Today’s episode is part three of our series, Inside the Application. Ethan is joined by Cassidy, a current high school senior who is working on her college applications for the Fall 2025 term. This episode is a deep dive into the supplemental essays — specific essays that many selective colleges and universities require. In particular, Cassidy and Ethan get into:

• How to write the “What would you bring to our campus” essay
• How to write an essay that focuses on “intellectual vitality”
• How to write the “roommate” essay
• Tips on the short answer questions (50 words or less)
• And more

Finally, we close the episode out with a special guest appearance from Renee Ferrerio to review Cassidy’s college list. Renee has been working in college admission for three decades. She has a Masters in school counseling, has worked as both a public and independent school counselor, and serves on numerous college advisory boards and committees, including the Common Application Outreach Advisory Board, and many others.

Stay tuned for future episodes where Ethan and Cassidy continue the conversation. We’ll continue to check in with Cassidy to see how things are going, and you’ll find out how it turned out a few months from now.

Cassidy is a current high school student going through the college application process. She lives in the Bay Area, loves ballet, knows a lot about Biology, and identifies as a “yapper”—more on that in our conversation.

We hope you enjoy!

Play-by-play

• 1:55 - How’s Cassidy doing on her supplemental essays so far?
• 4:00 - Ethan reads Cassidy’s “what would you bring to our campus” essay draft
• 8:48 - Ethan’s feedback on the essay
• 15:38 - Additional supplemental essay prompts + Ethan’s impressions
• 19:28 - Using the Roles and Identities Exercise to brainstorm ideas
• 24:48 - Ethan reads & reviews Cassidy’s draft of her “community” essay
• 35:41 - Ethan reads and reviews Cassidy’s draft of her “roommate” essay
• 44:42 - Reviewing Cassiday’s “short answer” prompts (and why they’re like an advent calendar)
• 53:45 - Introducing Renee Ferrerio (CEG college counselor with 25+ years experience)
• 59:28 - Discussing impacted majors, Colleges That Change Lives, and suggestions for Cassidy’s college list

Resources

• Part 1 of this series, Inside the Application
• Part 2 of this series, Inside the Application
• Cassidy’s Supplemental Essay Doc
• The Roles and Identities Exercise
• How to Write the Stanford Roommate Essay + Examples
• A How-To Guide for the Short Answer Questions for Highly-Selective Colleges
• How to Choose a College: A Step-By-Step Guide

Today’s episode is part two of our series, Inside the Application. Ethan is joined by Cassidy, a current high school senior who is working on her college applications for the Fall 2025 term. Ethan and Cassidy will be walking step-by-step through the college application process as it unfolds this school year. In episode 2, they get into:

• How is Cassidy’s personal statement coming along?
• What does Cassidy want colleges to know about her?
• How is Cassidy approaching her supplemental essays?
• What is Cassidy looking for in a college and how did she develop her list?
• And more

Stay tuned for future episodes where Ethan and Cassidy continue the conversation! This series is a bit different in that, normally, we share episodes-in-a-series consecutively. For these, we’re releasing them pretty much as we record them, so you’ll notice them interspersed among other topics we’ll be covering. We’ll continue to check in with Cassidy to see how things are going, and you’ll find out how it turned out a few months from now.

Cassidy is a current high school student going through the college application process. She lives in the Bay Area, loves ballet, knows a lot about Biology, and identifies as a “yapper”—more on that in our conversation.

We hope you enjoy!

Play-by-play

• 1:36 - What has Cassidy been working on since last episode?
• 3:28 - Cassidy reads draft two of her personal statement
• 7:51 - Cassidy shares her thoughts on her draft
• 9:18 - Ethan gives feedback and shares suggestions for the next draft
• 12:57 - Ethan reviews Cassidy’s "Everything I Want Colleges to Know About Me" list
• 21:38 - Ethan reviews Cassidy’s CommonApp Activities List and Additional Info sections
• 26:09 - What is Cassidy looking for in a college and how did she develop her list?
• 25:00 - Ethan reads the supplemental prompts from Cassidy’s college list tracker
• 35:56 - What is a “super topic" and how might it help Cassidy?
• 50:50 - What is the Roles and Identities exercise?
• 58:55 - What are Cassidy’s next steps in her drafting process?

Resources

• Part 1 of this series, Inside the Application
• Cassidy’s brainstorming and second draft
• The "Everything I Want Colleges to Know About Me" List: A Brainstorm Exercise
• 8 First Choices: An Expert's Strategies for Getting into College by Joyce Slayton Mitchell
• How to Combine Your College Essay Prompts (To Save 20+ Writing Hours)
• College Essay Guy’s Personal Statement Resources
• Learn How to Write Great Supplemental College Essays
• College Essay Guy’s College Application Hub
• College Essay Guy’s Roles and Identities Exercise
• Funko Pops

Today’s episode kicks off a new series, Inside the Application. Ethan is joined by Cassidy, a current high school senior who is working on her college applications for the Fall 2025 term. Ethan and Cassidy will be walking step-by-step through the college application process as it unfolds this school year. In episode 1, they get into:

• How did Cassidy approach brainstorming and outlining for her personal statement?
• What brainstorming activities helped Cassidy pick her topic?
• Cassidy’s first draft of her personal statement
• Ethan’s suggestions for revision
• And more

This series will also be different in that, normally, we share episodes-in-a-series consecutively. For these, we’re releasing them pretty much as we record them, so you’ll notice them interspersed among other topics we’ll be covering.

Stay tuned for future episodes where Ethan and Cassidy continue the conversation! They’ll revisit her personal statement, talk about supplemental essays, go over how Cassidy developed her college list, and even talk a little bit about the activities list and the additional information section. We’ll continue to check in with Cassidy to see how things are going, and you’ll find out how it turned out a few months from now.

Cassidy is a current high school student going through the college application process. She lives in the Bay Area, loves ballet, knows a lot about Biology, and identifies as a “yapper”—more on that in our conversation.

We hope you enjoy!

Play-by-play:

• 2:57 - Getting to know Cassidy through her brainstorming materials
  • 3:27 - Cassidy’s social identities
  • 4:29 - Cassidy’s values
  • 7:05 - Cassidy’s superpower
  • 8:12 - Cassidy’s islands of personality
• 8:40 - What were some of the topics Cassidy considered for her essay?
• 13:51 - Cassidy walks through her essay outline and examples
• 16:01 - How did outlining make things easier for Cassidy?
• 18:48 - Cassidy reads the first draft of her personal statement
• 22:42 - Cassidy shares her thoughts on her draft
• 26:04 - Ethan gives feedback
• 39:18 - Ethan shares suggestions for the next draft
• 41:52 - Closing thoughts

Resources

• Cassidy’s brainstorming and first draft
• College Essay Guy’s Personal Statement Resources
• College Essay Guy’s College Application Hub
• Funko Pops