Could the college tide be shifting? Yes.

It was bound to happen: After years of hyper-enrollment and students pulling out all the stops in making their applications to college, years of depressed income have begun to take their toll. Schools are experiencing and predicting lower enrollments, according to this piece in the New York Times. Does this jive with what you're seeing?

Should You Ask For Help: College & Grad School Essays:

I'm the first to admit that the college application essay culture has gotten out of hand.
The purpose of the Common Application was to streamline the procedure, make less work for students and schools, not more. The idea of having two required essays - the 500-worder that stresses everyone out and a shorter one on a job or after-school activity - was that it would give the school a more personal look at the student; a gander beyond grades and SATs. A great idea, until many schools started adding additional essays to their applications. The result? Instead of writing two essays, depending on where students apply, they could end up having to write five, eight or ten of them. It seems like every bit of a student's free time is eaten up writing application essays. But often students ask me what the purpose of all the essays is, and I know there may be a method to the madness. The schools use the additional essays to help them distinguish further between candidates - and to cut down on applications. Only those who are serious about a school will go to the trouble of crafting essay after essay, especially when the essays ask you create courses or to hold forth on obscure quotations. Putting up another roadblock for admission may be the best way for the school to measure a student's interest in the institution. If you're applying to college or graduate school, and you need some help with these essays, please give me a call or email me. I have a sliding fee scale, and am eager to help. ebenedict@earthlink.net 1-855-99-ESSAY I look forward to hearing from you~~ ~~ Liz

Stuck on Your Essay? Write to Your Roommate

Here's some good advice from the informative New York Times College Blog - something more to help generate essay ideas.

Should You Mention Harry Potter in Your College App Essays?

Please take a look at my latest Huffington Post blog on what to do and what not to do, including a tip about whether or not to mention Harry Potter in your College application essays.

7 1/2 Tips for Your College Application Essay

My latest blog on writing your college application essays - just published on Huffington Post's College Page. For more information, email me: ebenedict@earthlink.net

What Makes a Good Essay?

Many high school students take exotic trips to far-flung places for education, enlightenment, and sometimes to find "good" subjects for their college application essays. It's fine to do that, but it's by no means necessary. A week in Machu Picchu is not required to write a terrific essay.
What's required is an essay in the student's own voice, a genuine sense of his or her world view, an exploration of something that really mattered, whether it's a job at a summer camp, a family crisis that changed lives, or a book that opened up a new world. Last year, one of my students - who got into all but one of her first-choice colleges - wrote about losing her cell phone and then deciding not to get another. It was about the wonders of being unconnected in our hyper-connected world. Another wrote about how spending a week working in her aunt's natural food restaurant had introduced her to the world of healthy eating, and changed her family's entire perspective on food and nutrition. They went from eating frozen dinners to shopping at the farmers' market.
Colleges want to see how students understand and learn from their experiences.
If you're considering what to write for your Common Application essay, one way to start is to make a list of the events in your life that have mattered most and see which one makes your heart beat faster when you write it down. Sounds corny, but this could give you a hint about what direction to go in.
Let me know if you have questions.... ~~Liz

In today's New York Times....

I'm starting to get more inquiries about high school and college students who need help writing college and grad school application essays. This article in today's New York Times reminds me what a competitive culture this is, and how hard it is for today's young folks to make their way. Though the article focuses on children of privilege in the Hamptons, I work with students from all backgrounds and welcome your emails. Please send any questions to ebenedict@earthlink.net. Thanks. ~~ Liz