Write Your College Essay in Less Than a Day: Stop Procrastinating and Get It Done to Perfection!

by Elizabeth Wissner-Gross

Strategies from a noted educational consultant on how to ease the pressure, ace the essay, and gain admission into your top-choice school

Getting into college has become fiercely competitive, which makes the personal-essay part of the application process even more important–and stressful. But stop worrying! In Write Your College Essay in Less Than a Day , Elizabeth Wissner-Gross–a top educational strategist in this area who counsels students at schools across the country–breaks down the harrowing ordeal of essay writing into manageable steps, leaving you with a fresh, polished, stand-out piece that admissions officers will love to read. Inside you’ll find

• exercises to help you select an essay topic inspired by your most notable achievements–and winning a Nobel Prize needn’t be one of them
• timed chapters (including snack breaks) to help you brainstorm, create, and critique your essay in only five hours
• sample essays and grading criteria so that you can play the admissions officer–and know what you’re up against
• advice on which writing techniques will score you points–and which could potentially sink your chances

Accessible, savvy, and written with a student’s needs and concerns in mind, Write Your College Essay in Less Than a Day gives you all the tools you need to compose an original, professional essay that will help you turn your dream school into a well-deserved reality.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[William · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm afraid this is a dangerous book. Having worked as the head of several admission offices, I am comfortable saying the approach to writing college essays advocated in this book will damage a student's chances for admission. While the author says she consulted with many admission officers in writing the book, none is mentioned by name in the acknowledgments. If this was really done, I can only say either the officers were interviewed poorly or their experience is astonishingly different from mine (and I have read more than 100,000 college essays).

First of all, with this year's revisions of the Common Application, the book is seriously out of date. There is a lot of instruction on how to respond to essay prompts which no longer exist on that application.

The book could, of course, still be used as a general guide to writing college essays, but the advice is simply misguided for the most part. There are occasional useful tips, but they are counterbalanced by a protocol which I suspect may have helped produce many essays I disliked.

Two things Wissner-Gross recommends should especially be avoided. (1) It's a bad idea to try to connect the essays to the student's extracurricular resume. There is probably more prejudice in admissions offices against students who seem hyper-dedicated to their future major and career than there is appreciation of this; and (2) It seems manipulative and self-promoting to insert awards and achievements into the essays.

There are other pitfalls, of course. I can remember resisting as formulaic most "Why I want your college" essays which listed the names and/or courses of particular professors. My reaction was that the student had read a "How To" book which instructed them to do this, and I guess i may have been right.

There are a fair number of essays provided as examples of good work, and I disliked all of them. On the other hand, there were a lot more essays to demonstrate poor work, and while they were indeed bad, I can remember reading very, very few essays with their flaws.

There are a large number of good books on how to write college essays, though I am not at all confident that a student needs them. Regardless, this simply is not one.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remind me to check this book out again in a few more years.