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College Essay Q&A: The Parent
I get questions all the time. Here’s a popular one I receive from parents... Q: What makes one essay better than another? A: Great question! Complicated answer. Creating a college essay is a creative endeavor - not unlike painting a portrait or making a movie. What...
College Essay Q&A: The Applicant
I get questions all the time. Here’s a popular one I receive from applicants…. Q: When should I start writing my personal statement? A: Great question! Here's the answer: January is too early and July is too late. Let me explain. In January, you might not have the...
College Essay Q&A: The Applicant
I get questions all the time. Here’s a popular one I receive from applicants... Q: Is it okay if I write a funny essay? A: Not only is it okay, it is appreciated by AO who will love the break and the risk. Being funny in an essay is hard, you don't want it to sound...
College Essay Q&A: The Parent
I get questions all the time. Here’s a popular one I receive from parents... Q: Which essay is more important - the personal statement or the supplement? A: Great question! They each have equal importance, but in different ways. Think of the personal statement like...
College Essay Q&A: The Applicant
I get questions all the time. Here’s a popular one I receive from applicants... Q: Why can't I write about sports? A: Here's the thing with writing about sports, inevitably, the essay becomes about the game itself. You either won ("hard work paid off") or lost ("I...
College Essay Q&A: The Parent
I get questions all the time. Here’s a popular one I receive from parents…. Q: How important is the essay really? A: Very! Think about it, you have about 5 minutes, the time it takes for admissions officers to read the personal statement. A good story, well told,...
College Essay Q&A: The Applicant
I get questions all the time. Here’s a popular one I receive from applicants... Q: Can I write my personal statement about an internship I did? A: Yes, and no. Yes, you can, but the entire essay shouldn't be about that experience. Why? Because it's already on your...
College Essay Q&A: The Parent
I get questions all the time. Here’s a popular one I receive from parents…. Q: We really don't want our daughter writing essays in the late summer and fall. When do you think we can start with you? A: Great question! Summers are busy for applicants - camp, a summer...
College Essay Q&A: The Applicant
I get questions all the time. Here's a popular one I receive from applicants.... Q: What do I write about when I have nothing to write about?! A: YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT! You just don't know what it is yet. What you're obsessing over is that you've never had...
I left a career as a Hollywood ghostwriter to start my own college essay consulting business. Here’s how I did it.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Robert Schwartz, a college and graduate school admissions essay consultant and founder and president of Your Best College Essay from Brooklyn, New York, about how he built his company. It has been...