admissionignition

Hidden Essays and Separate Portals: What Applicants Need to Know

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 18:42:22 GMT

By Logan Shallow

The college application process is undeniably challenging. Keeping track of a seemingly endless list of supplemental essays, online portals, and individualized requirements can be overwhelming. Luckily, many schools are condensing their Common App by removing many of the long and short answer questions they used to require; unfortunately, some schools – like MIT, Colgate, and the University of South Carolina – have taken this opportunity to move many of their supplemental essays and short written response questions away from the centralized Common App application site and onto their own portals instead.

Where it used to be impossible to apply without completing your application, it is now extremely easy to submit a half-complete application without realizing you’re missing anything! When factoring in honors college applications, it’s becoming pertinent to keep close tabs on each and every application portal you create.

To best understand this shift, it’s important to consider the limitations of the Common App site. Most notably, the Common App has never publicly addressed artificial intelligence, either as a tool for detecting plagiarism or in regard to its efforts to prevent AI-generated content from being submitted in applications. It does, however, indicate that it considers AI to be fraud – if fraud is discovered and confirmed, the Common App maintains the right to disclose that indiscretion to each and every college on a student’s list.

Despite the heavy penalty, the Common App doesn’t appear to have any surefire way to detect AI. With the rising prevalence of AI in student work, many colleges may be moving their essay-based assessments to their own portals, where they can use more extensive programs to detect these fraudulent applicants rather than relying on admissions readers to recognize and report AI influence.

More cynically, this shift allows colleges to collect application fees from students who begin, but never finish, their applications, thus turning incomplete applications into profit. Meanwhile, the applications that are fully completed are more likely to come from committed and well prepared students, enabling schools to identify their most dedicated applicants and maintain application fee revenue while simultaneously boosting their yield and preserving their elite acceptance rates.

Why should I care? Great question! When you put together your college list, you’ll want to be extra careful to check for prompts even when they aren’t public-facing. The Admission Ignition Essay Master List is a great starting point! Our Essay Master List is a spreadsheet that displays the supplemental essay prompts, word limits, deadlines, and application types for each college, providing students with an organized way to view their scope of work. With this tool to help you stay organized, you’ll be ready to begin writing! Since an applicant login is required for these portals though, you may be the only person who can hold yourself accountable. Check your portals frequently and stay up to date.

If an application seems to have no additional essay requirements, make an effort to submit it early. Most applicant portals take a few days to be set up, so you will want to send in your applications with plenty of time for the portal to be updated – if you can, do so early enough that you could still write and revise a supplemental essay if it pops up in the portal after submission!

Honors colleges and scholarships, in particular, tend to keep applications within their portals, so keep your eye out for any additional expectations they may have for you.

In the past, students who waited until the last minute to submit their applications have encountered several additional requirements that were impossible to complete within the short time they had left, making all the work they’d already done for the school inconsequential. This doesn’t need to be you!

You shouldn’t worry too much though, since the number of schools switching to this style of application is still small. A move like this is much riskier for mid-tiered schools and public universities than it is for schools like Georgetown and USC, since students aiming for elite schools are often willing to jump through as many hoops as necessary for a chance at admission.

Regardless of where you apply, you don’t want to be a casual applicant! The switch to personalized portals might even be a tiny advantage for more dedicated applicants – if you check in on your applications often and stay on top of your inbox, these ‘hidden’ essays are just another way to show you’ve maintained interest in the schools you’re applying to!

If you’re worried about your supplemental essays , reach out to us today!

Sources:

Common App. Common Application Fraud Policy . Common App, www.commonapp.org/fraud-policy .

Jaschik, Scott. “What the Common App Does.” Inside Higher Ed , 25 Aug. 2019, www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2019/08/26/study-finds-generally-positive-impact-common-application .

Barnard, Brennan. “AI and College Admission: Don’t Autocomplete Your Application.” Forbes , 1 Aug. 2023, www.forbes.com/sites/brennanbarnard/2023/08/01/ai-and-college-admission-dont-autocomplete-your-application/ .

Brainstorming for College Essays

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 17:46:15 GMT

How to start your personal statement

At Admission Ignition, we start each essay coaching package with a comprehensive 2-hour brainstorming session. Why? Because finding the right topic for your personal statement is the seed from which the rest of the essay grows. Picking a common or cliche topic could cause you to start over later in the year, resulting in time pressure and stress.

Ahead of this crucial session, we share a packet filled with brainstorming materials for students to fill out, including asking them what they want colleges to know about them and recent developments in the last two years. We also ask thought-provoking questions from “What is one topic that you are SO excited about that it's annoying to others?” to “When did you feel the most alive?”

You never know what could lead to a unique essay. As we’ve mentioned in previous blogs , not all students have a significant challenge they can write about. Sometimes this leaves students feeling stumped. However, something as small as a love of board games could become a metaphor for the student’s approach to life, including strategizing for success and dealing with setbacks. For example, building hotels in Monopoly might relate to building a service project from the ground up.

Here are some more questions to consider:

Do you collect things? Why? What does each item represent? (Avoid talking about sneaker collections or skin care items. These topics have become common in recent years.)
How have you grown in the past four years? What factors played into this growth? Are there any specific projects or people that helped you? (Remember: just don’t focus your essay on how great the person is! This essay should still be about you.)
What are your core values? What anecdotes relate to these values?
What’s your favorite pastime outside of athletics? Why?
What are some unique family traditions?

Think you’ve got nothing to say? This is NEVER the case. Every student has something unique to share , they just need the right lens through which to see themselves. Starting early is key to the college essay process because you don’t want to rush the brainstorming phase; it is likely the most important part of your essay journey.

Want help determining the perfect topic for you? Let us help your seed grow! Contact us to learn more.

How to Write a Thesis

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 19:27:10 GMT

Crafting an argument

The word “thesis” can seem confusing or hard to understand, so let’s look at some other terms that mean the same thing: “the main idea,” “the argument,” and “ the point.”

It is a sentence that consists of the topic of the essay and the writer's claim about the topic that will be proven throughout the essay. A good thesis statement will direct the structure of your essay and will allow your reader to understand the ideas or major points you will discuss within your paper.

My favorite way to think about a thesis is to think of it as THE ARGUMENT . When we argue with someone, it is because we disagree on something. One person may believe the bus is the fastest way to get home from school, while another might believe that taking their bikes would be the quickest. They each have a point, and they are trying to get someone else to agree with them.

Now, you might think that getting someone else to agree with you is a good way to figure out if a statement is a thesis statement . And you’re not wrong! However, what can be even more helpful is to ask yourself if someone could DISAGREE with you/ your statement.

Let’s look at a very simple and silly example of how we can build and test a thesis.

Here is a statement:

“Pants have two legs.”

Ask yourself: Can someone other than the person who wrote this statement agree with it? YES! I certainly do. This statement tells us a fact.
Ask yourself: Can someone DISAGREE with this statement? NO. And so it cannot be an argument, aka a thesis.

Here’s another statement:

“Pants are better than skirts.”

Can someone disagree with this statement? YES. Some people might agree with the writer, but some people might say: “Skirts are better than pants!” or even “Shorts are better than any other bottoms.”
So this is an ARGUMENT! Is it a very good, complex, or helpful one for a paper? Not really.

How could we make this argument into a better thesis? (Assuming your teacher wanted you to write an argumentative essay on pants…)

“Pants are better than skirts because they offer freedom of movement, they can be worn in multiple climates, and their pockets help you carry things.”

