Testimonials “Ethan Sawyer is an essay guru. His approach to essay work is insightful, inspirational, and fun. He helps students find their own unique voices and knows what colleges are looking for. Ethan is my number one choice for essay help.” —D r. Steven R. Antonoff, former dean of admission and financial aid, University of Denver, author of College Match and College Finder “Ethan teaches us the shape, the shift, the heft of the weapons, and the soft caresses that make words worth reading and remembering. His cinematic approach, his warm but literate and smart tone will help any student learn the beauty of shaping words into essays that work and play. This is one book applicants to college will want to read.” —P arke Muth, consultant and former assistant dean of admission, University of Virginia “A must-h ave book for students and counselors! Sawyer’s detailed steps make writing awesome college essays a breeze!” —J ennifer Kresock, independent counselor “Ethan’s College Essay Essentials is the most concise and easy to follow ‘how-to’ guide out there… I cannot recommend Ethan and his approach more.” —R ebekah Elmore, Peak College Consulting “With the gentle wisdom of a trusted shepherd, Ethan Sawyer brings the art of self- reflection and the craft of storytelling together brilliantly—a nd students respond with inspired, deep narratives worthy of respect by today’s most discerning admissions officers. I can’t imagine tackling an essay without it.” —J ann Russell, College Fly CollegeEssayEssentials_INTs.indd 1 5/3/16 10:11 AM “My advice to you if you are applying to college—g et writing and get this book. Ethan will help guide them every step of the way until they have finished their college essays—A LL of them!” —K elly Bates-S iegel, independent counselor “I’ve attended a lot of college essay classes, and read even more books on the subject, but nobody breaks it down quite so simply, yet elegantly, as Ethan. His essays and story examples are excellent and really highlight what college admissions departments are looking for. I highly recommend his new book!” —G ina Ney, college and career advisor “Yours was the best workshop I’ve attended in thirty years in the profession.” —c ollege counselor, on WACAC 2015 workshop session “If it weren’t for your help and support, I don’t think I would’ve gotten too ‘personal’ on my personal statement… Working with you was extremely helpful and rewarding… Thank you for loving what you do. Your love is now reflecting through us as we continue our journey.” —A driana S., student “By day two, [my daughter] was looking forward to going [to Ethan’s class] and was so excited to see how her essay would develop by day’s end. At the end of the three days, Dana’s reaction was a sense of relief and excitement because she was completely done with her essay, she had crossed off a major task from her ‘college to-d o list,’ and she was so very happy with how her essay turned out.” —E rin C., parent CollegeEssayEssentials_INTs.indd 2 5/3/16 10:11 AM College Essay E S S EN T I A L S A Step-b y-S tep Guide to Writing a Successful College Admissions Essay Ethan Sawyer College Essay Guy™ CollegeEssayEssentials_INTs.indd 3 5/3/16 10:11 AM Copyright © 2016 by Ethan Sawyer Cover and internal design © 2016 by Sourcebooks, Inc. Cover design by The Book Designers Cover images/illustrations © Clu/iStock Photo Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems— except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—w ithout permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the pub- lisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent profes- sional person should be sought.—F rom a Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations All sample student essays are copyright to the contributors. All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks, Inc., is not asso- ciated with any product or vendor in this book. Published by Sourcebooks, Inc. P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567–4 410 (630) 961-3 900 Fax: (630) 961-2 168 www.sourcebooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-i n-P ublication data is on file with the publisher. Printed and bound in the United States of America. VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CollegeEssayEssentials_INTs.indd 4 5/3/16 10:11 AM Contents WHY THIS BOOK ix Questions You Might Have and Where You Can Find the Answers xi WHY I’M THE PERFECT PERSON TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE ESSAY-W RITING PROCESS xii HOW THIS BOOK WORKS xvi CHAPTER ONE 1 Brainstorming 1 Þ Essence Objects Exercise 1 What’s Your Story? 6 Þ Core Values Exercise 8 How the Essence Objects and Core Values Exercises Can Help You Write Your Essay (and Your Life) 10 CHAPTER TWO 13 Structure 13 Narrative vs. Montage Structure 13 Narrative vs. Montage Structure Takeaways 17 CollegeEssayEssentials_INTs.indd 5 5/3/16 10:11 AM CHAPTER THREE 20 The Four Types of College Essays 20 Type A: “With Debate” 22 Type B: “Endodontics” 24 Type C: “Raising Anthony” 26 Type D: “Scrapbook” 28 What Makes These Essays Great: A Brief Structural Analysis 30 CHAPTER FOUR 39 A Step-b y-S tep Guide to Writing Each of the Four College Essay Types 39 How to Write Essay Type A 40 How to Write Essay Type B 59 How to Write Essay Type C 71 How to Write Essay Type D 89 CHAPTER FIVE 102 How to Revise Your Essay in Five Steps 102 Revising the First Draft 102 Revising Drafts 2–5 0 106 CHAPTER SIX 107 How to Bring Your Essay to Life 107 How Do I Grab the Reader’s Attention? 107 How Do I Show the Reader I’m Really Smart? 112 How Do I Brag without Seeming Like I’m Bragging? 119 How Do I Make My Essay, Like, Deep? 121 Þ Feelings and Needs Exercise 127 How Do I End My Essay? 137 What Do I Do if I Feel Like I’m Falling Behind? 140 CHAPTER SEVEN 142 Advanced Techniques 142 Advanced Technique 1: Setup and Payoff 142 CollegeEssayEssentials_INTs.indd 6 5/3/16 10:11 AM Advanced Technique 2: Verisimilitude 147 Advanced Technique 3: Turn Something Dark into Something Beautiful 149 Advanced Technique 4: Blow the Reader’s Mind by Using The Sixth Sense Ending (a.k.a. Create an Ending That’s Surprising, but Inevitable) 150 Advanced Technique 5: Make It New 160 What Makes an Essay Amazing 172 CHAPTER EIGHT 183 How to Make Sure Your Essay Is Doing Its Job 183 Þ The Great College Essay Test 186 How to Bring More Values, Vulnerability, and Insight into Your Essay 187 When to Scrap What You Have and Start Over 201 How to Write Your Essay in Just One Night 202 How and When to Ask for Feedback 204 CHAPTER NINE 207 A Few of My Favorite Essays 207 Analysis of a Few of My Favorite Essays 213 CHAPTER TEN 221 Finally 221 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 222 1,000+ Ways to Get Inspired Right Now 222 How to Work with a Partner 223 Accountability Agreement 224 21 Details Exercise 225 Everything I Want Colleges to Know about Me List 226 Time Line of My Life Exercise 228 List of Real Student Essays Included in This Book 231 Acknowledgments 233 Index 234 About the Author 238 CollegeEssayEssentials_INTs.indd 7 5/3/16 10:11 AM CollegeEssayEssentials_INTs.indd 8 5/3/16 10:11 AM Why This Book IMAGINE YOU’RE A SEVENTEEN-Y EAR-O LD HIGH school senior given the task of writing a 650- word personal statement for your college application. You’re perplexed. Do you tell the story of your life or a story from your life? Do you choose a single moment? If so, which one? You feel your options are endless. After an hour mulling over the possibilities, you’re now more than perplexed—y ou’re stressed. You start to wonder about what “they” (the admissions officers) want, even though you can neither predict nor have any control over their thoughts. So you start to panic. What if they don’t like what I write? What if I say the wrong thing? Is there a wrong thing? Then you remember you have just 650 words. That’s one page of single-s paced Times New Roman to express the entire depth and complexity of who you are. You want to throw up. Then you do. * * * CollegeEssayEssentials_INTs.indd 9 5/3/16 10:11 AM