I’ve read thousands of admission essays. Not literally thousands, but enough to recognize the patterns that make admissions officers groan and the rare moments when they actually sit up inRead More
I’ve spent the last decade writing things that matter to people. Not always successfully, but consistently enough that I’ve learned something about what actually works when you’re trying to moveRead More
I’ve been staring at essays for years now, both writing them and reading them, and I’ve noticed something peculiar. The worst ones aren’t necessarily the ones with bad grammar orRead More
I spent three weeks staring at a blank document last semester. Not because I was lazy. Not because I didn’t care. I had a topic–something about artificial intelligence and laborRead More
I’ve read thousands of rhetorical analysis essays. Some were brilliant. Most were forgettable. The difference wasn’t always intelligence or writing ability–it was understanding what the assignment actually demanded. After yearsRead More
I’ve read thousands of personal essays. Some dissolve from memory the moment I finish the last sentence. Others burrow into my brain and refuse to leave. The difference isn’t alwaysRead More
I’ve read somewhere around three thousand college essays over the past decade. Not all of them were good. Some were forgettable. A few made me stop and actually think aboutRead More
I’ve spent the last eight years reading student essays, and I can tell you something that might sound harsh but needs saying: most conclusions are forgotten before the reader finishesRead More
I’ve been teaching writing for nearly a decade now, and I can tell you with absolute certainty that synthesis essays terrify students more than almost any other assignment. Not becauseRead More
I’ve read thousands of college essays. Not an exaggeration. When you work in admissions long enough, you develop a kind of sixth sense for what works and what doesn’t. TheRead More