This argument has a topic (clothing/pants), a claim (are better than skirts), and main points (pants offer freedom of movement, pants can be worn in multiple climates, and pants have pockets that let you carry things). Further, now we know what to expect in the rest of the paper – we can even tell how the rest of the paper will be structured.

This thesis includes three main points, but not all thesis statements need to have points listed like this. Here’s an example of how we could revise the pants thesis differently and for a higher level:

“As even clothing can be a reflection of society, pants are more versatile than skirts because they were designed to be worn by men, who were more physically and socially mobile than women.”

Now, it's your turn! Try using some of these sentence starters to get going:

_________________________because/therefore/as_________________________

_________________________because/therefore/as ________, ________, and _________

_________________________is right/wrong/problematic/worrisome/helpful because ________________________

Even though ___________________________, it is actually good/bad/right/wrong because __________________________

Still feeling stuck? Contact us for more help.

Should you go wide or deep when writing?

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 20:14:01 GMT

Writing a successful college essay: Two Structures to Consider

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Where Our Students Have Been Accepted So Far!

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 20:34:12 GMT

Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, The University of Michigan, and More!

We are so proud of our students' and the hard work they put into the essay process with us. Wonder how Admission Ignition students did this application cycle? Here are some of the places they've been accepted so far!

American University

Boston College

Clemson University

Drexel University

Elon University

Florida International University

Florida State University

Fordham University

Georgia Institute of Technology

Indiana University

Ithaca College

Lafayette College

Loyola University Chicago

North Carolina State University

Northeastern University

Parsons

Penn State University

Purdue University

Rutgers University

Syracuse University

Texas A&M University

The Ohio State University

The University of Alabama

The University of Central Florida

The University of Colorado Boulder

The University of Denver

The University of Florida

The University of Georgia

The University of Maryland

The University of Miami

The University of Michigan

The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

The University of Pittsburgh

The University of Virginia

Tulane University

Vanderbilt University

Villanova University

Yeshiva University

Are any of these colleges on your list? Would you like to learn more about our services and how we help students write supplemental essays that many of these institutions ask for? Reach out to us today.

How to Prepare for Senior Year

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 16:47:54 GMT

Get Involved!

Juniors, what can you do now that will set you up for success in the future? Our advice to students at the beginning of junior year is to involve themselves in meaningful activities .

Not only do Admissions Officers love to accept multifaceted students, but diversifying and adding to your activities now will give you more to write about for many of the supplemental essays. A supplemental essay is a shorter essay required by individual schools based on what they want to know about applicants . They are the most thought-provoking and time-consuming part of the college application process!

Remember: Beware of writing about athletics. This is a very cliche topic and should be avoided. Your athletic accomplishments matter but are best expressed in the Activity Section rather than an essay.

Do you love to bake? Have you ever considered turning your passion into a business? Colleges admire initiative , which is a great opportunity for students who have started their own businesses, service projects, and nonprofits to shine. Not sure if you’re ready to be a business owner – consider, could you collaborate with a local charity serving those experiencing food scarcity?

If you have a passion for medicine and want to learn more about the medical field, try shadowing different types of doctors. This will not only help you find a path forward but also demonstrate your dedication and curiosity to a potential college.

Interestingly, some students think a part-time job doesn’t look impressive to colleges – but they’d be wrong! Colleges love students who work. One of our past students even highlighted her teamwork, quick thinking, and resilience by sharing an anecdote from her job as a barista in her personal statement. She was accepted to her first-choice school!

However, we don’t mean to suggest that you should join everything and anything in an effort to boost your resume and strengthen your essays. Your decisions should be guided by your passions, curiosity, and any future goals. Piling up on externships you don’t really care about won’t help you as much as taking part in one activity that will allow you to make a true IMPACT.

Here are some supplemental prompts from 2024 that allow students to use their extracurricular experiences and community involvement as subject matter:

Activity essay: University of Florida: Please provide more details on your most meaningful commitment outside of the classroom while in high school and explain why it was meaningful. This could be related to an extracurricular activity, work, volunteering, an academic activity, family responsibility, or any other non-classroom activity.

Community essay: University of Michigan: Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it.

Why Major essay: Carnegie Mellon: Most students choose their intended major or area of study based on a passion or inspiration that’s developed over time – what passion or inspiration led you to choose this area of study?

Want to differentiate yourself from other students? Start thinking about what type of activities you can add to your schedule now.

Use Values in Your Personal Statement

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 15:45:57 GMT

Values are the Currency of College Essays

Have you ever considered what your values are? This might mean what you value (family) or be understood as character traits you’d use to describe yourself (determined or resilient). Discovering your top values (or at least the ones you’d want colleges to know about you) is crucial to writing your college essays.

Are you proud of your creativity, curiosity, and loyalty ? Do you admire philanthropy and service? Are you invested in saving the environment? If so, these are your values, and they belong in your essays. Your personal statement should showcase at least four different values.

Remember: Correctly conveying your values will communicate what you can bring to a college as a future student. They help you “sell” yourself to the Admissions Officers.

Consider: If it were up to you, wouldn’t you like to have a persistent, open-minded student who has learned the importance of teamwork attend your college? How about a committed friend who thinks outside the box? Sounds good, right? Well, you need to start thinking about what kind of student you want them to see when they read your essay.

However, by setting this goal, we don’t mean you should litter your essay with sentences like, “I am a loyal person.” “My strongest value is my faith.” In these cases, you would be TELLING rather than SHOWING.

Showing: Uses strong verbs, sensory details (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch), body language, and dialogue to immerse the reader in the scene.

Telling: Offers a straightforward explanation of events, often using adverbs and adjectives to name emotions without showing them through actions.

So, how do you SHOW your values? By using anecdotes and specifics ! Share a particular story that demonstrates your value or why and how you developed it.

Start the essay writing process by deciding on your top ten values. Then narrow those down to your top five, then your top three, and then your number one.

Next, you might ask yourself why creativity is important to you. Is it because drawing your own comics helps you process complex situations? Did you feel pressure to become a doctor, so you took solace in writing songs? Give an example of this in your essay. Site a particular drawing or song and the circumstances surrounding it using detail.

Do you have several different examples that all demonstrate one central value? This value could be a great connecting thread or theme of your essay overall.

No matter what, values are an essential part of brainstorming for and writing a personal statement. Need help deciding which values to highlight or how to show rather than tell?

College Visits

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 17:46:45 GMT

Ready to take a tour?

Love college visits? We do!

Over the past month, Becca has had the opportunity to visit two very different but equally fascinating campuses: the College of Charleston and NYU .

At Admission Ignition, we love to go on campus tours and attend information sessions to get a feel for the schools and share our experiences with our students.

In addition to soaking up some beautiful sights, we pick up some great intel, like NYU prides itself on being a "campus without borders," encouraging its students to make the most of the city and its many global opportunities. Did you know that NYU has campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai? How about the fact that they have an enormous international student population? The school cares so much about diversity of thought; in fact, if you don’t select a roommate freshman year, the school will pair you with someone from a completely different region and background to encourage bonding, shared knowledge, and widening of perspectives.

Additionally, last year, Leah had some productive tours at Babson and Boston College , picking up her own helpful insights, Babson works on integrating entrepreneurship into every class. Further, as evinced by the sculpture of a globe central to campus, the college stresses the importance of an international and diverse community. Babson considers itself a global institution. These details are important information for tackling the “Why Babson” essay.

