2
3 years ago
Admissions Advice

Best books on writing college essays?
Answered

I'm working on my essays and though I am looking at essay samples, I still feel a little lost. Any good books on writing essays?

write
collegeessays
2
4

Earn karma by helping others:

1 karma for each ⬆️ upvote on your answer, and 20 karma if your answer is marked accepted.

3 answers

6
Accepted Answer
3 years ago

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe is incredibly good in telling you what to do. Although it is just 50 more samples, they give structured feedback on why they are good and even why they are bad. Hack the College Essay by John Dewis is equally good because although it is short, it helps you brainstorm ideas while also giving you examples on how to write college essays.

If you want general writing improvement, I highly recommend The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. Whatever edition works but even though it is entirely about grammar and how to remove fluff, it is not boring as he incorporates jokes and sometimes passive aggressive remarks that makes it entertaining. Also read autobiographies like Lab Girl by Hope Jahren. They help you learn how to use imagery and can even teach you some useful vocabulary.

6
2
3 years ago

Hi there! I don't know of any books in particular, but our ultimate guide to college essays may be helpful: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-your-college-essay-the-ultimate-step-by-step-guide/.

It's a compilation of blog posts on the entire process of writing essays, including why they're important, the different types of essays, how to format and structure your essay, and successful examples.

Hope this helps!

2
1
3 years ago

I strongly recommend "50 Successful Harvard Application Essays.". It is a great one for breaking down and analyzing the college application essays with a good variety of successful Harvard accepted applications.

1
What are your chances of acceptance?
Your chance of acceptance
Duke University
Loading…
UCLA
Loading…
+ add school
Your chancing factors
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
1.0
4.0
SAT: 720 math
200
800
| 800 verbal
200
800

Extracurriculars

Low accuracy (4 of 18 factors)

Community Guidelines

To keep this community safe and supportive:

  1. Be kind and respectful!
  2. Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
  3. Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!

How karma works