Table of Contents

Prologue 9

Introduction 13

Words that Matter 16

Chapter 1 The Big Picture 19

What Are Colleges Looking For? 19

What Your Essay Should Do for You 21

Chapter 2 The Four Building Blocks of a Common App Essay 22

Building Block #1: Five Words 22

Building Block #2: Story 23

Building Block #3: Message 25

Building Block #4: Archetype 30

Chapter 3 Three Sample Essays and Analysis 36

Abby's Common App Essay 36

Jackson's Common App Essay 41

Ella's Common App Essay 46

Chapter 4 How to Find Your Topic 52

Story Prompts 52

Questions to Help You Find Your Story 53

Big Impacts 57

A Unique Point of View 63

Accentuate the Positive 69

Intellectual Vitality 74

Learning Differences 79

Creativity 86

Think Outside the Box 90

Chapter 5 Outlining your Essay 95

Structure, Structure, Structure! 95

Three Sample Structures 97

Pick a Tense 101

Chapter 6 It's All In The Details 107

Voice 107

The All-Important First Sentence 108

Quotes 112

Emotion 113

Courage 120

Framing Device 125

Making the Most of This Wonderful Opportunity 130

Chapter 7 A step-by-step guide to writing your common app essay 134

Chapter 8 Those Darned Supple Mentals 144

Epilogue 147

Appendix A Two Sample Essays of Each Archetype 149

The Hero 151

The Seeker 158

The Adventurer 165

The Rebel 172

The Dreamer 179

The Caregiver 186

The Artist 192

The Leader 199

Appendix B Another Unique Point of View 206

Appendix C Same Topic, Different Result 211

Appendix D Art School 215

Appendix E Think Outside Another Box 218

Appendix F When Your Story is Bigger than a Single Moment 222

Appendix G The Evolution of an Essay 227

Appendix H Where'd They Land? 243

Big Thanks 247

Index 249