You’ll also want to know that BC's Jesuit values of serving the common good and becoming men and women for others are central to its identity. This information is crucial to remember when students approach their BC supplements.

Have you been on any campus tours lately? What did you learn? (Remembering what sticks out to you can be a huge help in future supplements.) Let us know!

Juniors, do you want access to our expertise? Reach out today to learn about our Class of 2026 packages.

How to write a Letter of Continued Interest

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 17:00:05 GMT

Have you been deferred? Read this!

If you’ve been deferred, did you know that you may be able to send a letter of continued interest (LOCI) ? A LOCI will communicate your continued desire to attend colleges that defer you to the regular decision round. You can send it to an admission office following the basic rules below. (**Not all schools accept these, so check your decision letter before sitting down to write.)

Ready to start? Follow these guidelines for a successful LOCI:

Acknowledge that you applied and were deferred. However, you want to keep the tone positive and reinforce your desire to attend the college. If the school is your top choice, say so and express that you would DEFINITELY attend if accepted.
Thank them for reevaluating/reviewing your materials.
Explain anything new that has happened academically or extracurricularly since applying. Have you improved your grades or scores? Have you started a new role in a club? Run a fundraiser? Even win an important game? This is your time to share!
Have you visited the institution since applying? Share that here. Focus on anything that particularly stood out to you. Be specific and enthusiastic.
Now add a small “Why Us” section . Why do you want to attend the school? Because of their mission statement? Flexible curriculum? The chance to take X course or join Y club? Let them know here. (If you have already submitted a “Why Us” supplement to the school, use new details here.)
Thank them again for their consideration and sign-off.

Not sure if your LOCI is hitting the mark? We can help. Reach out to us today!

How to write an essay about the Scarlet Letter

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 17:58:31 GMT

Need Help with English Class?

Have you ever wondered how to write an essay about The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne? How about Frankenstein by Mary Shelley? Passing by Nella Larson? “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka? Maybe The Odyssey by Homer or Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Othello ? We can help!

Our writing coach, Becca, is prepared to support high school students enrolled in Honors English, AP Language and Composition, AP Literature, British Literature, American Literature, and more.

Not only can she offer advice on catchy introductions, argumentative theses, effective organization, and correct conclusions, but she also helps students develop the critical thinking needed to dissect themes, analyze quotes, and explain the reason behind an author’s use of literary devices.

For The Scarlet Letter , for example, Becca suggests beginning with themes.

Consider the theme of gender : How does Hester’s situation as a woman differ from Dimmesdale’s? Speaking of Dimmesdale, another central theme in the story is guilt . His character is riddled with it. Why? Ponder: What does his private self-harm show about the hypocrisy of Puritan society?

You might also investigate these themes:

Personal and public truth: What is Hester’s story? How does this relate to the town’s narrative of her? Hester acknowledges her “mistake” openly in a manner that combines personal and public truth.
Nature: In several ways, Pearl embodies the theme of wilderness against civilization. How? What does Hawthorne use the brook scene to achieve? Is it effective?

Further, when it comes to Hawthorne’s novel, Becca stresses the importance of being aware of the core symbols:

The scarlet “A” itself: This one may seem obvious, but its meaning evolves through the novel to include Hester’s ability to overcome ridicule and other’s opinions about her.
Pearl: As noted above, she represents wilderness and is also a living embodiment of “sin.”
The meteor: This symbol relates to revelations and truth.

And once you’ve done some deep thinking, it is time to write – something else she can help with. Unsure of how to start? Here’s Becca’s advice:

Your introduction should give some background about the novel. You might explain that the novel takes place in the 17th century and focuses on Hester Prynne, a woman forced to wear a scarlet “A” to make everyone in town aware of her sin of adultery.

Then , you’ll want to introduce any themes or literary devices you might be examining in your thesis. For example: “Hester’s “A” is not only a symbol of sin in the novel but also relates to her resilience and strength of self.”

Finally, you’ll land on a thesis statement: “Overall, Hawthorne uses her letter as a symbol of growth throughout the novel as he investigates themes of gender, sin, and personal and public truth.”

Recognizing themes and literary devices is crucial for a successful essay, as are argument and structure. Feeling stuck when it comes to syntax ? Can’t understand what diction really looks like in a text? Unsure how to structure your thesis ? Stuck on how to make your ideas flow ? These are all understandable struggles and ones we’re ready to tackle.

Let Becca help you improve your understanding and up-level your grades. Reach out today for help with your English papers!

We're Still Accepting New Students

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 15:38:26 GMT

Meet Regular Decision, Scholarship, And Honors Deadlines!

We're entering the final month and a half before Regular Decision deadlines -- are you still working on your essays? Wondering if they're strong enough to make an impact? Let us help.

Tulane accepted just 15% of Regular Decision applicants, while Boston University only took 9%, and Duke accepted 7%. The stakes are high, and you deserve the best chance at success. Want to know if you're on the right track? Hoping to finish your essays before winter break? We suggest aiming for this goal so you can have a stress-free holiday season.

We now have new openings for:

One-on-One Coaching

We're offering our 5, 10, and 15-hour packages, which include one-on-one Zoom meetings and an essay master list to students who need more support
Don't need a full package? No problem! Sign up for hourly Zoom sessions to meet an individual student's specific brainstorming or polishing needs
Hours can be used for regular decision essays, scholarship and honors college essays, and even letters of continued interest if students are deferred

Comprehensive Remote Editing

We offer a discounted 5-hour remote editing package for students who want more extensive personal feedback but don't need face-to-face interaction
Our hourly rate applies to remote editing, too! Get remote editing for one or several essays as needed. Want a final polish or grammar sweep? Need feedback on content choices? Organization?
Hours can be used for regular decision essays, scholarship and honors essays, and even letters of continued interest if students are deferred

Due to our waitlist and the time crunch, we only have a limited number of spots, so reach out to us today!

The Why Us Essay

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 14:55:59 GMT

How to tackle this SUPER topic

Consider: what makes your dream school your dream school? The “Why Us?” essay wants you to articulate it clearly.

The “Why Us?” essay is what we call a super topic— a supplemental essay required by many institutions. In the prompt, students are asked to explain why they are interested in attending the college to which they are applying.

Schools that have required this essay in the past include : American University, Babson College, Barnard College, Boston University, Chapman University, Colorado College, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Davidson College, Duke University, Georgetown University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Lafayette College, Northwestern University, Southern Methodist University, Tulane University, Tufts University, Texas Christian University, University of Central Florida, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Southern California, University of Pennsylvania, University of Wisconsin, Villanova University, and Wake Forest University.

So how do you write a successful “Why Us?” essay? As you may have noticed, we’re fans of teaching through metaphor when appropriate. Here’s a metaphor we use to explain the “philosophy” behind answering “Why Us?” prompts.

Imagine that the college is someone you want to date. If you are trying to convince your paramour that you really like them, simply saying that they’re “nice,” might not be all that convincing. However, if you said you admire the patience they show when volunteering with children in a shared service project, you show that you like them for THEM. The difference? You’ve given a specific detail .

In the “Why Us?” essay, schools want to learn why you want to attend their institution SPECIFICALLY . Students should avoid generalizations like commending “amazing professors.” Instead, they should research faculty and share their desire to “take classes with Professor Bishop because of her research in child development.”

