by Cara Kalf | Apr 15, 2021 | Cara, college coaching, College Essay, College Essay Examples
Twenty Questions (And Then Some) With Your Dream School List So, how is that school list coming? If you’re applying this summer, you need to be filling—and then narrowing—your list of potential schools so you know what essays you need to start writing in late June or...
by Cara Kalf | Mar 30, 2021 | Cara, college application essay, College Essay, College Essay Examples
Unexpected Essay Secret Write Badly Here’s what you’re doing wrong: You’re expecting it to come out right. It might sound counter-intuitive, but expecting perfection from your draft is the best way to kill it. Actually, it’s the best way to ensure it never gets...
by Cara Kalf | Mar 15, 2021 | Cara, college application essay, College Application Tips
Unicorns Are Not Unique or No Such Thing as a Synonym If you polled every student I have ever had in the classroom, I suspect one of the top three facts you would learn is this: “Mrs. Kalf doesn’t believe in synonyms.” I think they find this deliciously subversive in...
by Cara Kalf | Feb 28, 2021 | Cara, college application essay, College Application Tips
The New (Improved?) Common App 2022 The Common App has released its prompts for next year, and I’m delighted to see all of my favorites still on the list. There’s only one prompt that’s new for 2021, and you probably didn’t need the Common App writers to tell you it...
by Cara Kalf | Feb 15, 2021 | Cara, College Application Tips
The Tool You Didn’t Know You Needed What if a student really had nothing to say? The Tool You Didn’t Know You Needed It’s rare that I get a student with no story at all. But it happens that students come to me to write their essays and have few stories that really...
by Cara Kalf | Jan 30, 2021 | Cara, College Admissions, College Application Tips, college coaching
Looking Forward—Summer and “The Future” So, what do you want to be when you grow up? If you haven’t asked yourself this question yet … why not? And if you don’t know … why are you applying to college? OK, it’s true that college is itself a great time to explore your...
