Our list of some of the best College Essay books & series in recent years. Get inspired by one or more of the following books.
- College Essay Essentials: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Successful College Admissions Essay (2016)
- Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps, Third Edition: Crafting a Winning Personal Statement (2017)
- On Writing the College Application Essay, 25th Anniversary Edition: The Key to Acceptance at the College of Your Choice (2012)
- Write Your Way In: Crafting an Unforgettable College Admissions Essay (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) (2017)
- Escape Essay Hell!: A Step-by-Step Guide to Narrative College Application Essays (2013)
- Dream College Acceptance: How to Write a College Application Essay That Gets You into Your Dream College (2016)
- 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays: What Worked for Them Can Help You Get into the College of Your Choice (2017)
- 50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays (2017)
- Heavenly Essays: 50 Narrative College Application Essays That Worked (2014)
- Best College Essays 2018: America’s Best College Admissions Essays (2018)
- College Application Essays Stand Out – Get In: Avoid common mistakes and write stand out essays (2018)
- Acing the Admissions Essay: A How-to Guide For Writing Your College Admissions Essay (2011)
- College Essays That Made a Difference, 6th Edition (College Admissions Guides) (2014)
- A Professor’s Guide to Writing Essays: The No-Nonsense Plan for Better Writing (2016)
- 100 Successful College Application Essays: Third Edition (2013)
College Essay Essentials: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Successful College Admissions Essay (2016)
Writing an amazing college admission essay is easier than you think!So you’re a high school senior given the task of writing a 650-word personal statement for your college application. Do you tell the story of your life, or a story from your life? Do you choose a single moment? If so, which one? The options seem endless.Lucky for you, they’re not.
Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps, Third Edition: Crafting a Winning Personal Statement (2017)
Writing a memorable personal statement can seem like an overwhelming project for a young college applicant, but college essay coach Alan Gelb’s organized and encouraging step-by-step instructions take the intimidation out of the process, enabling applicants to craft a meaningful and polished college admissions essay.
On Writing the College Application Essay, 25th Anniversary Edition: The Key to Acceptance at the College of Your Choice (2012)
One of the most stressful aspects of the college application process is the essay. Most students worry about what an admissions officer looks for in a writing sample. But that’s the wrong way to approach this vital component, says former college admissions officer Harry Bauld.
Write Your Way In: Crafting an Unforgettable College Admissions Essay (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) (2017)
Writing, for most of us, is bound up with anxiety. It’s even worse when it feels like your whole future—or at least where you’ll spend the next four years in college—is on the line. It’s easy to understand why so many high school seniors put off working on their applications until the last minute or end up with a generic and clichéd essay. The good news? You already have the “secret sauce” for crafting a compelling personal essay: your own experiences and your unique voice.
Escape Essay Hell!: A Step-by-Step Guide to Narrative College Application Essays (2013)
Escape Essay Hell! is a fast-and-easy guide to writing narrative-style essays for college application essays.
Dream College Acceptance: How to Write a College Application Essay That Gets You into Your Dream College (2016)
Could It be this EASY to write college application essays that COMPEL admissions judges to accept you, even if you don’t have high grades or SAT scores? The answer is “Yes”!
50 Successful Harvard Application Essays: What Worked for Them Can Help You Get into the College of Your Choice (2017)
With talented applicants coming from the top high schools as well as the pressure to succeed from family and friends, it’s no wonder that writing college application essays is one of the most stressful tasks high schoolers face. Add in how hard it is to get started or brag about accomplishments or order stories for maximum effect, and it’s a wonder that any ever get written.
50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays (2017)
The powerful tools in this invaluable resource equip students with the skills to write successful entrance essays for top-notch universities. The strengths and weaknesses of 50 application compositions from Ivy League schools, as well as Caltech, Duke, MIT, Stanford, and University of Chicago, are analyzed in detail, highlighting techniques to emulate and mistakes to avoid.
Heavenly Essays: 50 Narrative College Application Essays That Worked (2014)
These 50 college application essays were written by real students who all got into terrific, competitive schools. They used a narrative (storytelling) style, which is the best way to stand out from the pack. One of the best ways to learn how to write a winning essay is to read other student’s effective essays.
Best College Essays 2018: America’s Best College Admissions Essays (2018)
This book showcases the best college admissions essays of the year — essays that got students into all the top schools in the country. Reading sample essays is a great way to learn how to write one. This book provides excellent examples, along with descriptions by the students themselves, of the process they went through in writing their essays.
College Application Essays Stand Out – Get In: Avoid common mistakes and write stand out essays (2018)
Learn the secrets to become a highly desirable candidate. Discover the purpose of the essay and what admission officers are looking for. Recognize what not to do so you don’t waste valuable time. Learn to set yourself apart from all the other applicants with step by step explanations delivered with humor as well as numerous examples from successful students.
Acing the Admissions Essay: A How-to Guide For Writing Your College Admissions Essay (2011)
This is a how-to book that will guide you through the process of writing your college admissions essays. With brainstorming ideas and activities, as well as tips on writing style, I will help you put your best foot forward for the admissions committee. Remember: the one thing under your control is your admissions essay!
College Essays That Made a Difference, 6th Edition (College Admissions Guides) (2014)
Not sure how to tackle the scariest part of your college application—the personal essays? Get a little inspiration from real-life examples of successful essays that scored!
A Professor’s Guide to Writing Essays: The No-Nonsense Plan for Better Writing (2016)
This isn’t a typical book on writing essays. First, it’s for college students, graduate students, and even high school students – good writing is good writing; all that changes is the length and complexity of what you write. But the plan stays the same. Second, I’m not going to tell you any cute stories about writing. I’m not going to tell you the standard information about writing.
100 Successful College Application Essays: Third Edition (2013)
These are the essays that helped their authors gain admission to Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Wellesley, Pomona, and other outstanding schools—followed by invaluable comments by experts in admissions, placement, and college counseling at some of the best learning institutions around the country.
Best College Essay Books That You Need
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Library Genesis and download some college essay books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
The Path of Moses: Scholarly Essay on the Case of Women in Religious Faith by Mózes Salamon (The Brill Reference Library of Judaism, 73)
Author(s): Julia Schwartzmann, Western Galilee College
ID: 3417242, Publisher: BRILL, Year: 2022, Size: 5 Mb, Format: pdf
Complete Guide to College Application Essays: Essential Tips for Making Your Writing Stand Out
Author(s): The Princeton Review
ID: 2874561, Publisher: Random House Children's Books, Year: 2021, Size: 22 Mb, Format: epub
Swords and Covenants: Essays in Honour of the Centennial of the Royal Military College of Canada 1876–1976
Author(s): Adrian Preston (editor), Peter Dennis (editor)
ID: 3002570, Publisher: Routledge, Year: 2021, Size: 16 Mb, Format: pdf
Please note that this booklist is not definite. Some books are truly hot items according to Chicago Tribune, others are composed by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant books you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.