More convincing, right? Students should also reference school-specific classes, research opportunities, clubs, career resources, and so on.

Schools are selfish, too—they want to protect their yield (percentage of admitted students who enroll). Including these details helps to convince colleges that the student would be likely to commit to their institution. That’s the goal!

Thoughtfully utilizing specifics learned through research helps students stand out among applications that rely on generalizations and regurgitated ratings. Returning to our metaphor, think of the dynamics of The Bachelor. On this TV program, nearly 30 women vie for the love of one man.

Similarly, there are many students all vying for limited spots at popular universities. For example, for the class of 2028, Boston College’s acceptance rate was 14.70%, Duke University’s was 5.15%, and NYU’s was 8%.

So, be the girl who rides up in a shark costume. Use specifics. Stand out!

Want more advice about the “Why Us?” essay, contact us!

We Offer School Presentations

Thu, 09 May 2024 16:57:19 GMT

Learn about how we work!

Admission Ignition is proud to offer school presentations. One of our favorite parts of the job is working with school administrators, teachers, and students directly (in person and on Zoom).

We recently created a new, comprehensive four-phase program and upleveled individualized plans, using an interactive PowerPoint and a set of thematic handouts to meet the needs of our collaborators. As part of the program, we have also included one-on-one conferences with students to offer real-time feedback on topic selection and help outline concepts.

This phase has proved crucial to the process in terms of developing (and sometimes discarding) essay topics. Picking the right topic is the seed from which the rest of a successful essay grows, and this phase helps us ensure students have a strong crop to harvest.

Why is this important?

Working with students in the spring of their junior year is essential to setting them on the right path.

Often, teachers assign an essay draft in the final months of the academic year. It is a great idea, but students often feel rushed. Without knowing where to start or what standards they need to meet, many students don’t take advantage of this opportunity and simply write something to get the assignment “done.” The number of students we’ve worked with who communicate this sentiment is too many to count!

Admission Ignition’s brainstorming presentations and conferences can help students brainstorm and execute more thoughtful drafts that prove useful long after the assignment is due. Our revision presentations can then help students improve their first drafts, all before finals. This helps ensure that students won’t be bogged down with extra work in the fall of senior year, aka crunch time.

So, what do these phases look like?

PHASE 1: Unlike the traditional English essay, the personal statement requires a different skill set. In this workshop, through an interactive and engaging presentation, participants will learn the purpose of the personal statement and cliché topics to avoid. After reviewing the key ingredients of successful college essays, participants will read sample college essays and evaluate them using these criteria in a group discussion. Then, the facilitator will guide students through brainstorming exercises to help them determine a topic, making a daunting first step feel more approachable.

PHASE 2: Students will engage in conferences with Admission Ignition essay coaches. Teachers or counselors can observe the conferences.

PHASE 3: After students have written a rough draft of their essays, this workshop will help them take their drafts to the next level by encouraging them to revise their essays through specific descriptive writing techniques, transition tips, and word-cutting strategies. It also includes a revision checklist to help students assess their revision process and the readiness of a draft.

PHASE 4: These sessions will introduce common supplemental essay topics (Activity, Identity, and Why Us) and techniques to master them.

Do schools need to use all phases to work with Admission Ignition?

No! We can and will customize our presentations regarding duration and subject matter, focusing on the goals each school sets for its students.

Are you a school counselor looking to work with essay coaching experts? Contact us to discuss details!

The Joy of Overwriting

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 14:33:05 GMT

Metaphors For the Essay Writing Process

The Common App personal statement has a word limit of 650 , which is around a page and a quarter single-spaced. For some students, this seems unapproachably long; for others, it is surprisingly short. However, either way, focusing on word count can trip a student up, at least at first.

When it comes to writing a first (and second!) draft of their essay, we recommend that students embrace overwriting . Though it may seem like a setback, having a lot of material is significantly more helpful to the process than less. Adding new writing is generative and, therefore, harder, whereas cutting can be easy (or at least quick)—especially with assistance from a writing coach.

Consider:

How will the student know what the best part of their story is if they never write it down for fear that their draft is getting too long?

What do they risk by holding back on specific details, more extended anecdotes, or figurative language?

Likewise, how will they know which section of their essay isn’t strong enough if they don’t have all the options to choose from?

We have a few metaphors used to explain this to students:

The first is to think of a sculptor (the student). It is better for him to start his process with a large block of clay (long draft). Then, he can make significant cuts and has more space to play with how he shapes the piece leading up to the final design. If the same sculptor were to start his piece with less clay (shorter, less detailed draft), his process would be harder; the cuts couldn’t be as free, and he’d have to take more time to make sure that each move was meticulous from the start. If he has to incorporate more clay later, he will have to add slip (a pottery binding agent) and spend more time making the addition appear seamless. Starting with more writing makes reaching the desired end result easier and the process more creatively fulfilling.

The second is to think of two friends at a buffet . One friend (the student) offers to make another a plate based on what they think their friend (the essay coach) would like to eat. However, the friend (coach) will respond that they’d like to see the whole buffet (long draft) with all the options and then pick what they want to make the tastiest plate (strongest essay). Coaches want to see the buffet of content options before helping students decide which combinations will work best.

Students shouldn’t try to predict what the coach wants; at the beginning of the process, they should provide as much writing as possible— but try to keep the first draft under 1000 words!

Want more tips? Follow us on Instagram or contact us today!

Stress and College Admissions

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 14:42:41 GMT

We All Know the Admission Process Can Be Stressful

Application Inflation Continued – College Applications Jumped 12% For The Class of 2024

The college application process seems like it gets more stressful every year as the competition between applicants becomes even steeper. Recent data from Common App revealed that college applications have jumped 12% for the class of 2024 thus far. Let’s look at some stats supplied by CollegeMatchPoint to get a clearer picture of the situation students (and their families, counselors, and coaches) are facing.

This year, Duke received 6,240 Early Decision applicants , over 1,000 more than any previous Early Decision round, representing a 28% increase from 2022 and bringing the acceptance rate to a record low of 12.9% .

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville experienced record growth in undergraduate first-year applications and the most competitive applicant pool in their 229-year history.

We also know that Early applications grew 18% at Dartmouth, 13% at Williams, and 6% at Rice and MIT .

According to the Princeton Review's 2023 "College Hopes & Worries Survey," the top 10 schools named as "dream" colleges were:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University (CA)
Harvard College (MA)
New York University
University of California—Los Angeles
Princeton University (NJ)
University of Pennsylvania
Columbia University (NY)
University of Michigan
University of Texas—Austin

This proves that competition will continue to be a near given when it comes to first-choice and reach schools. By applying to many of the same institutions, students put themselves among a strong and ever-growing pool of their peers.

Understandably, these conditions lead to a lot of stress . Among respondents to the Princeton Review survey, 72% reported "Very High" or “High” stress about the application process. More students (73%) than parents (69%) reported such stress.

While we can’t change the stats regarding the growing number of applicants and stiff competition, at Admission Ignition, we CAN help students mediate the stress of the process . Our essay timeline helps students tackle their essays, which many believe carry more and more weight in the process, in a timely fashion designed to allow students to have a stress-free senior fall.

