A brilliant college essay topic doesn’t just showcase intelligence — it reveals personality, curiosity, humor, resilience, or the wonderfully weird way someone sees the world. Over the years, certain ...

Practical tips for students who feel stuck at the start of an essay. Learn how to generate ideas, reduce pressure, and build ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Brennan Barnard writes about the nuances of college admission. If you are looking for the “secret formula” for writing a “winning” ...

“My Common App essay is one of the best things I’ve written,” Krishna says. “It is basically everything that I am in one piece of paper — a crash course to myself.” College essays loom large for high ...

It’s essay time for college applicants everywhere. Scott Meiklejohn—Bowdoin’s Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid—has some worthwhile advice for students, whether they are working on some finishing ...

If you still think you can’t write an argumentative essay, think again. Remember the last time you convinced your roommate to get the pizza topping you like. Or that time you ranted on TikTok about ...

This handout is available for download in DOCX format and PDF format. In the most abstract sense, the function of an introductory paragraph is to move the reader from the world of daily life into the ...

The genre is often maligned for being formulaic and melodramatic, but it’s more important than you think. By Nell Freudenberger Most high school seniors approach the college essay with dread. Either ...

The glow from the laptop reflects off his forehead as he stares at the screen, paralyzed by panicked perfectionism. The Common Application essay prompts are neatly copied onto the blank document, ...

Earlier this summer, prospective students around the globe with an interest in the University of Chicago received an email with six unusual essay topics. The writing prompts included references to ...