Hi friends, and welcome back to the podcast. Today's a bit unconventional: normally I'm interviewing somebody in the college admissions world, but this time I'm the guest. I spent some time recently rewriting both my books: College Essay Essentials (about 90%, almost a page-one rewrite) and College Admission Essentials (about 40%). After a few people asked me about it at our national conference, I figured it was worth a podcast.

In this episode, I walk through:

What I've realized about brainstorming in the ten years since I wrote the first edition of College Essay Essentials
Why "what colleges want" was conspicuously missing from that first edition, and what I added
A different way to think about the personal statement, for students, parents, and counselors alike
What I learned after analyzing 300+ supplemental essay prompts this year
Practical tips for a few of the most common prompts
Where I land on AI and the essay-writing process

If you're listening to this before November 10th, 2026, I'll link in the show notes where you can download advance reader copies of both books for free; if you enjoy them, an Amazon review would mean a lot.

We hope you enjoy.

Play-by-Play:

0:35 – Why did Ethan rewrite both books after ten years?
3:14 – What was rewritten in Ethan's first book, College Essay Essentials?
5:33 – What do the new brainstorming exercises look like, from the Values Exercise to Roles and Identities?
6:15 – Exercise 1: The Values Exercise
6:46 – Exercise 2: The I Love, I Know Exercise
8:13 – Exercise 3: The Essence Objects Exercise
8:48 – Exercise 4: The Random Questions Exercise
9:10 – Exercise 5: The Career Brainstorm Exercise
10:07 – Exercise 6: The Identities Exercise
10:45 – Exercise 7: The Home Exercise
11:09 – Exercise 8: The Roles and Identities Exercise
14:47 – How did researching 300+ college websites lead to the five Admission Nutrients?
20:31 – What are some common phrases from counselors that are well-meaning but could be intimidating or misleading for students at the start of this process?
22:19 – What are some college essay topics that could be more difficult to write well?
31:18 – What is a montage essay, and how can a common topic like soccer still stand out?
36:41 – What was rewritten in Ethan's second book, College Admission Essentials?
38:02 – What did Ethan learn after analyzing 300+ supplemental essay prompts?
42:52 – What should students keep in mind when approaching supplemental essays?
47:16 – How can students brainstorm the "navigating differences" essay using values and needs?
52:50 – Where does Ethan stand on AI and the college essay-writing process?
57:20 – Closing thoughts

Resources:

Download advance reader copies of College Essay Essentials and College Admission Essentials (free through November 10, 2026)
- Pre-order College Essay Essentials on Amazon!
- Pre-order College Admission Essentials on Amazon!

722: Why I Re-wrote My Books (And What You Can Learn from Both)

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

722: Why I Re-wrote My Books (And What You Can Learn from Both)