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Why It’s in Your Best Interest to Write Your Common App Essay Before Your UC Essays

Topic: Admissions, advice, Essay Tips  |  Posted on June 27th, 2024  |  Written by CEA HQ

For students who hope to submit applications to a range of colleges, including the UCs, we always recommend writing your Common App 650-word personal statement before your UC personal insight essays. (And for good reason!)  Here’s why: 1) The Common App Prompts are Confirmed First The Common Application prompts are usually confirmed in January or […]

Personal Statements and Statements of Purpose: What’s the Difference?

Topic: Admissions, Essay Resources, Essay Tips, Essay Writing, Postgrad, Uncategorized  |  Posted on April 16th, 2024  |  Written by CEA HQ

So you’ve decided to apply for grad school—hooray! Now comes the fun part: more standardized testing, accumulating transcripts, and drafting essay after essay. As you go through your schools’ requirements, you may see requests for “personal statements” or “statements of purpose.” They’re the same thing, right? Not quite.  As the names suggest, the personal statement […]

What is the Coalition Application? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

Topic: Uncategorized  |  Posted on May 21st, 2020  |  Written by CEA HQ

Here’s everything you need to know about the Coalition Application — plus expert-approved advice to help you write your own compelling college admissions essay.  What is the Coalition Application? The Coalition for College (also known as The Coalition Application) was founded in 2015 to make college more accessible to low-income and underrepresented students.  According to […]

What Can You Accomplish in the Common Application Essay?

Topic: Admissions, College Admissions, Uncategorized  |  Posted on May 21st, 2019  |  Written by CEA HQ

There are a few things you should be specifically aiming for in your college essay, and all of them are easy enough to accomplish: Make Yourself Memorable: In advertising, the idea of making yourself memorable is called “branding.” Celebrities often call it “star power.” What it really boils down to is finding something about yourself, […]

Where Does the Essay Fit into the Overall College Application?

Topic: Admissions, College Admissions, Uncategorized  |  Posted on April 29th, 2019  |  Written by CEA HQ

While the essay is a potent piece of the puzzle, it is important to remember that it is but one of the crucial components of your college application. There is also the transcript, which is undeniably one of the most important factors in an admissions officer’s assessment of any applicant. Even this pretty straightforward index […]

The Key to Writing a Great Essay About a Grandparent

Topic: Admissions, advice, College Admissions  |  Posted on October 8th, 2018  |  Written by Kat Stubing

So you are settling into your desk chair and flexing your fingers, ready to dive headfirst into your essay and you just can’t shake the voice in your head telling you to write your essay about your grandparent. We get it, grandparents are awesome! They know so much about you! And you’ve gained so much […]

How to Start Your College Admissions Essay

Topic: Admissions, advice, Brainstorming, College Admissions, Essay Resources, Essay Tips, Essay Writing, News, Tips, Uncategorized  |  Posted on September 10th, 2018  |  Written by Kat Stubing

It’s a classic story of student-visits-campus, and it goes like this. First, student visits campus (duh). Then, student notices campus’ uncanny likeness to a wizarding school that shall-not-be-named. Student declares undying love for campus. Student decides to apply Early Decision because student is All In™. But then student realizes it’s only July. The deadline is […]

The 2018-19 Common Application is Live!!

Topic: Admissions, advice, College Admissions, Common App Prompts/Topics, Common Application, Events, General, Tips, Uncategorized  |  Posted on August 1st, 2018  |  Written by Kat Stubing

Sound the alarms!! The Common Application is live for the 2018-19 college admissions season! The time for procrastination is over. (We know, it hurts.)  It’s time to get your affairs in order and begin your college applications — if you haven’t already. We have compiled some FAQs as related to the new Common App and […]

How To Approach The College Essay as a STEM Student

Topic: Admissions, advice, College Admissions, Common Application, Essay Resources, Essay Tips, Essay Writing, Quick Tips, Tips  |  Posted on June 28th, 2018  |  Written by Kat Stubing

So you’re not about to declare a Creative Writing major and your dream has never been to win a Pulitzer prize. The words don’t come naturally to you and you have trouble transforming your ideas into eloquent sentences. You might find yourself working harder in English and relaxing in Math and Computer Programming classes (in […]

How to Write a College Essay When You Have Learning Differences

Topic: Admissions, advice, College Admissions, Essay Tips, Essay Writing, Tips, Topic Selection, Uncategorized  |  Posted on June 19th, 2018  |  Written by Kat Stubing

You sit down to start writing your college admissions essay. Maybe you wonder whether you should write about your learning differences. Perhaps you have dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, APD, LPD, ASD, and/or ADHD. Whatever the case may be, we bet your learning differences have played a big role in your education, and maybe even your life […]

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