Top Tier Admissions
The biggest Cornell essay change this year is not hidden in any one prompt. Rather, it is the prompt that is no longer there. For applicants applying in the current admission cycle, Cornell has dropped the 350-word Cornell University question about community and lived experience. This decision highlights three important trends that I am already […]
Pet tarantulas crawling down a young girl’s back. An actor standing behind a stage door, holding heavy suitcases. A line of dialogue offering a new job as a cattle hand. The idea of the “hook,” or a vivid beginning such as an interesting anecdote or a memorable line that catches the reader’s attention, is fairly […]
Every summer, while my three kids are romping off to sports camps and swim team practice, I’m hunkering down into essay coaching mode. It’s an exciting season in counseling, when I get to support my students through the process of translating their life experiences into compelling stories for admissions readers. Draft after draft, they pour […]
In the 2025-2026 application cycle, colleges made some of the most significant changes to essay evaluation in a generation. The reason? Artificial Intelligence (AI). Some schools have dropped numeric essay scores. Others have begun to warn applicants that AI-generated text could cost them their admission. And a growing number of universities have added supplemental prompts […]
There is perhaps no deeper exhale than the one that comes at the end of junior year in high school. Students have just completed the last full year of academic classes before college; AP exams are over; summer plans are set; college visits are scheduled, and recommendation requests have been made. I use the passive […]
The Senior Year Roadmap
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