Recently an earnest Junior at Connecticut's Cheshire Academy asked a panel of admissions professionals, “What are you looking for in a college application essay?” I responded, “Your story, in your own ...

Writing a college essay is a rite of passage for many students applying to attend a college or university in the United States. Although each institution has its own application requirements, most ...

Students have a perfect opportunity, through the Common App Essay, to share any “story” of their life. Other than the Activities section, which is tightly limited by word count, the essay is the only ...

The Common Application has been facing criticism from some high school counselors and college admissions officials over two changes being made: the elimination of a "free choice" essay topic, and an ...

The most challenging part of college applications is typically writing essays.

Are you applying to college this year, and did you write your application essay about money, work, social class or related topics? If so, we’d like to read your writing — and, perhaps, publish it. In ...

Meg is a lawyer-mom in suburban Washington, D.C., where lawyer-moms are thick on the ground. She's asked us not to use her last name to prevent mortification to her son Doug. He is quite mortified ...

Class of 2025: It’s been a year like never before. How did you write about it? By The New York Times The world just lived through one of the most wrenching and disruptive years in memory. For many ...