Getting to experience important milestones like attending the final homecoming game without worrying about heading home to work on applications is crucial to keeping students' stress levels down. Remember, the supplemental essays are the most time-consuming part of the application process and what most students leave for last, starting as late as October and resulting in many late nights leading up to the Early application deadlines. Our students have a helping hand and schedule to conquer these essays without sacrificing their mental wellness.

Let us help reduce your student’s stress this application season.

Reach out to us with questions today!

Sources:

The Princeton Review 2023 "College Hopes & Worries Survey"

College MatchPoint

The Identity Essay and Affirmative Action

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 22:33:09 GMT

Connecting Affirmative Action and Prompts

On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court ended Affirmative Action.

As explained by Investopedia, " Affirmative Action refers to a policy aimed at increasing workplace and educational opportunities for people who are underrepresented in various areas of our society. It focuses on demographics with historically low representation in leadership and professional roles. It is often considered a means of countering discrimination against particular groups."

The essays remain one of the only places students may discuss their identity in terms of race and ethnicity. However, this, too, comes with guidelines and concerns.

Of the ruling, Chief Justice Roberts said:

“Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise . ... A benefit to a student who overcame racial discrimination, for example, must be tied to that student’s courage and determination . Or a benefit to a student whose heritage or culture motivated him or her to assume a leadership role or attain a particular goal must be tied to that student’s unique ability to contribute to the university . In other words, the student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual — not on the basis of race. ”

So what does this mean? As Chief Justice Roberts articulated, students may mention their race, ethnicity, etc. , not as a characteristic that stands alone but in so much as it relates to experiences had, values (such as courage and determination, as he cited above) developed, and skills earned. All in all, how a student identifies should be mentioned and considered based on how the student's identity has shaped them as an individual , not as part of group.

Consider how sharing a student’s race, ethnicity, etc. in an essay relates to or demonstrates unique characteristics that will make them an asset to a campus.

It is interesting to note how this decision impacted colleges’ writing prompts. BU, for example, added an identity-related supplement as an additional option to their "Why Us?" essay this year. In fact, some of the terminology that Chief Justice Roberts used has made a direct impact on the language of supplemental prompts in 2023.

From UM:

Located within one of the most dynamic cities in the world, the University of Miami is a distinctive community with a variety of cultures, traditions, histories, languages, and backgrounds. The University of Miami is a values-based and purpose-driven postsecondary institution that embraces diversity and inclusivity in all its forms and strives to create a culture of belonging, where every person feels valued and has an opportunity to contribute.

Please describe how your unique experiences, challenges overcome, or skills acquired would contribute to our distinctive University community .

From Wake Forest:

Dr. Maya Angelou, renowned author, poet, civil-rights activist, and former Wake Forest University Reynolds Professor of American Studies, inspired others to celebrate their identities and to honor each person’s dignity . Choose one of Dr. Angelou’s powerful quotes. How does this quote relate to your lived experience or reflect how you plan to contribute to the Wake Forest community?

These prompts, like Roberts' statement, stress students’ lived experiences, challenges, skills, and contributions. Beyond racial and ethnic identity, these prompts also provide opportunities for students to share stories of health conditions, service work, or involvement in extracurricular groups on everything from gender rights to AI and crochet.

Still, some questions remain: Will mentioning race (et. al) negatively impact a student's application now that the provisions set by Affirmative Action are no longer in place? Are colleges looking for students to use this essay "loophole" to help them maintain diversity on campus? In essence, should a student lean into or shy away from mentioning their racial, ethnic or other aspect of their identity in admissions essays?

We don't have definitive answers to these and might not receive clarification from colleges in the coming months — BUT we believe students should decide if and how they want to describe their identity in their essays.

Did sharing a cafecito with a Cuban grandmother teach the student the value of family and tradition? Has facing discrimination at school due to skin color led to resilience and self-assurance? We think colleges should know!

What do you think of the recent decision? What topics do you think are appropriate for Identity essays?

AI and College Admissions

Tue, 16 Jan 2024 17:43:06 GMT

AI is here to stay, so what does that mean for us?

“It is important for people to understand that AIs are nothing more than a tool. Like any other tool, it is neither intrinsically good nor bad. It is solely what we choose to do with it. I believe that we can do extraordinarily positive things with AIs."

– Daniela L. Rus (first woman to lead MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL))

“It’s bad enough stealing content, but with ChatGPT you’re not even stealing from a real person.”

– Toby Reed, Senior at Fremont High in Oakland

We wrote a previous blog exploring concerns about ChatGPT and the college essay process, but in this changing landscape, there is always more to consider.

AI and Students

Starting with students, here is a hopeful statistic. A December 2023 survey by ACT found that only 10% of students considered using AI to write their college admissions essays. However, more students reported using AI when it comes to their supplements.

Given this, it will be necessary for college essay coaches and other advisors to check their facts, as AI generators can sometimes take liberties when coming up with course names or mission statement quotes. Further, they should take extra time to explain why making supplemental essays unique is essential to creating a holistically impressive and cohesive application.

When ranking the reasons they WOULD use AI on their college application essays, students listed:

Essay grammar and sentence composition
Idea generation
Essay structure
Convenience

Assessing what type of student writer (Average → Advanced) they are working with at the beginning of the process can help parents and essay experts navigate these with them.

AI and Colleges

When it comes to the other side of the equation regarding admissions officers' policies on AI and their own AI usage, there are a few key points students, parents, and coaches might find helpful to remember.

First, when scanning applications for AI usage by students, things can get hairy fast. One scholar in a Wired article noted that even a 1% rate of false-positives is problematic because that means for every 1,000 essays, 10 students could be accused of an academic "crime" they didn’t commit! Common App’s CEO, Jenny Rickarr, reminded us that if Common App concludes that a student plagiarized, then that student’s account may be terminated, and Common App will notify the campuses to which the student applied.

A September 2023 survey found that 50% of admission offices now use AI, with 80% projected to adopt AI tools this year. However, they aren’t just using AI to detect student “plagiarism."

As a College MatchPoint survey revealed, while only 13% of counselors surveyed noticed AI-generated content in student essays and applications in the most recent application season, 69% anticipate extensive future usage by colleges for screening and evaluation.

Building on this stat, the most worrisome information from a recent College MatchPoint webinar is that colleges admit they have begun using AI for “first reads” or “final reads” of student applications. This is likely intended to help weed out those students who don’t meet their quantitative standards. While this might involve screening for test scores and accolades rather than essays, it is important to remember this tidbit as AI capabilities continue to expand.

AI isn’t going anywhere so learning how to use it ethically AS WELL AS effectively defend against its use as an assessment tool by colleges will be crucial in the coming years.

Sources:

“8 in 10 Colleges Will Use AI in Admissions by 2024.” Intelligent, 27 Oct. 2023, www.intelligent.com/8-in-10-colleges-will-use-ai-in-admissions-by-2024/.

Beam, Christopher. “The Ai Detection Arms Race Is On-and College Students Are Building the Weapons.” Wired, Conde Nast, 14 Sept. 2023, www.wired.com/story/ai-detection-chat-gpt-college-students/.

College MatchPoint

Jones, Carolyn, and Mikhail Zinshteyn. “College Application Season Is Here. so Is the Struggle to Find out If AI Wrote Students’ Essays.” CalMatters, 12 Oct. 2023, calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2023/10/college-application-essays/.

Schiel, Jeff, et al. ACT Research, pp. 1–38, High School Students’ Use and Impressions of AI Tools .

Becca is an American Literature Expert!

