Hi friends, and welcome back to the podcast. Today's a bit unconventional: normally I'm interviewing somebody in the college admissions world, but this time I'm the guest. I spent some time recently rewriting both my books: College Essay Essentials (about 90%, almost a page-one rewrite) and College Admission Essentials (about 40%). After a few people asked me about it at our national conference, I figured it was worth a podcast.
In this episode, I walk through:
- What I've realized about brainstorming in the ten years since I wrote the first edition of College Essay Essentials
- Why "what colleges want" was conspicuously missing from that first edition, and what I added
- A different way to think about the personal statement, for students, parents, and counselors alike
- What I learned after analyzing 300+ supplemental essay prompts this year
- Practical tips for a few of the most common prompts
- Where I land on AI and the essay-writing process
If you're listening to this before November 10th, 2026, I'll link in the show notes where you can download advance reader copies of both books for free; if you enjoy them, an Amazon review would mean a lot.
We hope you enjoy.
Play-by-Play:
- 0:35 – Why did Ethan rewrite both books after ten years?
- 3:14 – What was rewritten in Ethan's first book, College Essay Essentials?
- 5:33 – What do the new brainstorming exercises look like, from the Values Exercise to Roles and Identities?
- 6:15 – Exercise 1: The Values Exercise
- 6:46 – Exercise 2: The I Love, I Know Exercise
- 8:13 – Exercise 3: The Essence Objects Exercise
- 8:48 – Exercise 4: The Random Questions Exercise
- 9:10 – Exercise 5: The Career Brainstorm Exercise
- 10:07 – Exercise 6: The Identities Exercise
- 10:45 – Exercise 7: The Home Exercise
- 11:09 – Exercise 8: The Roles and Identities Exercise
- 14:47 – How did researching 300+ college websites lead to the five Admission Nutrients?
- 20:31 – What are some common phrases from counselors that are well-meaning but could be intimidating or misleading for students at the start of this process?
- 22:19 – What are some college essay topics that could be more difficult to write well?
- 31:18 – What is a montage essay, and how can a common topic like soccer still stand out?
- 36:41 – What was rewritten in Ethan's second book, College Admission Essentials?
- 38:02 – What did Ethan learn after analyzing 300+ supplemental essay prompts?
- 42:52 – What should students keep in mind when approaching supplemental essays?
- 47:16 – How can students brainstorm the "navigating differences" essay using values and needs?
- 52:50 – Where does Ethan stand on AI and the college essay-writing process?
- 57:20 – Closing thoughts
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Resources:
- Podcast Episodes:
- Student and Counselor Resources:
- Blog Posts:
- Media Recommendations
