Start writing today.
You'll get access to every single lesson and resource as soon as you register.
What’s this course about?
In this four-week, live video course, we’ll walk you through our values-based approach to producing not only a stand-out Common Application, activities list, and additional information section, but also to answering the supplemental essays that most selective schools require.
This course will give you the tools to pull together all of the written components of your college applications and demonstrate to colleges your core values and how you'll make meaningful contributions to your future college campus (which, according to our years of experience, should help increase your odds of admission).
With over a dozen video lessons, live sessions with me, great sample essays and applications, a comprehensive step-by-step workbook, and tons of advanced techniques, this is the most comprehensive course of its kind.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:
You’ll start by watching a few video lessons and analyzing successful applications and essays.
You’ll then get to writing your initial outlines and first drafts.
Then, we’ll meet live where I (Ethan) workshop student essays and answer questions on what you’ve learned.
DISCOVER
Explore what matters to you, brainstorm essay topics, and get inspired to write.
STRUCTURE
Get step-by-step guides to outlining and writing almost every required supplemental essay.
GET INSPIRED
Demonstrate intellectual vitality and show colleges what gets you excited.
STAND OUT
Craft an activities list that shows impact.
FEEL CONFIDENT
Present a complete picture of who you are and what matters to you.
STAY ORGANIZED
Manage your application and essay drafts with a whole suite of resources.
This Course is part 2 of our
HOW TO APPLY TO COLLEGE VIDEO COURSE SERIES
Register for this course and get 50% off part 1 of my course, How to Write an Outstanding Personal Statement.
How? Register for this course and you’ll be taken to the discounted offer.
Here's what a few students
have to say about this course
“You’re an amazing teacher, and I can feel the passion you have for us. I really appreciate all the work you’ve done for us. Thanks to you, I’ve been able to say what I’ve wanted to say about my life and show how it has impacted me. That’s something that I’ve struggled to do in the past. So from the bottom of my heart, I just want to say thank you!”
“I really loved that we did this on Google docs and were able to see each and every one of your comments. Before this course, I would never have finished writing an essay, not to mention find my essay topic! Thank you for bringing out the creative side of me in my writing. Thank you for being so compassionate to provide access for everyone to this course. 😃 ”
At the start, to be completely honest, I had no idea what I wanted to write about. My ideas were scattered and I was writing about superficial topics to dodge the fact that I had no idea what I wanted to say. Your exercises really helped me actually realize what mattered to me, which in turn helped me get started on my essays because it was much easier to write about topics I actually cared about.
- Casey, Student
Ethan was the finest mentor anyone could ask for. He guided me and, more importantly, encouraged me to write the best college essays that I could possibly manage. His way of working was unique: his exercises and insights helped me perfectly incorporate my ideas in the essays. Never in any of our sessions did I feel stressed; rather he always made the path crystal clear and made me realize my most efficient plan of action. He inspired me. And as a college applicant, that’s all you really need to write great essays. Would recommend Ethan 100%!
- Swastid, Student
The past week, was more of a journey than a tutorial for my personal statement. Before the course, I was looking outwards for inspiration. Ethan taught me to find inspiration within myself, but best of all, he provided me the tools to put it on paper.
- Jonathan
This course has truly changed my life. I now feel that I am prepared to tackle my Questbridge essays, supplemental essays, and any other college essays to ensure that I've tried my best and hardest for my future. After all that this course has provided me with, saying thank you feels inadequate, but still – thank you so much, Ethan. You have truly changed my life and my perspective on writing a personal statement.”
– Amenna
You also had a simple way of explaining things, and had many resources in the PDF guide that I appreciated.
-Alex
We mean it:
This is the most comprehensive course of its kind
VIDEO LESSONS
You'll develop a big picture strategy, brainstorm essay ideas, analyze applications that worked, and get all the tools for creating a compelling application.
SAMPLE ESSAYS
Read great example activities list descriptions and dozens of inspiring example essays that do an awesome job, plus a few outstanding sample college applications.
PAGE WORKBOOK
Complete activities in the workbook to brainstorm topics and outline essays for the most commonly asked supplemental essay questions.
Colleges
I cover the most common supplemental essay topics required by hundreds of colleges, including those quirky essay topics required by the most highly selective schools.
goal
Create an outstanding application that showcases all of your awesomeness.
Module 1: Creating an Inspired Application in Half the Time
Sample Application: How Doing a Thorough Job on the Brainstorming Activities Can Set Up a Great Application
A Relatively Quick and Totally Free Way to Figure Out Which Essay Topics Overlap
The Overlapping Game (or) How Doubling—or Tripling, or Quadrupling!—Essays for Multiple Prompts Can Yield a “Super Essay”
A Sample Super Essay
How to Write a Super Essay
Module 2: The Activities List, Additional Information Section, & The "Why Us" Essay
5 Tips for the Activities & Awards List
The Difference Between an Amazing Activities and Awards List and a Really Good One
Activities You May Not Have Considered Including—But That Count!