Tue, 16 Jan 2024 15:02:12 GMT

Want to Improve your student's English grade?

At Admission Ignition, we believe that confidence in your writing abilities can make all the difference in both school and life! There’s no one RIGHT way to WRITE, but there’s always room to improve . While we are proud to help students with their application essays, we also love offering writing and reading comprehension support to students year-round!

Let our unique skillsets help your child shine in their English and History classes.

Did you know our Brooklyn-based Writing Coach, Becca Webb, has a degree in American Literature ? Her senior thesis compared three texts: a slave narrative, a novella from the Harlem Renaissance, and Toni Morrison's novel Sula . She then pursued a master's focusing on Edgar Allan Poe's writings. Becca has experience studying Hawthorne and Melville ; transcendental authors like Emerson and Thoreau (did you know his mom brought him cookies at Waldon Pond?); poets like Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman ; Ernest Hemingway , F. Scott Fitzgerald , and Kate Chopin , among others.

These topics are relevant to Miami schools' curriculums. Ransom Everglades sophomores are taking American Literary Movements, while Gulliver Prep students take American Literature – not to mention college requirements for English credits. Outside of this, schools nationwide integrate American Literature into 10th, 11th, and 12th grade curriculums.

Looking to help your student master the material and thrive in the future? – Becca is available for Zoom sessions!

The College Essay Marathon

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 15:42:05 GMT

A metaphor for the class of 2025...

As this college essay season comes to a close, another is gearing up for Spring. With this in mind, we wanted to share a helpful metaphor for the Class of 2025.

We often relate working with an essay coach to working with a fitness trainer. The more work you do between sessions, the faster you will meet your goals and the stronger your essays will be.

And the college essay process is a lot like running a marathon.

If you start training in September for a November marathon, the chances are you won’t have the level of stamina that might have been achieved had you started training earlier. Runners who start training in the Spring or Summer will have you beat! The same is true for college essay writing. Students who start the process earlier in the year will have more time to perfect their essays, leading to more successful results . Rather than rushing to the finish, they will not have to tire themselves out to get their personal best time.

When it comes to marathons, even if someone is really athletic, they won’t hit their full potential if they start training late . While the athletic runners may do well , they won’t perform as well as they could have had they started training earlier. Combining training and natural skills would have given them an edge – one they lose due to lack of practice. In fact, some runners who are less naturally gifted but trained longer and harder might even beat a more athletic runner’s time.

When intelligent students with good writing skills set themselves up to fall short – it’s a shame. Just like the runners, students should put their best foot forward. No matter how smart the student, an essay crafted hastily a week before the deadline won’t meet the standards skilled students are capable of. Starting the essay writing process early in the year benefits both average and advanced students alike!

So, as parents and students plan for the year ahead – remember to start training in the Spring and Summer for success in November.

Want to get your best time? Reach out to us on our contact page today!

It's Regular Decision Time!

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 19:57:32 GMT

So you finished Early Applications...

Last week marked the first major deadline of college application season, November 1st, when schools from Babson to the University of Michigan require you to submit your early action applications.

Congratulations! You made it through, and we’re rooting for you.

But for many of you, this isn’t the final finish line. If you didn’t apply early, or if you have schools on your list without an EA option, you’re probably turning to your regular decision apps.

Schools like Yale and Wake Forest, for example, require more than three supplemental essays, meaning you don’t want to put these applications off.

We can think of nothing worse than staying up until midnight on December 31st, not because you’re waiting for the ball to drop but because you’re still working on RD essays!

Help us help you – want to make sure your regular application essays are hitting the mark?

WE HAVE OPENINGS FOR ESSAY COACHING AND REMOTE REVIEWS.

Check out our services page . We’re still offering one-on-one coaching for those who need help brainstorming and structuring their essays, while our Personal Statement and Supplemental Reviews are perfect for students who want evaluations of and advice on nearly finished drafts.

With many of our current students wrapping up their early applications (we’re looking at you, November 15th deadlines ) , Admission Ignition coaches have availability to add current seniors to our schedules.

P.S. Did you know we also help students with SCHOLARSHIP essays? The below scholarships require written components.

Robertson Scholarship for UNC and Duke (Due 11/15)

Vanderbilt Ingram Scholars Program, Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholarship, and Chancellor's Scholarship (Due 12/1)

Tulane Academic, Leadership and Service Scholarships (Due 12/5)

Our College Essay Timeline

Fri, 12 May 2023 18:48:54 GMT

Start the process sooner rather than later

Most high school juniors know they need to start thinking about colleges. However, many are under the misconception that they don’t need to worry about their college application essays until the fall of senior year. While this might be true for the rare few, it is far from our recommended timeline .

We encourage students to begin brainstorming for their personal statement in the Spring of junior year. We know that hopping into college essays right after AP exams and finals feels like unnecessary work that could be put off, but starting now will actually save them time and stress when it counts – in the busy months of September and October – especially if the student is hoping to apply Early Decision or Early Action. Many ED/EA deadlines are on November 1st . Some, like UNC Chapel Hill, for example, have deadlines as early as October 15th !

The college essay process can be stressful, but it doesn't have to be! Let our timeline help you have the fall you deserve -- plus outstanding college essays you can be proud of. One of our primary goals at Admission Ignition is to give students a chance to enjoy their senior year of high school, avoiding stress and all-nighters.

Want enjoy homecoming? Reach out NOW.

We provide packages that help students from brainstorming to submission through essay strategy, remote editing, and thoughtful time management , depending on their desired level of support.

Hoping to see you this summer!

Are You Ready For College-Level Writing?

admission.ignition@gmail.com (AI Admin) — Wed, 10 May 2023 21:06:17 GMT

Why you might want to consider writing coaching this summer

It’s May, and senioritis has officially begun to set in. You’re ready to stop being a high school senior and start being a college freshman, right?

Well, let’s say WRITE?

Did you know founder Leah started Admission Ignition because she felt unprepared for college-level writing ? An A-student accepted to a prestigious university, she still found herself unable to write at the level expected of her. Sitting at a desk in Barnard’s writing center, Leah decided she didn’t want any other students to go through what she was experiencing. You can read more about it here .

The thing about college is that even if your major doesn’t seem like one where much writing is required, “much” isn’t ZERO. Many schools require a freshman seminar or course for all incoming first-years, and most institutions require credits in subjects like English Comp.

For example, UCF requires its students to complete four courses (twelve credit hours) of writing . Diving a little deeper, these writing courses:

Include the written component (a minimum of 4 written assignments) as a significant portion–at least 60% minimum–of the final grade.
Demonstrate substantial, developed writing through the inclusion of at least one multi-page writing assignment.
Integrate at least one writing assignment in which the students submit a revision in response to substantive teacher/grader feedback.

While working with a national tutoring company, Becca saw first-year college students struggling first-hand. And as a lector at the University of Chicago, she saw just how advanced (and equally challenging) undergraduate writing could be.

So, are you ready for college? The first year is full of new, challenging changes. We aim to take make your adjustment period more seamless by eliminating any worry about your writing skills.

We’re offering writing sessions all summer long. It may feel like more work now – but it will be less stressful later.

Brush up on your skills, fix any problem areas, and build your confidence this summer.

Send us an email if you’d like to learn more.

Chat GPT and College Essays

Fri, 05 May 2023 16:22:57 GMT

AI on AI

So, Chat GPT is here. Are essay coaches worried? Not quite.

