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How to Write Your College Application

Information From Ethan Sawyer:The College Essay Guy (CEG)

Resource Guide

Sage Oak

Charter School

Click here to listen to recorded presentation..

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Essay Topic Tracker

01

Organization is the key!!!

Gather every topic you will be required to write on and paste them into this

google form

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Sometimes you have to DIG DEEP to find out what supplemental writing is required

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Scholarships

Cappex.com - search for scholarships

Fastweb.com - scholarship search engine, budgeting calculator

Scholarships.com -scholarship search, resources

Bigfuture -Scholarships, calculators, financial aid basics

Student Scholarships - nationwide scholarship search engine

Unigo Scholarships - scholarship search engine

Check the university websites of the schools you are interested in to see if they have any institutional aid that requires an essay. 👍🏼

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Brainstorming

Activities

02

Click here to download the full worksheet from CEG

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Essence Objects Exercise

This exercise will take about 12 minutes. You can watch this video of Ethan Sawyer as he leads you through a brainstorming activity to help you discover content that can help you write about the world you come from . �

The College Essay Guy’s Essence Object Exercise Video

The essence objects exercise is amazing! Imagine you have a box and each object that you put in the box will represent an important quality or important relationship for you. Example questions:

What’s something you never leave home without?

What’s a snack you crave?

A food that reminds you of your family?

A food that reminds you of home?

A tradition that reminds you of home?

What else reminds you of home?

An object that represents your best friend?

An object that represents your father? Your mother?

Your grandparents, or lack thereof?

Something you loved and lost?

A toy you used to play with as a kid?

Something that makes you laugh?

A book you love? Best movie ever?

Favorite guilty pleasure movie?

An object that represents something abstract that you broke (a heart, a promise)?

An object that represents a regret?

A favorite gift you received? A favorite gift you gave?

An object that represents a secret? (Don’t worry, this stays between us.)

Something about you no one else knows?

A dream?

Something you stole?

Something you found?

Something that makes you feel safe?

The worst thing that ever happened to you?

The best thing?

The logo on your imaginary business card?

The image you’d like carved into your tombstone?

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Values Exercise

Click here to watch the CEG walk you through the values exercise.
Click here for the CEG’s downloadable worksheet.

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21 Details

Make a list of 21 details from your life, interesting facts that describe some small, random part of who you are. You can click here to access a video where the CEG walks you through this exercise.

21

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Everything You Want Colleges To Know About You

Click here to watch the CGE in a video that walks you through this exercise.
Click here to download a pdf of the worksheet.

Make a list of all the things you want colleges to know about you.

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The Feelings and Needs Exercise

01

03

02

04

Challenges

Effects

03

04

Feelings

05

06

Needs

What I Did

What I Learned

Click here for the Video from CEG

Click here for the worksheet

from the CEG

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What Are Colleges Looking For?

Heart
Humanity

Values
Insight into who you are
Vulnerability
Interests
Talents

Show Them Your…

Make Sure You Express…

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03

How To Write Different Sections

of the College Application

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The Personal Statement

Harry Grey

Attention

Responsibility

Attitude

Click here for detailed information on how to write your personal statement.

Click here to watch a video where the CEG walks you through the personal statement.

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Different Sections of the Application

01

03

02

04

Activities List / Honors List

Additional Information

The “Why Us” Essay

Extracurricular Essay

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Activities List

Open this document. Go to file > make a copy and read through the guide. Then start your first draft of the activities list on that document.

Click here for more information from the CEG about how to write a great activity list!

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10 Tips For Making Your Activities List Awesome

Aim for variety, making sure your verbs aren’t redundant.
Use the present tense if it’s something you still do.
Trim ruthlessly.
State role, leadership description, and the organization name in the top two sections so you don’t waste characters in the 150-character description section.
Emphasize tangible, measurable impact.
Include any responsibilities that demonstrate leadership skills.
What if there isn’t much to say or it was a one-time event?
Describe selectivity. This is key if the reader might not understand the achievement your activity represents.
Avoid extreme language.
If your role was simply “member” or “participant,” it’s okay to just list the activity.

Click here for a detailed description of each one of these!

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The BEABIES Activity

The Best Extracurricular Activity Brainstorm I’ve Ever Seen (BEABIES) is a great way to develop better content for your activities list.

Click here for a step-by-step guide to make an outstanding activities list for the common app.

Click here to download the CEG’s BEABIES Worksheet

01

What I Did (Day-to-Day):

Did I list all my tasks, or just a few? What’d I forget? Go back and check.
Did I list tasks I completed that fell slightly outside the scope of my responsibilities?
Did I leave off any awards? Any uncommon achievements?

Problems I Solved:

Did I consider the internal problems I solved—any personal challenges?
Did I name the external problems I solved—for my friends or family? School? Community?
Was I tackling a much larger (perhaps global) problem?

Lessons I learned & Values/Skills I Developed:

What were some of the soft skills I learned (patience, communication, etc.)?
Did I learn any specific software (Photoshop, Final Cut Pro)? Languages (Spanish, C++)? Survival skills (how to start a fire or clean a fish)?
What am I better at now than I was before?
What would I have done differently?

Impact I Had (On Self, School, Community and/or Society)

Did I consider the impact this had on my family? Friends? School? Who else benefited?
What impact did this have on me personally? Did this change my life/perspective? How?

Applications to Other Parts of School/Life:

What skills did I develop and lessons did I learn that will make me a better X (tutor, debater, advocate, volunteer, programmer, fill in the blank)? How so?
What did I do to build on and take what I learned to the next level?
What surprised me about this experience?
How might I continue this activity during college and beyond?

FYI: Spend 10-15 minutes filling out a BEABIES chart using these 25 questions and (bonus) you’ll have enough content for pretty much any extracurricular activity essay, too.

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The

“Additional Info” Section

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The Additional Information Section

What is the additional info. Section on the common app?

Click Here!

What SHOULD you put in the additional info. Section on the common app?

Click Here!

What should you NOT put in the additional info. Section on the common app?

Click Here!

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The “Why Us” Essay

Video

Detailed Information

Click here to watch a video from the CEG that explains the “Do’s and Don’ts when writing the “Why Us” essay.

Here is a link to read through all of the CEG’s resources for writing the “Why Us” essay.

Click here to download the CEG’s worksheet to brainstorm the “Why Us” essay

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The Extracurricular Essay

How to write a GREAT extracurricular activity essay

How to structure your extracurricular essay

How to stand out in your extracurricular essay

Click Here

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UC PIQs

04

There are 8 Prompts and you will choose 4. There is a 350 word limit.

Personal Insight Questions

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Describe an example of a leadership experience in which you’ve positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.

UC Personal Insight Questions (PIQs)

Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

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Describe how you’ve taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you’ve faced.

UC Personal Insight Questions (PIQs)

Describe the most significant challenge you’ve faced and the steps you’ve taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you’ve furthered this interest inside and/or outside the classroom.

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

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What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

UC Personal Insight Questions (PIQs)

Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admission to the University of California?

Question 7

Question 8

Remember…you only have to pick 4!

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Helpful Tips For Writing The PIQs

Click Here

CEG - Everything you need to know about writing the PIQs

Click Here

UC Presentation - (PIQ Slide)

Click Here

Entire UC Presentation

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The End

Click here to fill out the survey

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Thanks for Coming!

Reach out if you need help!

Coral Prendergast

cprendergast@sageoak.education

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