“Stretching the Truth” on the Activities List: A Cautionary Tale
How to Up-Level the Activities and Awards List in Three Steps
What One Should (and Shouldn’t) Include in the Add’l Info Section
How an Add’l Info Section Can Make the Difference in the Application
The Complete Guide to the "Why us" Essay
3 Great "Why Us" Essays You've Never Read and Why They're Awesome
Module 3: The Extracurricular Essay
The Difference Between a Regular and a “Super” Extracurricular Essay
Eight Mistakes Students Make on Their Extracurricular Essays
A Three-Step Process to Avoid All Those Mistakes
How to Write an Amazing Narrative Extracurricular Essay
How to Write an Amazing Montage Extracurricular Essay
How to Apply These Approaches to Almost Any Supplemental Essay
How to Write a Great "Community" Essay
Three Great Sample “Community” Essays
Module 4: The supplemental Essays
How to Write the Stanford “Idea or experience that makes you excited about learning” Essay
How to Write the Stanford “Roommate” Essay
How to Write the Stanford “What's meaningful to you and why?” Essay
How to Write the "Create Your Own Class" Essay
Four Tips for the Quotation Essay
How to Write the "Diversity" Essay
How to Write the "Why X Major" Essay
And more!
Module 5: Short Answers & More Supplemental Essays
Six Techniques for Writing the 150-Word Extracurricular Essay
Three More 150-Word Extracurricular Essays I Love, and Why
The High-Flyer Method: How to Write a Next-Level 150-Word Extracurricular Essay If You Have a Perfect GPA, Test Scores, Ridiculous Extracurriculars and Have Nothing to Prove
How to Make the Short Answers Awesome
A Stanford-Worthy Set of Short Answers And What Makes Them So Good
A Creative Take on the “Where Have You Lived” Essay
How to Beautifully Answer the The "Diversity" Essay
Module 6: How to Make Sure Your Application Is Doing Its Job
Content is So 🔥 I Can't Even Describe it Here
Q&A Sessions: Ethan Answers STUDENT QUESTIONS
Get answers to a wide range of questions from the general to the specific, including:
Should I use all of the word count provided for supplemental essays? How much should I write if a supplemental doesn’t list the word count or length?
What if the advice I hear from people I ask for feedback conflicts? Or I disagree with them?
Will I put off my reader by including religious or political activities on my activities list?
How can I tell if an activity is worth putting on an application or not?
What happens if you lie in your application?
If I write about community in my personal statement, but the school I’m applying to already has a community supplement, should I write an entirely new personal statement?
And dozens more.
Plus, I give feedback on everything to Activities Lists to several in-progress "Why us" essays.
The COURSE Workbook Includes
A Dozen Brainstorming Activities, including:
My Favorite Supplemental Essay Brainstorming Exercises
Everything I Want Colleges to Know About Me
The Feelings and Needs Exercise
The Best Extracurricular Brainstorming Exercise
The Elon Musk Exercise
The “Why us” Research Chart
How to Develop a Preliminary College List
How to Organize All Your Essay Topics For Free
List of Potential “Super” Topics from Past Students
How to Write an Awesome Activities List
Activities You May Not Have Considered Including—But That Count!
How to Write the Additional Info Section
Plus: 36 Sample Essays and 3 full sample applications
(3) Successful Sample Applications
(4) Great “Extracurricular” Essays
(2) Great Community Service Essays
(2) Great “Community” Essays
(2) Great “Intellectual Idea” Essays
(2) Great “Roommate” Essays
(2) Great “What Matters” Essays
(2) Great “Quotation” Essays
(2) Great “Create Your Own Class” Essays
(4) Great U of Chicago Extended Essays
(8) Great 150-Word Extracurricular Essays
(3) Great Sets of Short Answers
(3) Great “How I Spent My Summer” Examples
Bonus:
College Essay Guy’s Complete Guide to the “Why us” Essay (20 pages)
College Essay Guy’s Epic Activities Verbs List
Meet Your Guide
Hi, I’m Ethan. Each year I help thousands of students and counselors around the world through my online courses, workshops, articles, blog posts and books. I also work privately with a small number of students each year.
I distill the best and most effective resources I have ever found. I’ll personally walk you from "I feel totally lost" to "I feel like I've submitted the best application I can."
Part 2 of my How to Apply to College video course series
Register for this course and get 50% off part 1, How to Write a Personal Statement.
How? Register for this course and you’ll be taken to the discounted offer.
Can’t afford the course?
I offer pay-what-you-can spots for students from low-income households.
It only takes a moment. Reach out below to request a spot.
Want to finish your entire main personal statement, too?
TAKE my How to Write aN OUTSTANDING Personal Statement Course.
Take my most comprehensive course to writing your main personal statement. Learn how to find the right topic, get step-by-step guides to structuring your essay, and get tips on how to bring your essay to life.
ARE YOU A COLLEGE COUNSELOR?
YOU MAY BE WONDERING (FAQ)
+How do I log in?
If you have purchased any of our online video courses or live webinars, you can login by going to the website menu bar > Log In > Online Courses. You can view that page here. From there you can access all of your products in your library.
+How long do I have access to the course?
Students have access to the course for one year from the date of purchase.
+Are application reviews included with the course?
No.
+Can I get a discount?
Access is really important to all of us at College Essay Guy. It’s at the heart of most everything Ethan does and is why so many resources on the site are free. As this is something we are passionate about, we have an option to submit a pay-what-you-can request on each of our course pages.
+WHAT IF I CAN’T AFFORD IT? What is "pay what you can"?
Access is really important to all of us at College Essay Guy. It’s at the heart of most everything we do and is why so many resources on the site are free and pay-what-you-can. We offer pay-what-you-can spots for students from low-income homes. You can submit a request on this page at the links above. As this is something we are passionate about, we have an option to submit a pay-what-you-can request on each of our course pages.
+What if I have another question?
My FAQ page has you covered. Or, if you can't find the answer there, shoot an email to my team: help@collegeessayguy.com.