To start, what is Chat GPT? The viral AI is described by Sindhu Sundar in their piece "If you still aren't sure what ChatGPT is, this is your guide to the viral chatbot that everyone is talking about" for Business Insider :

"Chat bots like GPT are powered by large amounts of data and computing techniques to make predictions to string words together in a meaningful way. They not only tap into a vast amount of vocabulary and information, but also understand words in context. This helps them mimic speech patterns while dispatching an encyclopedic knowledge."

Or, more simply from The Atlantic as:

"a large language model from OpenAI that automatically generates text from a prompt, to write it."

The critical thing here, at least as it relates to college essays, is that Chat GPT can mimic human speech but never truly mimic the human experience. The things we struggle to put words to, namely how we feel, are even more difficult for bots to figure out.

Chat GPT is producing well-written college essays, yes. But the consensus continues to be that these well-constructed essays are soulless.

After Beatrice Nolan for Business Insider sent off two Chat GPT-generated essays to experts in the tutoring field, they also found the writing to be hollow:

"Both Wong and Nguyen praised the grammar and structure of the essays and criticized the lack of personal experiences and unique feelings. Nguyen called the essays "over-predictable" and they both agreed the essays wouldn't have had a chance at any top universities. "

While the essays Chat GPT generates technically address the college essay prompts, they don't do the one thing that Admissions Officers have expressed to us as crucial.

Students: Admission Officers want to learn about YOU. Tell your story in a way that is unique to who YOU are.

If students choose a more common topic – that’s okay, but they should explain how an injury or trip affected them in a way it couldn’t affect anyone BUT them. How did they feel? What values did it make them realize?

If Chat GPT writes about a common topic, it will inevitably write about it in a common way. This lack of personal detail in writing will also cause problems for students as they attempt to write their supplemental essays. Why Us? prompts, for example, which ask students why they have chosen a specific institution, need details about both the school and the student to make the final essay sing. Saying that a school has 'a great psychology program with top professors' won't cut it.

As the technology develops, we will have to continue to see how it affects the college essay process, but, for now, AI fails to capture the spark that makes any given student stand out from the crowd. Will Chat GPT write a bad essay? No. But will it write a good personal statement? We don't think so, either.

Sources

Marche, Stephen. “The College Essay Is Dead.” The Atlantic, 16 Dec. 2022, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/chatgpt-ai-writing-college-student-essays/672371/.

“Read 2 College Admissions Essays Written by CHATGPT.” Business Insider, www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-read-ai-openai-college-admissions-essays2023-3?amp. Accessed 9 May 2023.

Sundar, Sindhu. “If You Still Aren’t Sure What Chatgpt Is, This Is Your Guide to the Viral Chatbot That Everyone Is Talking About.” Business Insider, www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chat-gpt-2023-1. Accessed 9 May 2023.

Helping Students Worldwide: From Israel to Brazil

Tue, 02 May 2023 18:58:02 GMT

Learning and growing without borders!

We want to acknowledge our amazing students living in different countries around the world. From elementary school to college and beyond -- did you know Admission Ignition has writing students in countries like Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Switzerland, Israel, the UK, and Austria?

While we help them with sentence structure, IB extended essays, and college applications, Becca and I love to learn about our students' local values, traditions, and foods, from arepas in Caracas to esquites in Mexico.

Students' often explore their nationalities and cultures as part of the college essay process with us. Colleges are interested in learning what makes a student unique -- and where they (or their families) are from plays a big part. Take this question from Notre Dame :

People in the Notre Dame community come from many different places, backgrounds, and walks of life. How is where you're from a part of who you are?

Or NYU 's new 2023 prompt:

NYU was founded on the belief that a student's identity should not dictate the ability for them to access higher education. That sense of opportunity for all students, of all backgrounds, remains a part of who we are today and a critical part of what makes us a world class university. Our community embraces diversity, in all its forms, as a cornerstone of the NYU experience.

We would like to better understand how your experiences would help us to shape and grow our diverse community.

Consider if you could write about your experiences, recipes, memories, etc., from your home country (or hometown!); how would you describe them? How have they shaped you or influenced how you plan to shape the world? These are questions we frequently ask our students and, as a consequence, consider ourselves.

As instructors, we often forget that we are also lifelong students, and our writing coaching helps to remind us of this fact. While language barriers, time zones, and wifi lags can be challenging, helping our students at critical moments in their educational careers has also been incredibly valuable for us. It is an honor to help our students hone their skills so they expertly share their unique stories (whether in the form of a personal statement, poetry paper, or cover letter ).

The American wordsmith Walt Whitman captures the joy found in expanding perspectives and taking in new spaces in his poem Song of the Open Road :

. . . I inhale great draughts of space;

The east and the west are mine, and the north and the south are mine.

I am larger, better than I thought;

I did not know I held so much goodness.

All seems beautiful to me;

I can repeat over to men and women, You have done such good to me,

I would do the same to you.

So, what do you think? Do his words ring true? Tell us, about the "goodness" your culture holds!

It's not you. It's them.

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 19:58:04 GMT

Ever Heard of IPs? Learn how institutional priorities affect Acceptances:

As regular decision notifications roll in, we wanted to share this informative and insightful blog post by Rick Clark, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Georgia Tech. Clark explains the importance of "IPs," or institutional priorities , in admission decisions. These priorities may include things like:

Raising their standardized test score average
Taking more students from a specific area of the country
Increasing enrollment for certain majors.

So, what’s the point? Students, if you are rejected from universities, do not take it personally. The tried-and-true rule we learned from our favorite romcoms applies here too: It's not you, it's them.

So parents and students, remember Clark’s words when you're logging into your admissions portal to open your decision:

"If you are denied from a selective college, my hope is you won’t question your academic ability or lose sleep trying to figure out what was ‘wrong’ with you or what you ‘could or should have done differently.’ IPs mean admission decisions do not translate to 'We don’t think you are smart' or 'You could not be successful here.'"

In other words, sometimes there’s nothing you can do, and that’s on them! We know you will be successful wherever you end up this fall!

AND if you would like to try to get off the waitlist, reach out to us to help you craft your letters of continued interest today!

Expert Tips For College Visits

Fri, 14 Apr 2023 19:58:02 GMT

Visiting colleges over Spring Break? Make the Most Of it!

Visiting a college campus in person can improve, change, or just further inform your impression of the school. Whether official or not, a college visit can also serve as great preparation for the supplemental essays students will have to write for individual institutions. A common supplemental essay topic is the Why Us? Essay , which relies heavily on unique details to stand out in a sea of essays claiming the school’s “welcoming atmosphere” and “high-level academics.” Colleges want to feel wanted too -- you wouldn't write a love letter filled with vague claims and unspecific details, so you shouldn't fill your Why Us? essay with them either.

To help you woo the college of your choice, try taking a notebook with you on any visit and jotting down details that make an impact ON YOU : whether that’s class size or style (Lecture hall? Small Socratic seminar?), events you see posted on bulletin boards, or names of admissions officers you speak with.

You can make the most of your college visits by:

1) PREPARING! Do your research. It will provide context and help you ask more thoughtful questions.

2) TAKING NOTES! Write down anything and everything that interests you on your visit including names of clubs, classes, research opportunities, etc.

3) SITTING IN! on a class that interests you or email the admissions office to see if you could visit office hours with a professor in your subject area.

