I work with rising high school seniors to help them identify the meaningful, personal stories that make for standout admissions and scholarship essays. Subscribe to my newsletter to get the latest college admission and essay writing information.
Your one-of-a-kind hobby might make for a great college essay topic
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Hi, Reader! We hit a huge milestone this week: May 1. If you're a current senior who committed to a school — congratulations. That's a big decision, and you made it. Go celebrate. For everyone else, May 1 is a quieter kind of milestone. The season is shifting. AP exams are wrapping up, and finals are just around the corner ... as is summer! And if you're a rising senior, the countdown timer on your own essay season has just about started. So let me ask you something — and I mean this as an actual starting point for brainstorming your main essay (also called the personal statement), not small talk: What do you know a lot about that most people don't? Most students, when they sit down to brainstorm their college essay, reach for the big stuff: the leadership role, the award/accomplishment, the hardship they overcame, an obstacle they faced. But the essays that are memorable — the ones that put a smile on tired admissions readers' faces — are usually about something smaller and more specific. One student I worked with wrote about an ongoing debate they had with their friends: Is orange juice orange ... or is it actually yellow? He went on to describe all the ways he thoughtfully conducted research and worked to convince his friends that it was actually yellow. Another talked about his love for escape rooms and how each challenge taught him something about how he led and solved problems. The common thread: Both students wrote about something they genuinely knew and loved — not to impress, but to be real. That specificity is exactly what admissions readers are starving for. Back to the question. What do you know a lot about? It doesn't have to be an organized activity. It can be a fascination, a hobby, a subject you've quietly studied for years without anyone asking you to. The goal isn't impressiveness. It's specificity. It's to show a side of you that might not be elsewhere in your application. If you're a rising senior and want a structured way to connect these essay ideas with meaningful examples, the College Essay Guy Values Exercise is a great free tool. Sure, it's a writing exercise — but it's also a reflection exercise, and that can be super-useful as you begin to test ideas. Start there. And if it (or my question) sparks an idea for you, let me know about it. I'd love to hear. Happy Writing! Julia Interested in Coaching? Let's Talk! | View My Resources | Need Help? Open a Support Ticket. This email may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a percentage of the sale in commission, but using these links doesn't affect the price you pay. I recommend only products I use myself and believe in. Thank you for supporting me! Read more: Privacy Policy You're receiving this email because you opted in to my mailing list or because you're a current or past client. Don't need (or want) this information anymore? No hard feelings. Just use the links below to adjust your subscription.
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Julia Byrd: Essay Coach
I work with rising high school seniors to help them identify the meaningful, personal stories that make for standout admissions and scholarship essays. Subscribe to my newsletter to get the latest college admission and essay writing information.
Hi, Reader! Last week, my son's school was one of thousands affected by the Canvas LMS data breach. The timing was brutal — right in the middle of finals week. For 24 hours, many students couldn't access assignments, grades, or announcements. Teachers couldn't submit feedback. The entire system that schools and students had come to depend on was suddenly gone. It forced an uncomfortable question: What happens when the tech we rely on fails? We're more dependent on these systems than we...
Hi, Reader! April is almost over, which means summer is closer than it feels — and the college prep clock is ticking (although admittedly a little louder for some of you than others). To help turn "to do" into "done," I put together a quick grade-by-grade checklist of what's most useful to do right now and over the next few months. Find your grade (or your student's), and take it one step at a time. 9th Graders Start building a summer reading list. Fiction, nonfiction, whatever you'll...
Hi, Reader! Spring is one of my favorite times of year in this work — not because things slow down (although I do love catching up on TV and hobbies), but because I'm seeing the students who want to have a smooth application season start to think about how they can make that happen. And, of course, planning out their main essay (also called the Common App essay or the Personal Statement) is a big part of having that smooth season. Here’s the truth about the college essay: it doesn’t write...