The task at hand. Know your audience: AdCom psychology 101 ; The top ten qualities admissions officers look for -- Writing the essays. Your plan of action ; Writing the common app personal essay ; Supplemental essays, part I: the why our school essay ; Supplemental essays, part II ; Supplemental essays at highly selective schools: the Ivies and Ivy adjacents ; Scholarship essays -- Conclusion: hang in there! -- Acknowledgments -- Appendix I: creating your college list -- Appendix II: creating your résumé and activities list -- Appendix III: emergency backup brainstorming exercises -- Appendix IV: additional resources -- Appendix V: sample essays

Seasoned college admissions expert and educator Eric Tipler has seen this firsthand. Teens and their parents spend countless, anxiety-filled hours crafting and refining essays that are often lackluster. In Write Yourself In, Tipler meets students where they are, and provides comprehensive actionable advice in a warm and conversational tone. He demonstrates how to craft a winning essay, one that is authentic, vulnerable, and demonstrative of qualities like personal growth and emotional maturity. Instead of formulas, Write Yourself In gives students step-by-step processes for brainstorming, outlining, writing, and revising essays. It encourages them to seek out feedback at key points in the process, something Tipler has found to be vital to helping students produce their best writing. Further, the book includes sidebars that teach essential components of good storytelling, a "secret weapon" in the admissions process