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The Type A Method
A simple 3-pronged approach to college apps & resumes, with powerful results.
Best Attributes
1) College applications and student resumes are tools to convey the student's best attributes in as positive, strong, and persuasive a manner as possible.
Credibility Fosters Trust
2) A commitment to specificity in writing through copious use of details, descriptors, and numbers, under the concept of Specificity = Credibility, and the belief that credibility builds trust with the reader.
Three Meta Themes
3) College apps & resumes should be organized around 3 Meta Themes, with evidence of each curated from the student's academic, extra-curricular, and personal interest experiences. These meta themes provide structure from which the student can tackle the Common & UC apps, and for readers to easily understand the compelling benefits the student offers.
Key Concepts
Essay content is more important than essay concept.
Choose positive and persuasive over provocative.
Rich quantifiable details convey authenticity.
Read your essay out loud to really "hear it."
Great writing happens by revising early and often.
Write the paragraphs, then pick the prompt.
Simple Anatomy of a Great Essay
Open with a slice-of-life story with rich detail that sets up a hypothesis or transition statement at the end of the paragraph.
Paragraph 1 opens with Meta Theme #1, connecting it to intellectual curiosity, personal values, and contributions, as evidenced by nuanced interpretations of the student's academic, extra-curricular, and personal life.
Paragraph 2 talks about Meta Theme #2, connecting it to intellectual curiosity, personal values, and contributions, as evidenced by nuanced interpretations of the student's academic, extra-curricular, and personal life.
Paragraph 3 talks about Meta Theme #3, connecting it to intellectual curiosity, personal values, and contributions, as evidenced by nuanced interpretations of the student's academic, extra-curricular, and personal life.
The closing paragraph includes a forward-looking statement(s) about how the student will be as a member of a university community and/or future professional. The closing "book ends" the essay by referencing a word, phrase, or element from the opening slice-of-life story.
