Send The Complete College Essay Handbook to a School, Library, or Non-Profit!

Send The Complete College Essay Handbook to a School, Library, or Non-Profit!

We are excited to get our expertise and years of experience into the hands of as many students as possible—especially now that it’s peak college application season!

We’d be so grateful if you shared a link to The Complete College Essay Handbook with friends and family. If you decide to purchase it—thank you, and consider leaving a short review!

If you leave a review and share it with us, we’ll send a copy of The Complete College Essay Handbook to a school, library, or non-profit (that serves high school students!) of your choice.

Email us at brittemmaessays@gmail.com to let us know where you want a copy sent.

The Complete College Essay Handbook is a no-frills, practical guide that will give students the confidence and know-how they need to craft the best essays for every single school on their list—in less time and with less stress. The Complete College Essay Handbook walks students through:

  • What makes an essay stand out, drawing on sample essays by real students to illustrate main points
  • Brainstorming activities to find the best topics for the personal statement and supplemental essays
  • How to write the two central components of every application essay: scene and reflection
  • Editing and revision—including techniques to cut down or expand an essay to hit the word limit
  • The four types of supplemental essays and how to decode the different essay prompts, using actual essay questions
  • The strategy behind a well-rounded set of application essays

Thank you and write on!

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Dear Therapist: My Mom Won’t Stop Pressuring Me to Get Better Grades

Dear Therapist: My Mom Won’t Stop Pressuring Me to Get Better Grades

It is hard to truly give students the freedom to be who they are when colleges are forcing them into little boxes on applications and asking them very clearly: are you who we want you to be? 

Lori Gottlieb’s recent Dear Therapist is a good one for anyone approaching the college application and planning process. 

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Colleges Requiring the Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR)

Colleges Requiring the Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR)

Some colleges require a form called the SSAR or the SRAR when you apply to college. It is a self-reported transcript and it speeds up the admissions process tremendously at many schools.

Please read the application instructions for each and every school on your list. The Application Instructions or the “Steps to Applying” will inform you if it is required.

Please see a list of colleges and universities that accept the SSAR-SRAR for current high school seniors below. This list can change and is from a secondary source; please read your app instructions carefully!

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY OPTIONAL
BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY, STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK OPTIONAL
CLEMSON UNIVERSITY REQUIRED
DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY OPTIONAL
FLORIDA A & M UNIVERSITY REQUIRED
FLORIDA POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OPTIONAL
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY REQUIRED
KEAN UNIVERSITY OPTIONAL
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY OPTIONAL
NEW COLLEGE OF FLORIDA OPTIONAL
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY (NYU) REQUIRED
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY REQUIRED
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, CAMDEN REQUIRED
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, NEWARK REQUIRED
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, NEW BRUNSWICK REQUIRED
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY REQUIRED
TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY REQUIRED
UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK OPTIONAL
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT OPTIONAL
UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE REQUIRED
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TWIN CITIES REQUIRED
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON REQUIRED
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH REQUIRED
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE REQUIRED
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO REQUIRED
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA REQUIRED
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA OPTIONAL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA REQUIRED
UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA REQUIRED
VIRGINIA TECH REQUIRED

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University of California Admit Rates – In State & Out of State

The team at College Kickstart reviewed the recently released Fall 2022 University of California admissions data and has summarized it on their blog. 

California residents and students applying from out of state should review this information. Follow College Kickstart for admissions insights and trends!

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Thoughtful, Authentic, Effective College Essays

Thoughtful, Authentic, Effective College Essays

The college essay is fairly simple to write but often made more complicated than it needs to be. The goal? Clear, concise, effective. Nothing fancy, nothing that should take more than a few weeks, max. 

Effective essays: 

  • Demonstrate authenticity and thoughtfulness
  • Bring the writer to life on paper (but are not an explanation of their whole life)
  • Are excellent in topic, style, and grammar

We are gearing up for a summer busy with college essay support, so our students can start senior year with peace of mind, less stress, and having already completed most of their essays

If you know a rising senior who would benefit from our guidance and who might want to work with one of our essay experts, contact us to schedule a consultation.

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College Admission: Data, Transparency, And Match

College Admission: Data, Transparency, And Match

Does it matter whether Princeton was ranked the number one or number three university in the country this year? Do you really care if Stanford’s overall admit rate was 3.95% or 2.16%? What does it mean to you if the University of Pennsylvania denied 94.32% or 95.74% of all applicants?

