How the Little Things Make Your College Essay Stand Out

Hey, it's Elena! Are you looking for that unique twist to make your college essay stand out? 🌟

It might actually be in your niche laptop stickers or celeb fandom! In this episode, we'll talk with Tom from the College Essay Guy Team about how the little things in your life can be essay inspiration, and small tweaks to make your essay really stand out. Links to resources below!

Our guest, Tom Campbell, is a Community Manager with the College Essay Guy Team. With years of admissions experience at Pomona College and College of the Holy Cross, Tom brings valuable experience and shares those insider insights that could make a huge difference in your college essay!

Here are the College Essay Guy Resources we mention in the episode:

Brainstorming Exercises

• The Values Exercise in the episode (at 12:06)
• Essence Objects Exercises in the episode (at 13:51)

• 27 Outstanding College Essay Examples
  • Includes the Laptop Sticker and iTaylor examples from the episode (at 15:17 and 20:58) 

How to Structure Your Essay

• YouTube: How to Outline & Structure Your College Essay
  
  • Overview of Narrative and Montage paths from the episode (at 23:20)
• How to Format a College Essay: Step-by-Step Guide

Tips for Enhancing Your Essay

• How to "Show Don't Tell" in College Essays
  • Great tips on how to bring small "nuggets of gold" and specific details to your personal statement during the final revision stages
• Podcast: Using the Secrets of Screenwriting to Write Your College Essay
  • More details about the "Pixar" structure/Narrative structure from Ethan, in the episode (at 24:03)
• How-To Guide for the Short Answer Questions for Highly-Selective Colleges

Social Resources

• Join the College Essay Guy Students-Only Discord
• Join the College Essay Guy Parent Community

Listen to the episode, available wherever you listen to podcasts! Follow us on Instagram (@scoirinc) for more helpful tips!

Next, check out these blog posts:

• 5 Biggest Tips on How to Stand Out on Your College Essay This Fall
• Supplemental Essay Guides from College Essay Guy
• The Don't Sweat It's and Don't Forget It's of Your College Application

See you next time for more college application advice! ☺️

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This article was originally published on October 20, 2022. It was updated on July 8, 2024 for accuracy and comprehensiveness.