALL product.
There is nothing in this description that tells you how to do it. Only what you should end up with at the end.
Sound familiar?
I’m sure it does. This is how writing is “taught” in high school.
I am convinced that on one tells you how to do it because no one knows themselves!
And it’s scary! For everyone. Who doesn’t tremble at the sight of a blank page?
I have helped many people along this road in writing their college essays. I wrote the book on it and am Series Editor for Best College Essays. I have advised and counseled hundreds of students by now in how to write the ACT Essay.
I would love to help you too. Book Now for immediate and expert one-on-one advice.
You have put blood, sweat and tears into the last few years. You\’ve studied for SAT\’s or ACT\’s, you\’ve done well in your classes, you\’ve dotted all your i\’s and crossed all your t\’s — and then you hurry up and wait!
Finally, the moment comes. You open the letter . . . and . . .
All your hard work paid off!
This is the experience of almost every one of my students. A lot of people will tell you they get kids into the schools of their dreams. At New Vision Learning, it\’s true. Usually our acceptance rates are between 93%-94%. This year we have a 95% acceptance into top choice schools.
What makes the difference?
Expert, personal, targeted, one-on-one help from someone who knows and someone who cares.
Finding the right schools for each student. Helping each student find their own voice and express it in the form of the college essay(s). Helping students identify their goals and dreams, and guiding them in how to realize those dreams, one smart step at a time.
While we don\’t yet know which schools our students will choose to attend, we do know where they\’ve been accepted.
Here is the list of schools to which New Vision Learning students have been accepted for 2020!
MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, Columbia, Wesleyan, UCLA, UCBerkeley, UC Davis, UCSan Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, Lewis & Clark, Oberlin, Johns Hopkins, NYU, Colgate, Sarah Lawrence, Boston College, Boston University, Emerson, UIUC, RPI, Harvey Mudd, Williams, Amherst, Reed, UW, Michigan, Wisconsin, Madison, Barnard, Colorado College, Tulane, Duke, Emory, GW, Georgetown, American University, UNC Chapel Hill, UT Austin, Texas A & M, Carnegie Mellon, University of Pennsylvania, Tufts, Brown, Otis, Pratt, RISD, Cal Arts, UCSF, Yale, Princeton, New School for Social Research, Fordham, Pomona, Pitzer, Claremont McKenna, Scripps, Arizona State, University of Colorado, Boulder.
I am confident I can help pretty much every student who comes to me.
To get on the road to success, click here.
You’ve already gotten into two of your safeties and three of your targets. But the one you’ve been waiting for – your dream school? Will it be a yes or a no? Finally, the message comes in. It’s a maybe, baby! You’ve been waitlisted! What does this mean?
It means you weren’t rejected, but you didn’t get in either. It means you have to wait longer, perhaps indefinitely, to find out whether you got in.
Getting off the waitlist is as hard, or harder, than getting into an Ivy League. Here you will find statistics on the 10 schools with the highest number of applicants on the waitlist. The statistics here are for 2015. Every year it changes, of course. But you can see from these statistics that your chance of getting off the waitlist are slim at best.
Schools have waitlists for one very simple reason: They’re never sure which candidates to whom they offer acceptances will accept them. It’s impossible to know until all the deposits are in. So creating a waitlist is a back-up plan for the schools themselves. If fewer applicants accept a position than they expect – there will be openings. If more accept than they expected – forget about it! What does that mean for you?
You weren’t rejected, true, but you weren’t accepted either. Acceptance rates off the waitlist vary school to school and year to year. Not only that, but some schools wait a lonnnng time to tell you whether they’re going to offer you a position or not. Some wait even through the summer which doesn’t seem quite fair. You should also know that some schools have already ranked their wait list and know which students they will offer spots to first. Some years, at schools like Harvard and Yale, virtually no one gets off the waitlist.
In fact, I would be sure to put down a deposit for your second-choice school, and pretty much count on going there, because the whole waitlist process is UNPREDICTABLE.
