From the desk
Notes from the panel’s desk
Shorter working notes on the application season: timelines, first drafts, and the mistakes that cost an essay its reader.
The College Application Timeline, Month by Month
A working calendar for applying to college: what to do junior spring, over the summer, and each month of senior fall, so deadlines arrive as checkpoints instead of emergencies.
August 7, 2026 · 5 min read
How to Start a College Essay (When the Page Is Blank)
Ways past the blank page: mine specific memories, draft ugly on purpose, write the middle first. Plus the openings that work better than a dictionary definition.
August 7, 2026 · 4 min read
7 College Essay Mistakes That Cost You the Reader
The failures admissions readers see every season, from the résumé in paragraphs to the thesaurus voice to the missing reflection, with a concrete fix for each.
August 7, 2026 · 5 min read
Can Colleges Detect AI-Written Essays?
What admissions offices actually do about AI essays: who runs detection (almost nobody admits to it), who says they don't, what the real risk is, and where the rules are published.
August 9, 2026 · 7 min read
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