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Email me your essay idea and I'll give you feedback for FREE! Email: spencer.harrison@prestigewritingconsulting.com Week 1 – Introduction & Brainstormin g (click here for a link to Week 1) What we do in the consultation: Overview of the full college essay process and timeline Assess writing habits and strengths/weaknesses Identify potential career/major interests Introduce journaling as a brainstorming tool Student responsibilities between sessions: 1.     Complete daily jo

Email me your essay idea and I'll give you feedback for FREE! Email: spencer.harrison@prestigewritingconsulting.com Week 3 By Week 3, you’ve done something most students skip, you’ve taken the time to brainstorm deeply and build a clear outline. Now it’s time to turn that outline into your first full draft. This is a major milestone, but it’s important to approach it with the right expectations. Your goal this week is not  to write a perfect essay. Instead, your goal is to cr

After completing Week 1 , you should have a collection of journal entries filled with ideas, experiences, and reflections. Now comes the critical next step: turning that raw material into a clear direction and a structured plan for your essay. This is where many students get stuck. You may have too many  ideas, or you may be unsure which one is “best.” (This is where having a friend, teacher, or tutor to talk through your ideas can be very valuable.) Week 2 is about making de

Week 1 of this 10-week process (overview of the 10 weeks can be found here ) is entirely focused on brainstorming and journaling. Before you worry about structure, word count, or sounding “impressive,” your only goal is to generate meaningful ideas. This stage sets the foundation for everything that follows. A strong essay doesn’t start with a perfect topic, it starts with reflection. Step 1: Shift Your Mindset Before you begin writing, it’s important to approach this process

Prepare a few base essays (250–500 words) on these 8 common themes: Personal Background / Your Story – Describe your background, experiences, and how they shaped who you are today. Leadership Experience – Explain a time you demonstrated leadership and what you learned from it. Community Service / Impact – Discuss how you have helped your community and why service matters to you. Challenges or Adversity – Describe a significant obstacle you faced and how you overcame it. Caree

Whether you’re applying for a grant, a job, or an educational program, strong applications don’t begin with writing. They begin with structure, research, and clarity. Below is the framework I recommend and use when approaching high-stakes opportunities.   Assemble a Team Start by assembling a team. Application writing should not be done in isolation. Seek out mentors, peers, previous grant awardees, alumni, or current and former employees connected to the opportunity. Their p

How I Wrote 90,000 Words in One Summer Without Burning Out   After reading Infinite Jest  by David Foster Wallace I was inspired to major in English, become a professor, and write novels. So, I chose an English advisor and declared English as my major. After I graduated, I said, “Okay, now its time to write a novel.” So, I sat down and opened up my laptop, and I started typing on a blank word document. After just a few minutes of typing, I realized I had no ideas for a novel…

When I was working at the University of Illinois at Chicago, I tutored a Fulbright exchange PhD student on their dissertation which had an interdisciplinary topic across neurobiology, chemistry, and machine learning. Because the topic spanned three academic fields, the student had the challenge of having to write to specialists and generalists at the same time—i.e., the student had to write in sufficient technical detail to interest the specialists, but also had the challenge

There’s no shortcut around this part: if you want to develop a strong writing process, you have to write . Not when you feel inspired.Not when you know exactly what you want to say.Not only when an assignment deadline is approaching. Writers who excel—academically and creatively—develop a daily writing practice . This practice doesn’t begin with brilliance. It begins with consistency. The good news is that building this habit doesn’t require hours of writing or perfectly form

Many strong college writers approach assignments with the same goal: produce an excellent final paper . They read sample essays. They study high-scoring models. They aim to sound polished and confident from the very first draft. But the students who consistently earn top marks, and who continue to excel as expectations rise, approach writing differently. What most professors don’t explicitly teach is that high-level academic writing depends on process, not imitation . Writers