If you’ve still got your heart set on the school(s) to which you were waitlisted, and you can tolerate the wait and the potentially long swim in the waters of the unknown, put yourself on the waitlist – but be prepared to put in some elbow grease to express your interest and to help distinguish yourself as a strong candidate for that school.
The most important thing you can do if you’ve been waitlisted at one of your top-choice schools, besides what has already been outlined above, is to accept the fate you’ve been handed and get excited about your second or third choice schools. I believe everything happens for a reason. If you get rejected at Yale, it may be because your future best-friend, business partner, husband or wife is set to attend George Washington in the fall, and you’re supposed to meet them.
It’s the school that is the best vibe/fit for you, the school where you will thrive. If you really feel you must go to that school, you can always apply as a transfer or wait to go to graduate school there. Having been in the business 30+ years, I have really never seen anyone fall off the end of the earth because they didn’t go to their top choice school. College is largely what you make it. You can succeed and thrive anywhere.
Some schools allow appeal and some don\’t. You\’ll have to check in advance. Again, don\’t hesitate to call the school to find out if they are willing to accept your appeal and what the parameters are for sending information.
They may want an update; they may accept supplementary material; they may want a letter explaining why they should re-consider your application.
UC Berkeley accepts appeals, for example. Here is UC Berkeley\’s statement on appeals:
Our campuses review each applicant\’s record thoroughly, and admission decisions are rarely reversed. However, students who are not admitted may request a review of the decision if they believe there was an error in the evaluation or can provide new and compelling information not included in the initial application. Each campus has specific procedures to handle such appeals. Contact the campus admissions office for information.
I would love to take you through the process of appeal. Most students don\’t opt to do this. The percent accepted via appeal is exceedingly low. But again, very few students even realize an appeal is possible.
Our first step would be to take a look at the application you\’ve already sent. We\’ll look at your Personal Insight Essays. We\’ll analyze what you\’ve told them, what has changed, and how we can offer them a new, fresh, and compelling (read: irresistible) view of you. We will make sure the letter of appeal is beautifully worded and packs a punch.
I have helped many students with their appeal letters and I have helped many get off the waitlist. Usually, we only need to meet two or three times to achieve our goals.
\”Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you\’ll land among the stars!\”
Applying to college is one of the biggest milestones in your life. And choosing the right school(s) for you is super important. This is the moment you take stock of everything you’ve done up till now — all the choices you’ve made, successes and failures — and set your goals for the future.
There is an art to making the college list. And it’s very important. You have to have a healthy spread of reaches, targets, and of course, the all-important safeties.
Although the information in this post is directed towards students trying to figure out where they want to apply, it could equally well be used by students who have already gotten in and want to figure out how to choose a college to attend.
Having been in the business of getting kids into their dream schools for the past thirty years, I have had the benefit of seeing students through the entire process. Often I meet students in their freshman and sophomore years when they have NO IDEA what they might want to “be with they grow up” or what criteria one would even consider in choosing which colleges to apply to. They have no idea how to choose a college.
They don’t have a clue and why should they?
From my own personal experience, I can tell you that even though both my parents were high school teachers, no one helped me figure out which schools to put on my list. No one even spoke to me about it. A friend was applying to William & Mary. I thought, “Why not? That sounds good.” There was a lot of snow in Vermont. My friend Amanda Ellman had a summer house there. Vermont is beautiful. Why not apply to UVM? I got a letter from Harvard. That seemed like a stretch, but hey, they wrote me first. Finally, completely flummoxed, I ended up going to Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. It had one of the highest acceptance rates into med school in the country, believe it or not. And I was a Premed English major. Perfect. There was snow, all right! From October to May. Nothing against Allegheny College, which now appears in the book Colleges That Change Lives, but it was definitely not for me. Too small, too cold, too isolated. Put Meadville on your weather app and you’ll get the picture!
I credit Allegheny College with putting fire under my feet (or snow as the case may be) to seek out some place that was the polar (no pun intended) opposite. I had been to California once when I was a teen (that’s a story for another time) and I loved it. I happened upon the hard copy (imagine that?) catalogue for UC Santa Cruz in the college office of my high school over winter break when I went back to visit my mom who taught in the same high school I attended. Flipped through it. Found a major in History of Consciousness, saw the redwoods, the ocean, the radical “no grades” policy – and the rest was history. I got a GREAT undergraduate education there. It was the perfect place for me and opened my eyes to so many new possibilities.
