How to Write the College Application + Supplemental Essays - Students

This video course offers a values-based approach to producing not only a stand-out Common Application, activities list, and additional information section, but also to answering the supplemental essays that most selective schools require.

It includes all the resources you need to tackle the application and includes Q&A sessions in which I answer the most common questions about both the college application and supplemental essay-writing process.

LESSON 1: HOW TO CREATE AN INSPIRED APPLICATION AND SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS IN HALF THE TIME

• Sample Application: How Doing a Thorough Job on the Brainstorming Activities Can
• Set You Up for a Great Application
• A Relatively Quick and Totally Free Way to Figure Out Which of Your Essay Topics Overlap
• The Overlapping Game (or) How Doubling--or Tripling, or Quadrupling!--Your Essays for Multiple Prompts Can Yield a “Super Essay”
• Sample Super Essay
• How You Can Write a Super Essay

LESSON 2: THE ACTIVITIES & AWARDS LIST, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SECTION, THE "WHY US" ESSAY

• 5 Tips for Your Activities & Awards List
• The Difference Between an Amazing Activities and Awards List and a Really Good One
• Activities You May Not Have Considered Including—But That Count!
• “Stretching the Truth” on your Activities List: A Cautionary Tale
• How to Up-Level Your Activities and Awards List in Three Steps
• What You Should (and Shouldn’t) Include in Your Add’l Info Section
• How an Add’l Info Section Could Make the Difference in the Application
• Quick Review of the Complete Guide to the "Why us" Essay
• 3 Great "Why Us" Essays You've Never Read
• Reviewing your "Why Us" Essays
• Q&A: Anything you want to discuss

LESSON 3: THE EXTRACURRICULAR ESSAY

• The Difference Between a Regular and a “Super” Extracurricular Essay
• Four Qualities of a Mediocre Extracurricular Essay
• Four Qualities of an Amazing Extracurricular Essay
• Eight Mistakes Students Make on Their Extracurricular Essays
• A Three-Step Process to Help You Avoid All Those Mistakes
• BEABIES: Are You on Board Yet or What?
• How to Write an Amazing Narrative Extracurricular Essay: The Elon Musk Exercise
• How to Write an Amazing Montage Extracurricular Essay: The UC Exercise
• Zooming Back and Re-Examine the Big Picture
• Upgrading Your Overlapping Game… Game
• How You Can Apply This Approach to Almost Any Supplemental Essay
• How to Write a Great "Community" Essay
• Three Great Sample “Community” Essays

LESSON 4: THE SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS

• How to Write the Stanford “Intellectual Idea” Essay
• Where to Find a Bazillion Intellectual Ideas
• The One Question the “Intellectual Idea” Essay Must (Must) Answer
• How to Write the Stanford “Roommate” Essay
• Finding the Right Balance Between Chaos and Order in 250 Words
• How to Write the Stanford “What Matters” Essay
• Three Ways to Increase the Impact of Your “What Matters” Essay
• How to Write the "Create Your Own Class" Essay
• Four Tips for the Quotation Essay
• Why This Essay Isn't Really About the Quote At All
• The U Chicago Extended Essay: How to pick a topic
• The three qualities U of Chicago is looking for IMHO

LESSON 5: SHORT ANSWERS & MORE SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS

• Six Techniques for Writing the 150-Word Extracurricular Essay
• Three More 150-Word Extracurricular Essays I Love, and Why
• The High-Flyer Method: How to Write a Next-Level 150-Word Extracurricular Essay If
• You Have a Perfect GPA, Test Scores, Ridiculous Extracurriculars and Have Nothing to Prove
• How to Make Your Short Answers Awesome: 11 Dos and Don’ts
• A Stanford-Worthy Set of Short Answers And What Makes Them So
• A Creative Take on the “Where Have You Lived” Essay
• Quick Tips for Creating a Great Video
• How to Make Sure Your Application Is Doing Its Job

LESSON 6: HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR APPLICATION IS DOING ITS JOB

• The Values Scan

BONUS VIDEO MODULES: THE REST OF THE APPLICATION

• 18 Tips for Creating a Great Video
• How to Create a Great College List
• How to Get Great Teacher Recommendations
• How to Prepare for and Nail the College Interview
• Demonstrated Interest: A Brief and Practical How-To Guide
• How to Turn Your Common App Activities List into an Awesome Resume