News flash: these institutions are uber selective. You could be the most qualified student in the country with perfect grades and test scores, an exceptionally written college essay, glowing recommendations, and impactful community involvement, and still be turned down by the most selective colleges.

Brennan Barnard’s recent Forbes piece explores colleges’ lack of transparency and so much more. Give it a read!
The reality is, you are rolling the dice when applying to these schools. They could select a full class of new students, throw it out, take the runners up, and guess what…the overall profile of the accepted class would look nearly identical. In fact, schools with low single-digit admit rates could do this many times over. This you cannot control. What you can control is how YOU approach the college search and application experience, and the quality and usefulness of the data you seek.
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Summer Writing Mentorship

Summer Writing Mentorship

We’ve got a new writing mentorship in addition to our college application essay offerings! Share it with all the writers in your life:
 
Are you a young writer beginning to craft your own poetry, fiction, or drama? A student planning to submit writing for competitions, awards, or prizes? A high school or college student who wants guidance on how to write compelling academic essays? Our one-on-one writing mentorship program will meet you wherever you are and help you develop into a more confident, polished, and effective writer.
 
If your interests are primarily in creative writing, we’ll workshop your pieces, develop a personalized set of writing exercises and prompts, and—of course!—discuss your favorite literary works and discover some new ones that can shape your own writing. Should you decide you’re interested in submitting some of your pieces to publications or contests, we’ll work together to move through the submission process from start to finish.
 
If you’re looking to become a stronger academic writer or essayist, you can expect a rigorous, customized combination of editing assistance and targeted exercises that focus on any specific weaknesses in your writing, whether you’re a beginner writer developing the fundamentals or an experienced one refining your style.
 
You won’t just improve the nuts and bolts of your writing—you’ll gain a mentor who can help you navigate your literary struggles, interests, and ambitions. For more info, write to hello@brittany.consulting. Let’s get writing!
 
 
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Focus on the next fours years, not the last.

Focus on the next fours years, not the last.

The class of 2022 is resilient. They’ve weathered a pandemic, the confusion of test-optional, okay at best online schooling—the list goes on. 

Great read in Charter by S. Mitra Kalita. “Bottom line: You’re going to be fine. Let’s focus on the next fours years, not the last!”

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Class of 2022 Acceptances

Class of 2022 Acceptances

Our students rock! We are grateful they chose to have us along for the ride. This year was extraordinarily tough, and we are so proud of the work they put in. Their efforts did not go unnoticed by colleges either. Although we are believers that the journey is just as sweet as the reward, we are celebrating the reward (acceptances) in this post.

Below you will find some of the schools where the students we worked with earned acceptances year:

University of Pennsylvania*
Cornell*
Dartmouth*
Duke*
Stanford*
Georgetown*
Williams*
Harvard
Brown
Princeton
University of Chicago
University of Virginia*
Vanderbilt
WashU
JHU
NYU
Wesleyan
Boston College*
Northeastern*
St. Andrews*
Tulane*
Bates
Bowdoin
Colby
Vassar
Claremont McKenna
Emory
Indiana University Kelley School of Business*
University of California, Los Angeles*
University of Miami*
University of Michigan*
University of Richmond*
University of Rochester*
University of Texas, Austin*
University of Wisconsin*
Bard*
FIDM
Parson’s
Pratt
Baylor*
Chapman*
Clemson*
Coastal Carolina*
College of Charleston*
Colorado College
Fairfield*
Fordham*
Grinnell
Lehigh*
Loyola Chicago*
Macalester
Miami Ohio*
SDSU
Marymount Manhattan
McGill
NJIT
Penn State*
Oberlin
Ohio State*
Rhodes
Quinnipiac
Santa Clara*
Sarah Lawrence
Southern Methodist University*
St. John’s
TCNJ*
University of Delaware*
University of Florida*
University of Illinois*
University of Iowa
University of Maryland*
University of Massachusetts, Amherst*
University of Pittsburgh*
University of San Diego
University of South Carolina*
University of Tampa*
University of Tulsa
University of Vermont*
University of Washington*

*multiple students admitted

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Helping Teens Weather College Rejection

Helping Teens Weather College Rejection

Rejection stinks! But it’s a normal part of life and college admissions. This short article is for parents. Hang in there. In six months from now, the college application process will be very far in your rearview!

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