The thing is that picking the right school involves two important pieces of information: You must know yourself and know the colleges that you are applying to. How you get to know the colleges is perhaps easier even than knowing yourself. And I will save that for later.
It will help you identify to/for yourself which factors you desire and which you can’t live without.
You can do this any number of ways. There are tools out there to compare colleges and to get basic information about each school.
You can, for example, go to UNIGO.COM to hear first-hand accounts from the students who are attending that school. You can use College Prowler, now known as Niche.com to see their rankings of the top 100 schools in America. You can use the Fiske guide if you like to hold something in your hands and mark it up. You can go to CollegeBoard.org, click on Big Futures, then on College Search and enter schools that interest you. The benefit of this last tool is that you will also get information about other, similar schools that students applied to. This may even help you generate more options.
In the course of a very long career, I have also seen students make mistakes in choosing which schools to attend. It’s not the end of the world. You can always transfer. But it would be nice to get it right the first time ‘round.
IMHO, the best and most effective way to make a list of potential schools to which you will apply is to seek counsel from an expert like myself who can ask you the right questions, someone who has a broad knowledge of what’s out there, someone who can give you a clear sense of the “flavor” of the place and whether it would be a good fit for you. As for choosing which college you should choose to attend (once you get in, of course), there’s no replacement for going to visit and seeing for yourself!
This is one of the most exciting aspects of my job!
If you’re an 11th grader, the time is NOW to make your college list.
And you’re in luck because I’m enrolling 11th graders now for the 2019-2020 academic year!
If you didn\’t have a chance to submit your essays to Best College Essays 2020 by the deadline, you\’re in luck! Because we received so many submissions, we\’ve decided to extend the deadline to tax day — April 15, 2020.
Your scores on the ACT or SAT are important. But first you must figure out which test is best for you.
Many hours of hard work, sweat and tears, anxiety and anticipation. This is what preparation for the standardized tests involves. A lot of grit, time and energy.
I would not say they are the single, deciding factor in your admission (or rejection) from the school of your dreams — and in fact, there is a growing list of test optional schools out there if you’re not a strong test taker and standardized testing is just not for you. I have gotten students into American University, GW, UChicago, Brown whose ACT or SAT scores were not as stellar as their grades. The ACT and SAT tests serve as a baseline indicator. In the vast field of criteria for college admission, these tests are one, often important, means of comparison.
Does it matter whether you take the ACT or SAT?
Most schools accept both and treat both scores equally. Though the value placed on them is equal, the tests are not the same. In most cases, students score higher on one test rather than the other. It is a matter of personal preference in the end. But how do you figure out which test suits you best?
While the ACT and SAT share similarities, their differences are significant. Extremely strong test takers can succeed on both. But who would want to prepare for two grueling tests if only one score is needed? I don’t recommend it! I would, instead, figure out which test is best and stick with it.
80% of all the students I get into the school of their dreams also came to me for ACT and SAT preparation help. My reputation for getting SAT scores up 150-300 points is well known. I’m not just a college essay writing guru! I’m also a master at pinpointing exactly what each individual student needs to radically improve their scores.
I am also well known for getting high scores higher! Many students come to me with scores of 680-710 on their SAT’s or 29-31 on their ACT’s and need to bump these scores up to get into the school of their dreams.
It takes someone (like yours truly) who can identify exactly where the gaps in knowledge lie, or where the test-taking strategies fail. It takes someone who can tailor a completely individualized plan of action for targeting the areas of weakness and getting those scores up to the highest they can be.
I once had a student come to me with SAT scores of 720/740. She asked if I could help her get her scores up. “Of course,” I said. And I did! In eight weeks of dedicated preparation, she ended up with scores of 780/800 and got into Stanford! Later I told this story at a conference for college admissions nerds like myself. An esteemed colleague told me the chances of getting those kind of high scores higher were about 3%! All I can say is, look at the bumblebee! How do those skimpy, transparent little wings get that fat, furry body off the ground? It defies the laws of aerodynamics! And yet, it happens. Over and over again.
