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

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