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Letters to a Young Editor—How to Use College the Best Way You Can
“What’s the opportunity here?” This is the phrase that was playing in my mind after a conversation with my daughter, who is, in her own right, a talented writer and editor—with the possibility to also...
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Follow Your Passion, Don’t Follow Your Passion & Other Master Narratives to...
Sometime in the early 90s while I was an undergrad, the Career Development Department at my university introduced me to What Color Is Your Parachute, a guide to finding one’s career path by finding...
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How to Beat Writer’s Block by Not Giving Up
Like most college freshman, my experience in the requisite English 101 meant tackling a 10-page research project that would count for the bulk of my grade. I already considered myself a writer, and...
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How to Write a College Application Essay: An Introduction
You may wonder what a post about college application essays is doing on a poetry site. College applications belong to the icky world of GPA’s, ACT’s, SAT’s, and all those other abbreviated sources of...
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How to Write a College Application Essay: What’s it All About?
First Things First: Take It Off Your Stress List As a private writing, reading, and college test prep tutor over the past 15 years, I’ve witnessed some. . .stress. Parents wanting their kids to study...
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How to Write a College Application Essay: So What Kind of Writing Is This?
I know what you’re thinking. Essays. Introductions opening with rhetorical questions and ending in thesis statements. Three body paragraphs, each supporting a main idea. A conclusion that sums it all...
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How to Write a College Application Essay: A Closer Look at a Winning Application
In my last post, I discussed what the college essay is all about (and not about). This time, we’re going to take a look at how a young man we’ll call Ben—who has since graduated from his dream college...
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How to Write a College Application Essay: Choosing a Topic
Depending on how many schools you’re applying to, you’ll find a wide variety of essay prompts, some more open-ended than others. While I won’t be able to cover all the possibilities here, I can give...
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How to Write a College Application Essay: Starting to Write
You’ve organized your college application essay questions, started brainstorming, and come up with a list of possibilities. Got a good list of at least three good topics? Now it’s time to write! ***...
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How to Write a College Application Essay: Revising, Editing, and Proofreading
Congratulations! You’ve written the first draft of your college application essay. While you still have work ahead of you, the most mentally taxing part–coming up with your initial story and...
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How to Write a College Application Essay: Some Final Thoughts
I’ve invited you to work hard on a process that, in many ways, will seem like one of the most important tasks of your life. It is. And, also, it isn’t. *** For the full set of final thoughts that will...
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Applying to College in the Fall? Do These 7 Things this Summer
Finally, you’re a senior! Time for fun, friends, memories. . .and applying to college. A number of application deadlines hit in early November, meaning once school starts, you have just a couple of...
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Totally Great Tips for Your College Essay—Interview With An Expert!
Meet the Essay Expert Tania Runyan is one of the fastest, strongest writers I’ve ever met. And I meet a lot of writers, since I’m an editor and a publisher. Unlike many writers, though, Tania can...
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