Click here for more information on how I can help you get those ACT or SAT scores higher.
Not all students learn the same way and have the same strengths. It’s important to figure out which test plays to your strengths, which is easier for you, and on which test can you best succeed.
It should also be noted that certain states require that you take the SAT in school as a matter of course, and some require that you take the ACT. This does not necessarily mean you will be better at the test your state requires. It may, in fact, be the opposite. But you will have a baseline score to use as a means of comparison. And theoretically, at least, you will have been prepared in school for the test they require.
These states use the ACT as a means of assessment within their school curriculum:
While these states use the SAT:
You can go to this website for more information about statewide standardized testing.
The SAT contains three sections:
The ACT contains four sections:
Both tests also have an (optional) essay which many colleges require. The essay requirements for the SAT and ACT are quite different. That is a much more involved subject which we will cover later on.
As you can see, the SAT does not have a Science section at all!
It should be noted, however, that the ACT Science is more like a specialized reading comprehension section. My strongest readers, even those who are not super strong in science, do well on this section. If you’re someone who reads well, you will probably find the ACT Science section not that difficult. Really the only difference between the reading passages and the science passages is that there are more detailed, science-oriented charts and graphs which you need to interpret in the Science section. The Science section is the hardest one to prepare for. Each passage introduces a new and unique topic, and while you don’t necessarily need an interest or background in science to answer these questions, it sure does help.
Here are some other key differences between the ACT and SAT:
The ACT gives much less time per question. Here is a chart showing the time per question on both tests, for reference:
|
Test |
Section |
Total Time |
# of Questions |
Time per Question |
|
ACT |
English |
45 minutes |
75 |
36 seconds |
|
Math |
60 minutes |
60 |
60 seconds |
|
|
Reading |
35 minutes |
40 |
53 seconds |
|
|
Science |
35 minutes |
40 |
53 seconds |
|
|
SAT |
Reading |
65 minutes |
52 |
75 seconds |
|
Writing |
35 minutes |
44 |
48 seconds |
|
|
Math |
No Calculator: 25 minutes Calculator: 55 minutes |
No Calculator: 20 Calculator: 38 |
No Calculator: 75 seconds Calculator: 86 seconds |
Now let’s get down to some specific differences between the actual questions and styles of each test.
Are you Stronger in Geometry and Trigonometry or Algebra?
Both the ACT and the SAT will test your skills in Algebra, but the ACT will also test you on logarithms, graphs of trig functions, and matrices, which don’t appear at all on the SAT’s.
Also, the SAT provides MATH FORMULAS. If you’re not good at memorizing them, these can come in handy.
However, on the SAT No Calculator section, you will not be able to use a calculator. This can be difficult for students who cannot do mental math.
Here is what you should ask yourself:
Now let’s talk about reading.
Can You Remember the Location of Details in Reading Passages?
Do you find it easy to remember where you saw a certain detail in the reading passages?
The SAT reading section provides more information and “clues” than the ACT reading section. In fact, the SAT test offers exact line locations of the evidence to support your answers.
If you find it difficult to remember where you read a certain detail, you will find the ACT more difficult.
Finding where the evidence resides can be stressful and time-consuming, especially when under time pressure.
How about the differences in the Writing Sections?
Both the SAT and the ACT Writing/English sections have passage-based questions, but the ACT has more questions involving errors in grammar, punctuation and sentence structure. This section also includes questions about main idea and order of ideas.
On the other hand, the SAT focuses more on questions about writing style. The SAT also asks you to answer questions about vocabulary in context, tone and voice, and logical reasoning.
The two Writing sections are very similar. There really is no remarkable difference between the two other than what I have indicated above.
What are Your Next Steps?
To get help figuring out which test is best for you or if you are ready to raise your SAT scores 180-300 points or your ACT score 4-5 points, you’ve come to the right place!
I am an expert in helping kids get high scores higher and figuring out how to determine and ace the test for them. Get started now!