Category: Brainstorm

1. What’s the toughest decision you made today? 2. What’s the toughest decision you made this year? 3. What’s the toughest decision you ever made? 4. What have you forgotten? 5. If you were guaranteed the answer to one question, what would it be? 6….

Note: I don’t recommend a stream-of-consciousness free-write because this tends to get a little messy. By “messy” I mean that this tends to bring forth a lot of words but not a lot of specific, bullet-pointable qualities that will help you get into college. And that’s…

1. In the “Challenges” column, list any major obstacles you’ve faced in your life–anything from major health or family issues to experiencing racism or violence. Spend at least 3-4 minutes on this first column. The more these challenges affected you, the more productive this exercise…

Context is important for this one too: his sister performed right before him and got rejected, so he sings with that knowledge… and with his freshly-rejected, tearful sister offstage to his left. (Watch him glance over at her at 0:19 after the judge asks “You…

This is one of my favorite brainstorming activities. Why? It’s one of the most efficient ways I know to help generate a TON of content for your personal statement and also add texture to bring your essay to life. Also, it’s just fun to do…