Writing a College Application Essay

From "be concise" to "be smart," these tips can help students through a daunting writing task.

This news article dated February 2013 lists the 5 Common Application essay prompts for 2013-14.

Students explore sample college essays and then consider advice about what separates a great essay from a mediocre or ineffective one, as well as essay-writing tips. Finally, they write essays based on the piece of advice that resonated with them.

Students explore the open-ended topics for the 2013-14 Common Application essays through writing and discussion. Then, they will identify and examine New York Times pieces that might serve as "mentor texts" for their own application essays. Finally, they will craft their own college admissions essay in response to one of the new prompts, using advice from Learning Network and The Choice Blog.

Four tips for high school students.

A 3-step process and links to 8 models.