The College Essay Toolkit
Fifteen chapters on the personal statement, the Common App prompts, UC PIQs, supplements, and revision — with ten tools that take a student from a blank page to a submitted application.
A college essay is a thinking sample. The Toolkit teaches the whole process — finding material worth writing about, testing topics before you commit, planning the draft, revising for specificity, and checking each school’s essays before you submit.
What’s inside 70 pages
- Chapters15 chapters
- Tools10 tools
- College Essay TrackerGoogle Sheet with a dashboard, plus a PDF
- ScorecardsPersonal statement and supplements
Working with me on essays? The Toolkit is included with eligible 1:1 support.
The chapters
Read them in order the first time. After that they work as reference — go to the chapter for the piece you are writing.
- 01What a college essay is supposed to do
- 02Finding material — the Story Bank
- 03Testing topics
- 04Planning the personal statement
- 05The Common App prompts
- 06The UC PIQs
- 07Supplemental essay types
- 08Why-Us and Why-This-Major essays
- 09Activity list revision
- 10How your essays work together
- 11Common essay traps
- 12Sentence moves and voice
- 13Before and after — making the essay more specific
- 14Revision passes
- 15Final essay review
The ten tools
Each tool is a single page you fill in. They follow the order of the work.
Find2 tools
Essay Brainstorm
Surface real material from your life — scenes, objects, decisions, conversations, places — before you try to choose a personal statement topic.
Topic Testing GridFree sample
Compare three to five candidate personal statement topics so you can pick the one that shows the most thinking, not the one that is easiest to write.
| Story idea | Specific? | Shows growth? | Use it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robotics team | Yes | Yes | Keep |
| Moving towns | Vague | Maybe | Refine |
| Won an award | No | No | Cut |
Shape4 tools
Personal Statement Spine
Turn your chosen topic into a paragraph-by-paragraph plan before drafting.
UC PIQ Range Map
Pick four PIQs that show range across the eight UC Personal Insight Questions — not four versions of the same story.
Application Story Map
Map what your personal statement already shows so each supplement and PIQ adds something new across the application.
| Application piece | Story used | Trait it shows | In set? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal statement | Caring for a parent | Responsibility | Anchor |
| Activity list | Founding a campaign | Initiative | Add |
| Supplement | Repeats the campaign | Initiative | Swap |
“Why Us?” Research Notes
Replace generic praise with named specifics for one school — courses, professors, programs, labs, centers, communities, or traditions you could actually use in a Why-Us essay.
Revise3 tools
Draft Check
Make sure the rough draft says something, answers the prompt, and earns its reflection — meaning before voice, structure before sentences.
Voice and Specificity Pass
Move the draft from competent to specific. Find sentences that sound performed or could have been written by anyone, and replace them with versions only this student could write.
Activity List Revision
Revise the activity list the way you would revise an essay — verb by verb, item by item — so the list earns its own space in the application.
Finish1 tool
Final Essay Review Checklist
Check the essay and application-writing materials for one school before submission — prompt match, word count, school-specific accuracy, and a final proofread.
Free for everyone
Two pieces of the Toolkit are free whether or not you buy it — the same way the Test Prep Learning Log is free alongside the Companions.
How to get it
The College Essay Toolkit
- Fifteen chapters, from finding material to final review
- All ten tools
- Essay Tracker and both scorecards
- Google Doc you copy, plus a bookmarked PDF
- Yours to keep
Read it first
- One chapter from the guide
- The Topic Testing Grid, the tool most students need first
- Sent by email, free
Choose one and the link arrives by email. The Toolkit is also included with eligible 1:1 essay support — get in touch to talk it through.
Read a free chapter
One chapter from the guide plus the Topic Testing Grid — the tool for choosing which story to write about. Request it below and it arrives by email.