4) GETTING CONTACT INFO! Obtain the contact info of your tour guide, regional admissions officer, and any current students you talk to.

5) LOOKING OUT! For bulletin boards, quad activities, campus cafes, and other student life details IRL.

But most of all -- enjoy these trips and go with your gut. Can you see yourself on campus? Why? What do you imagine that looking like? Where would you eat? Sit? Cheer? Dance? Study?

If you have a dream school, let your visit help you picture what that dream is about in more detail.

And juniors, if you’re sticking around this Spring Break, our books are filling up with strategy sessions. Reach out now to schedule and for more helpful college tips!

Writing for Graduate School Applications

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 19:56:29 GMT

So, you’re applying to graduate school . . .

Wondering how your personal statement might be different from the one you wrote for college admissions? Don’t worry— we’ve got you covered! Read on to learn more.

When applying for college, you (hopefully!) wrote an essay showcasing your values that gave admissions officers a glimpse of how you would contribute to their campus. These characteristics are still true of your personal statement for graduate school, but there is one crucial difference. In your personal statement for college, you could include stories or anecdotes about any topic such as eating Sunday night dinner with your family, restoring an old car with your dad, or running into a bear on a camping trip. However, when writing your personal statement for graduate school, the content of your anecdotes should be more specific: they should all relate to your chosen field of study. While your academic area of study doesn’t need to be clear in your admissions essay for college, graduate schools want to see your commitment to your chosen field through the experiences demonstrating your passion for it.

If you’re applying to medical school, you may want to include any clinical or volunteer experiences that illustrate your passion for medicine.

Did you read to a patient while volunteering at a pediatric hospital?

Did you shadow a physician and learn the importance of clear communication with the patient and their family?

Did you travel to an underdeveloped country and teach elderly patients how to manage high cholesterol?

Any of these valuable experiences would make great anecdotes!

In your personal statement for college admissions, you may have used creative writing techniques to hoo k the reader including dialogue and figurative language. This aspect of the admissions essay doesn’t change from college to graduate school. Descriptive, narrative-based writing will still make these admissions essays successful by helping your anecdotes pop. After all, the most succe ssful admissions essays tell a compelling story, so use narrative writing techniques to make yours stand out!

One way to approach the brainstorming process is to think about which values you want to highlight. If anecdotes don’t come to mind right away, working backwards might look like this: think about the values or characteristics that a person in your chosen field would exemplify and think of moments when you have demonstrated these characteristics! For example, you might think that empathy makes a psychologist successful.

Can you remember a moment when you showed empathy for another person, and it made a difference in their life?

Being detail-oriented and able to work well with your hands might be traits you think are important to making a dentist successful.

Can you think of a moment in which you succeed in a detail-oriented project and possibly used your hands to do so?

Finally, as with any essay, make sure you read the prompt. Some essay prompts for graduate school applications may ask you to explain why you are interested in undertaking graduate study in their particular program. If this is the case, make sure to address this aspect of the prompt by including details about the school’s program that align with your goals.

Do they have a professor who does research in an area of interest to you?

Do you admire that they require completing internships for credit as part of their program because you value hands-on experience?

Do they offer a concentration in an area of specialty that fascinates you?

Any of these types of details would strengthen your essay and show the admissions committee that you applied to their program for compelling reasons.

It’s important to note that it is not necessary to include any school-specific details in personal statements for medical school. If medical schools invite you to submit secondary applications, there will likely be a specific prompt asking why you are interested in their particular program. Some dental schools require secondaries as well.

As you sit down to write, always remember your goal – why do you want to be a doctor? dentist? lawyer? academic? While stressful, it’s also important to take in the excitement of the moment— congratulations on deciding to take the next steps in your life!

Have questions that weren’t covered in this post? Feel free to contact us through the website!

A Letter From Becca: Our Brooklyn-Based Coach Helping Students From Miami to California

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 20:28:50 GMT

Dear Parents and Students,

Hi! I'm Becca, and I'm a writing coach at Admission Ignition. I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself.

My love of writing, language, and words began a long time ago with a huge book of obscure fairytales. Nightly, stories like “The Nightingale” and “Catskin” were read aloud by my father, a literature professor. Fairytales and mythology are still some of my favorite stories to read and share: they stand the test of time and can teach us a lot about storytelling, society, and ourselves! As I grew up, fairytales were followed by Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women , and eventually, my dad was passing me piles of Jane Austen (apparently every 16-year-old girl should read Emma ) and trying to convince me to try The Brothers Karamazov again… while I secretly destroyed his yellowed copies of The Handmaid’s Tale and Brave New World .

I majored in literature at Bard College, a small liberal arts school in New York. After being recommended by a professor and vetted by several rounds of interviewing, I was hired to work with first-year students as an employee at the college’s writing center for three years. During my junior year, I was lucky enough to qualify for a life-changing six months abroad studying medieval literature at Hertford College, Oxford. While reading Celtic versions of King Arthur and struggling through The Canterbury Tales in Old English was exciting, when it came time to write my senior thesis, I pivoted to American literature. I crafted 60 pages on the connection between gender, race, and writing by examining a female slave narrative, a Harlem Renaissance novella, and Toni Morrison’s Sula . I was proud to earn the highest letter grade on the final project— but my work with words was far from over.

Even though I loved lit, I also had a passion for pop culture, which I explored after graduation. After internships at The New York Observer , I worked for nearly seven years in unscripted television in New York, LA, and London, writing pitches and developing new ideas from bullet point to pilot. A TV pitch is surprisingly similar to an argumentative essay – the main idea needs to be clear, supported, and persuasive to the reader.

More recently, I returned to my first love and pursued a Master's from The University of Chicago, worked as a Lector running a seminar group for their writing program, and simultaneously acted as a Writing Tutor for the Community Colleges of Chicago.

This experience coupled with my time working at Bard has given me a strong sense of college-level writing and what will be required of students in the next stage of their educational careers. I also got a firsthand look at the struggles of students across multiple skill levels and feel confident I can prepare Admission Ignition students for the rigor of university – and of adult life afterward.

I am extremely passionate about helping students learn to love to write and hope to connect with you soon!

Sincerely,

Becca

A Message from Leah: An Essay Coach's Journey From Miami to Barnard And Back

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 21:04:24 GMT

Dear Parents...

The extremely high stress level experienced by high school students has always piqued my interest. As a high school student myself, I was deeply concerned about the intense competition and pressure surrounding the college application process for not just me, but my fellow students. As a result, I participated in the Challenge Success conference at Stanford University. Alongside a team of faculty and administrators, I learned to create a healthier environment for students, characterized by a definition of success that relies upon qualitative factors such as integrity, creativity, and resilience.

The following year, the founders invited me to speak at the conference and share my perspective with two thousand participants. My speech ignited my passion to inspire others going through this process.

For the past eight years, I have channeled this passion into Admission Ignition. Today, I am still passionate about empowering high school students with writing and organizational tools that will reduce their stress in the college application process. In addition, I hope to inspire students to find joy in it through the self-discovery that occurs when writing personal essays. Beyond teaching them how to elevate their writing skills and become more organized, through their work with Admission Ignition, I am going to help them become self-reliant individuals with the tools to succeed in college. I look forward to helping students develop these skills and serving as a mentor during this exciting and formative time in their lives. During this time, I will not only offer them expertise but most importantly, compassion.

Sincerely,

Leah