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CEA Blog

The Short Answer

Topic: Admissions, College Admissions, Essay Tips, Essay Writing, Supplemental Essays  |  Posted on December 10th, 2016  |  Written by CEA HQ

A popular format for supplement questions is short answers. Don’t confuse these with the why, activity, community, or oddball essays. These are an entirely different beast. These little critters provide a different kind of creative challenge for aspiring college-goers. Take this set of short answer questions from the 2014 Yale application: “What excites you intellectually, […]

The Oddball Essay

Topic: College Admissions, Common App Prompts/Topics, Essay Tips, Essay Writing, Supplemental Essays  |  Posted on December 10th, 2016  |  Written by CEA HQ

There are certain schools, like the University of Chicago, who have always taken special pride in developing craft questions for their applicants to answer. In recent years, more schools are jumping on the bandwagon, luring students to their applications with questions like “What does #YOLO mean to you” (Tufts, 2013). This is both fun and […]

The Community Essay

Topic: Admissions, College Admissions, Essay Tips, Essay Writing, Supplemental Essays  |  Posted on December 10th, 2016  |  Written by CEA HQ

The community essay is a standard supplemental rascal that mines for information about your social habits and favorite causes. Prompts that ask about a “community you belong to” often leave themselves open to interpretation: Are you part of a community of sports fans around the world who can connect with other strangers over the amazing […]

The Activity Essay

Topic: Admissions, advice, College Admissions, Common Application, Essay Resources, Essay Writing, Uncategorized  |  Posted on December 10th, 2016  |  Written by CEA HQ

At one time, not so long ago, the Common App asked all applicants for a brief description of their most important extracurricular experiences. When that requirement became optional in 2013, many individual colleges took it upon themselves to issue a similar prompt as a replacement. The activity essay is an excellent opportunity to expand beyond […]

Don’t Forget: Free College Essay Help on Black Friday!

Topic: College Admissions, Common App Prompts/Topics, Essay Tips  |  Posted on November 23rd, 2016  |  Written by CEA HQ

Your free college essay review is just 2 days away! On Black Friday, our expert advisors will be doling out free 15-minute essay consults to the first 50 college and grad school applicants to submit a draft. Send us your essay in the morning and you’ll get comments back by the time you’re done shopping. We’ll […]

24 Hours of Free College Essay Help on Black Friday

Topic: College Admissions, Common App Prompts/Topics, Essay Tips  |  Posted on November 21st, 2016  |  Written by CEA HQ

We’re doing it again! Get your latest dose of free college essay help on Black Friday 2016, when will be offering free 15-minute essay reviews to the first 50 people to send in their drafts. On anything from the Common App personal statement to school-specific supplements, we’ve got you covered.   This event is perfect […]

Your Back to School Application Checklist

Topic: College Admissions  |  Posted on September 8th, 2016  |  Written by CEA HQ

So this is it. Senior year has arrived, and now you are officially staring at the business end of what feels like it could be the most important year of your life. So much is going to happen this year – and you have so much to do! It suddenly seems like lists are popping […]

How a Summer Journal Could be Your Ticket into College

Topic: College Admissions, Essay Tips  |  Posted on July 21st, 2016  |  Written by CEA HQ

Chances are, you have probably kept a diary or journal at some point in your life (or at least read through your older sister’s). Maybe this journal held the highlights of your family’s many vacations and life-changing experiences, or maybe it’s filled with more day-to-day events – like that time you got the highest grade […]

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