Brainstorming

Storytime Checklist - 3 Part Process of checking off common stories that make good college essays and connecting them to prompts

Self-Inventory - Rapid fire exercise of jotting down answers to a variety of prompts

College Essay Guy - 21 Details

College Essay Guy - "The Everything I Want Colleges To Know About Me" List

Core Memory - A journey down memory lane, highlight and organizing your most significant life moments and core memories

How Well Do You Know Yourself? - A string of questions to help you unearth strong stories, moments, choices, and ideas for the essay

College Essay Guy - The Feelings & Needs Exercise

Discovering My Major - A 3 Part Process to help you explain how you chose your major, recount your major-related activities, and help you articulate why this major or field of study is so important to you

NOTE: You MUST write about this topic. The UCs will want at least 1 essay focused on this. The supplemental essays for private colleges typically all have a "Why This Major" prompt. To NOT answer this prompt puts students at a great disadvantage for admissions. Colleges more than wanting to know your personal traits, want to know how you decided on your major and how will you grow in your field of study on their campus. Understandably, this is also the least authentic/most difficult essay for students to write, since students rarely know with 100% confidence what their field of study is. Nevertheless, do your best to most authentically explain to an admissions reader why you want to major what you have put down as your major.