In this fourth in a series of college essay writing tips, the focus is on the beast that many high school students face:

Writer’s block.

Do you have a good idea for an essay, but you don’t know how to get started? Here are five tips to help free yourself from writer’s bl...

Now that we’ve covered some advice on how to craft your best college essay, and to write a compelling opening paragraph, let’s go in a difference direction. This week’s 5 Tips focuses is on what NOT to do when writing your college essay. Here’s what you need to avoid.

D...

When it's time to write your college application essay, do not underestimate the importance of grabbing your reader's attention quickly. Remember, admissions officers have a lot of applications to get through. You need to make an impression before their eyes start to g...

Ah, the telltale signs of autumn: crisp mornings, pumpkin spice lattes, and high school seniors panicking about their college essays. Here are five tips to soothe nerves and help applicants write their best college essay.

1) Make the story your own. This is your opportu...

Middle-aged women.

Enough said, right? It is a phrase people try not to use in a sentence – especially by the women who happen to fall into that category. Myself included. We trend toward invisibility.

So, I was intrigued by the teaser announcing Elinor Carucci’s forthco...

Go back to where you came from.

Speak English. You’re in America now.

You don’t belong here.

We read about these rants against people who look “different,” and by that, I mean people who are not white and/or who speak English with a foreign accent. In fact, the New York T...

Before “selfie” was a word, my husband and I used to take them. With a camera. A camera that was only a camera and not a device to make phone calls, send texts (also not yet a thing), livestream video, or find your way from point A to point B.

We didn’t call it a “selfi...

We can all appreciate a good story. But do we pay equal tribute to the idea that launched that tale? I confess that I do not. A book I’ve loved can stay with me for decades, and, still, I don’t wonder how the author willed it into existence.

Perhaps that will change, no...

I fell down a rabbit hole yesterday, landing in the eccentric world of weird college scholarships. Facing the prospect of having two children in college this September, I thought a few hours researching private funding sources would be time well spent. It may be too ea...

“Nothing goes together quite like candles and reading.” I recently read this in the New York Times and thought: Um, no.

There is the first obvious reason, of course – the very flammable nature of the book’s main ingredient.   But aside from that, I’ll wager that most pe...