At our Q&A for parents about the college essay, one question emerged as the clear favorite: How does a student choose a strong, unique topic? Is there a way to avoid sounding like thousands of other applicants?
Our Uncommon Essay Course, designed for college applicants, begins with our Ten Sentences Exercise, which teaches students how to collect experiences in sentences of specific detail — just one sentence per experience.
Our process is based in conversation and instructive companionship. Our coaches begin the conversation by sharing what inspired them to write their blog posts. It's a great way to meet them!
Reflecting on their extensive work guiding college applicants, Hillside Coaches share essential insights. Recommended reading for any student beginning the project!
We emphasize student ownership of the writing process, and choosing a coach is a great place to start! Our best advice is to have the student visit our coach profiles to learn more about us.
Her email arrived thirty minutes before we were to meet. She wrote: "Attached is the same draft I sent you, but my parents had someone else look at it. The second version on the document was primarily written by my dad."
Julie sits in my office, fidgeting with her notebook. She sighs, and it’s so exaggerated we both laugh. She seems ready to talk, so I lean forward at my desk. I’m listening. “I know the story I should write,” she says, almost conspiratorially. “It’s just not the story I want to write.”
My husband and two sons recently convinced me that we should watch The Last of Us, a hit HBO show about a zombie apocalypse caused by, of all things, fungus. And even better, it’s based on a video game. Seriously, guys?
Writing supplement essays can feel daunting, but these questions really are a great opportunity to share more of your story with admissions officers. In the spirit of sharing, here are some of our favorite resources.
Somehow, it’s been almost 25 years since my undergraduate mentor, a beloved journalism professor, urged our nonfiction writing class out into the world to ask questions: If you go looking for a story, a story will happen. The phrase’s durability stems from its Zen-like acceptance of chance, of discovery. Stated: If you go, it’ll happen. Unstated: “It” might not be what you thought you were looking for.
Every fall, we hear from parents who tell us that — despite everyone’s best intentions — their senior didn't write a college-application essay during summer vacation. Or maybe they did, but ... it could use some work! Our coaches can help students who need to get started, students ready to get to the better draft, and students with school-specific essays ahead of them.
After I bought my son his first set of good paintbrushes, the All-Knowing Algorithm spammed my social media with time-lapse videos of artists painting. As a writer, I can’t help it — I see metaphors for writing everywhere. I thought ... that's just like writing!
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