Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps, Third Edition: Crafting a Winning Personal Statement

The college application process is exhausting. After endless hours of homework, classes, and extra-curriculars, your transcript is looking very nice. Just send it in, right? Don’t worry too much about that essay – right? Wrong! According to Alan Gelb, you need to spend at least three weeks working on your application essays. Luckily, he has created a thorough plan for what you will need to do to have that eye-catching essay. The book is broken into ten steps and includes some appendices for additional help; chapters cover everything from how to find a topic to stylistic choices to common grammatical and spelling errors. The four appendices are essays written by actual students, information on the supplemental essays of a college application, and resources for parents and teachers.

Alan Gelb has a unique empathy for college applicants. His writing style is perfectly suited to his audience. He is engaging; high-schoolers do not want another text book. He is respectful; we aren’t morons either, thank you very much. He has detail while allowing for creative freedom, allowing students to launch themselves from his scaffold without being micromanaged. This book has great information and inspiration, which is beautifully complemented by Gelb’s superb writing style.