Introduction: the quest for the special secret sauce
What you need to know before you start writing. Steal, steal, steal: learning to read like a writer ; Craft your "I": thinking of yourself as a character ; Sex, drugs, and Palestinian statehood: finding a topic ; AMANDA + JIM ; Aboutness: an essay is often about something other than what it's about ; ADAM FINDS HIS PIRATES ; The hole in the donut: saying the hardest thing ; Tell us about your world in two hundred words: The short answers ; EMMA'S SHORTIES
Getting it down on the page and then cleaning it up. Shitty first drafts: the importance of allowing yourself to write badly ; Seeing again: revision means re-vision ; Don't try to hook the reader like a trout: the opening lines ; PEYTON'S ANKLE ; Danger! Some moves not to make ; Semicolons are like loaded guns: mechanics matter ; My little bag of writing tricks: some tips
Conclusion: getting it done

For all the anxiety that surrounds the college admissions process, one part of the application lies completely within a student s control: the essay. In this book, Rachel Toor writing instructor and coach at all levels from high school to senior faculty, and former admissions officer at Duke University shows that the key to writing a successful application essay is learning to present an honest portrait of yourself.