In the spirit of this American holiday, one of my favorites, I would like to share a few things with you: One of my favorite posts on this blog is a post I wrote for Thanksgiving several years ago. I like the story, and it also...

An essay can turn instantly sour when you stop saying what you mean and start using generic, meaningless clichés. The best way to eliminate clichés in your writing is simply to go through and cut out any phrases that have lost their meaning or significance due...

Which of the following conjures a more vivid image? The candle burned all the way down and then went out. OR The flame danced and swayed late into the night. Finally, when it could glow no longer it took its last breath and died. Let’s face it – verbs...

A few weeks ago Linda presented the packed-to-capacity presentation of Essays that Stick for AIGAC’s Graduate Admissions Summit. The first-run, “sold-out” webinar was followed by a second heavily-attended presentation. People just couldn’t get enough of Linda’s helpful tips and advice on how to create application...

Since last week’s presentation of “Essays that Stick” for the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants did not have enough room for all who wanted to attend, I decided to offer this thought-provoking webinar again for those who missed the previous event for whatever reason...

Lesson #5 of a five-part series for drafting exemplary essays. You’ve got your first draft ready — this is a great milestone! Now it’s time to revise and edit; outstanding essays are not sprung into the world on the first draft. Here’s how to edit...

Lesson #4 of a five-part series for drafting exemplary essays. Now that you have a clear sense of what makes an essay effective, and have reflected on the questions that have helped you develop your theme, it’s time to start writing. Before you begin, write an...

I am slowly (more slowly than I anticipated) applying the principles established in Chip Heath and Dan Heath’s Made to Stick to personal statements and application essays. For this post: Concreteness. The third of Made to Sticks six key principles, concreteness, doesn’t seem to apply to...

In my non-admissions life, I recently went to a lecture given by a biographer whose work I admire. In the course of his talk he mentioned that while writing about genius has merit, writing about typical folks and their extraordinary achievements is more valuable. The...

Thanks, A Beautiful Mind, for bringing this up…Although these tips don’t come early enough to help you with your Ross essays, hopefully they will help you and others struggling to meet deadlines for schools with later deadlines. Some people appreciate the challenge; some people despise it....