Hi. I'm Ethan Sawyer, the College Essay Guy, and my goal is to bring more ease, joy and purpose into the college admissions process. How? By providing personal statement and college application tips and step-by-step help, I've helped thousands of students on their journey to college. Ready to get started?

What’s your answer? 🤔
What’s your answer? 🤔
What’s your answer? 🤔

What’s your answer? 🤔

This is one of my favorite brainstorming exercises. It’s called the “21 Details” exercise. 

It’s super quick and will help you generate plenty of ideas for your personal statement or supplemental essay topics. All you need is something to write on and 12 minutes.

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Read the full guide here. 👈We partnered with the amazing Amanda Miller (and a few other financial aid experts) to create a brand new resource to help students and families navigate paying for college. By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to … •...
Read the full guide here. 👈We partnered with the amazing Amanda Miller (and a few other financial aid experts) to create a brand new resource to help students and families navigate paying for college. By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to … •...
Read the full guide here. 👈We partnered with the amazing Amanda Miller (and a few other financial aid experts) to create a brand new resource to help students and families navigate paying for college. By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to … •...

Read the full guide here. 👈

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We partnered with the amazing Amanda Miller (and a few other financial aid experts) to create a brand new resource to help students and families navigate paying for college.

By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to …

  • Find and apply for scholarships efficiently and successfully
  • Determine which colleges are most likely to be affordable for you
  • Apply for grants with minimal stress (#FAFSA)
  • Make sense of your financial aid award letters so you can make an informed decision about college costs
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✏️ The first exercise is called “Everything I Want Colleges to Know About Me,” and the second exercise is called “21 Details.” 

Grab a sheet of paper or open a blank word document and start listing what makes you … you! 

Don’t overthink it! 😊

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his series of short exercises, I’ll help you try to find your personal statement topic. In fact, by the end of this video, you should be able to have 7 great personal statement topic ideas that demonstrate your skills, qualities, values, and interests.

Grab your favorite drink, throw on your headphones, and let’s do this.

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I frequently have students tell me that they’ve faced some challenges they think might make for a good college essay, but they aren’t sure how to gauge the strength of their topic, and they aren’t sure how to write a college essay about the...
I frequently have students tell me that they’ve faced some challenges they think might make for a good college essay, but they aren’t sure how to gauge the strength of their topic, and they aren’t sure how to write a college essay about the...
I frequently have students tell me that they’ve faced some challenges they think might make for a good college essay, but they aren’t sure how to gauge the strength of their topic, and they aren’t sure how to write a college essay about the...

I frequently have students tell me that they’ve faced some challenges they think might make for a good college essay, but they aren’t sure how to gauge the strength of their topic, and they aren’t sure how to write a college essay about the challenges they’ve faced.

And those questions and confusion are understandable: While high school has probably helped prepare you to write academic essays, it’s less likely that you’ve spent much time doing the kind of personal and reflective writing you’ll want to do in a personal statement focused on challenges (which I’ll also sometimes refer to as a narrative essay).

Even the phrase “reflective writing” might seem a little new.

But no worries—I got you. In this post, I’ll walk you through:

  • An example challenges essay with analysis

👉 By the end of this post, you should be all set to write.

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One of the most daunting aspects of applying to college is the sheer number of essays you have (wait, get to!) write. 📝 

What do I mean? 🤔 Say you’re applying to eight to ten schools. Each has anywhere from one to five (hi, MIT!) supplemental essays. Quick math tells us that’s between eight and fifty college essay prompts to respond to. And that’s after you write the personal statement for your Common App. 😬 

But guess what? ❗YOU TOTALLY DON’T HAVE TO WRITE 50 ESSAYS. In fact, you may end up writing fewer than ten. 

Why? 

I’ve developed a pretty simple step-by-step process to help you see which essay prompts can overlap. Follow my lead and it may not only save you dozens of hours or writing, it could improve the quality of those essays. 🏅 

How? 

The secret involves doing a little bit of research and creative brainstorming before deciding on your topic. 🧠

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Here’s today’s writing prompt. What’s your answer?
Here’s today’s writing prompt. What’s your answer?
Here’s today’s writing prompt. What’s your answer?

Here’s today’s writing prompt.

What’s your answer?