The Uncommon College Essay

An Approachable Guide to an Intimidating Process
With 20 years of expertise under her belt, Stacey Brook, Founder and Chief Advisor at College Essay Advisors breaks down the college essay writing process into her easy-to-follow Uncommon Essay Approach, illuminating how students can identify their most valuable stories and write essays that get them noticed—and accepted—at their dream schools.

BRAND NEW GUIDE FOR 2025! Write a College Essay That Gets You Accepted Using a Time-Tested Approach from the Leading College Essay Expert.

It’s no secret that the college application process—especially the personal statement—can feel overwhelming. That’s why Stacey Brook, renowned essay expert and the founder and chief advisor at College Essay Advisors (CEA), created The Uncommon College Essay: An Approachable Guide to an Intimidating Process. The book offers students and parents a clear understanding of the essay’s purpose and potential, along with a structured, step-by-step approach to help transform a daunting task into one that is not only manageable, but maybe even (dare she say?) fun.

In this guide, Stacey walks readers through her signature Uncommon College Essay Approach, a four-step process designed to turn essay anxiety into essay success. She covers:

The Backwards Brainstorm
Freewriting Your Face Off
Story Sculpting
Polishing to Perfection

Step by step, Stacey breaks down her strategies and suggestions with detailed explanations, engaging exercises, real college essay examples, and (fair warning!) a generous dose of parenthetical asides. (She just can’t help herself.)

Using this guide as a reference, readers will gain the tools and confidence to tackle everything from the Common App personal statement to those tricky (and seemingly endless!) school-specific supplemental essays.

But beyond mechanics, Stacey focuses on what really matters: helping students tell authentic, surprising, uncommon stories that show admissions officers who they are, not just as students, but as people. That is why Stacey and her Uncommon College Essay Approach have helped applicants gain acceptance to a wide variety of schools—from the Ivy League to the Big Ten to liberal arts institutions and more—for over twenty years.

With Stacey’s guidance, students learn how to craft essays that rise above the ordinary—essays that reflect their strengths, passions, quirks, motivations, and the intangible qualities no transcript or résumé can capture.

It’s time to get to work and transform your personal story into an essay no one else could write. The kind that gets you noticed–and accepted–by the school of your dreams!

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