Customer Reviews

Essays That Worked: 50 Essays from Successful Applications to the Nation's Top Colleges

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased 3 College Essay books (100 Successful College Application Essays, 50 Successful Harvard Application Essays, and Essays That Worked), and have the following comments... I believe that the Harvard book has the best suggestions on how to write an essay, along with the best commentary/critique. However, the essays are a bit too polished. I think for 90% of prospective college students, their essays would be more like those in and patterned like those in Essays That Worked. For varied ideas on essays, the 100 Successful book gives some good ideas, but I believe many of the essays to be subpar. I did each book to have some interesting general reading, especially if one likes "short stories"... or if one is interested in 17 & 18 year olds, and what goes thru their minds.

Look, don't read this book to find out "what works" or "what they want". Read it for the courage to write about what you want, and to know that what you have to say has value. You can't copy the essays, you can't even expect to emmulate them, but if you can find the spirit of these essays in yourself, you too will write a successful essay. I made my paresnt read this book so they would stop freaking out over my unusual choices in essays. This book gives you permission to be creative and be yourself when writing application essays.

This book does not teach you how to write an "Essay That Works," but it provides 50 examples of the different categories, approaches and subject matters that can be used in order to write a personal statement. I am a high school junior, and the thought of writing an essay that was supposed to encompass my entire personality was making me nervous, so I bought this book to see what kind of essay I should be prepared to write... now, I feel a lot more at ease. This book doesn't offer much "critique" of the essays, but it does explain why a particular essay worked or why a certain approach was successful... it also shows that ANY subject can become the subject matter of an insightful personal statement (like eating Oreo cookies, babysitting or watching an Inchworm), and it helped me brainstorm a few ideas of my own. I also recommend Harry Bauld's "On Writing The College Application Essay" as an instructional book... otherwise, "50 Essays That Worked" is all you need in order to inspire you and get you motivated.

I loved this book! One reviewer here complained about typos -- but the typos are there for a reason, as the book explains. (The essays are reproduced VERBATIM.) There's a good reason this book has been so successful for so many years, and it's spawned so many pale imitators. 5 stars isn't enough!

Anyone applying to a college that requires an application essay will benefit enormously from reading this book! It's not preachy or didactic; rather, it lets the excellent essays speak for themselves. Superb

A high school English teacher, I use this book with all of my senior classes. The essays provide a wide view of how admission essays do NOT have to be cliche or generic. There are several styles of essays showcased; I like to point out the ones that are more on the creative side. I highly recommend this for the student who has absolutely no idea where to start when writing an admission essay.

This book is everything that is wrong with America today! I have a little surprise for everyone: the kids that wrote these essays DID NOT read a damn book about how to write college essays. If you think your child should go to one of the "Nation's Top Colleges" then you should really trust in their abilities and have them write exactly what it is that makes them so special. This book is 100% hype and totally unhelpful and perhaps both a hindrance and a huge amount of unwanted pressure on your child. DONT BUY IT.

Don't buy it, you won't like it. I gave it to my 10-year-old son who is going to go to Yale like his father did, and the young lad showed me typographical errors - the very thought of it!!