Resources for Students and Parents
Feel free to share these resources with your students and parents.
Foundation Activity
College Essays 101
In 20 minutes, you will know what an effective college essay looks like and why. This fun, self-directed version of our 7 Secrets for a Great College Essay workshop will get students and parents on the same page and speaking the same language as you.
Thinker Activities
Introduction and Find a Bunch of Story Starters
After a fun, eye-opening introduction to the Thinker phase, students find 25–40 Story Starters they can use as starting points for their writing.
How to help students Find a Bunch of Story Starters (7:02)
The best sample college essays anywhere*
We love these essays and think you will as well. More importantly, your students will see why these are such effective essays.
Our students read these after they’ve taken College Essays 101.
*No, we can’t prove it, but see for yourself!
How to talk to students about sample essays (5:52)
How to read any college essay like a pro
Most people can’t tell a good college essay from a terrible one. This one-page guide makes it easy for anyone to understand why an essay works, or doesn’t. We go through the same series of questions with our personal mentoring students every time we meet with them.
This is a powerful tool for students, parents, counselors, and teachers and example of the kind of resources we include with EssayQuest.
If the form does not download on your phone, copy this link and paste it into your browser to download.