Meet the coach helping students successfully bring their voices to life on the pages of their college applications
The infamous college essay. It’s something some students start thinking about as early as middle school but don’t tackle until their senior year in high school. By then, the pressure is on, particularly when it comes to choosing the right topic. For tips on how to write a winning essay, we talked with Suzanne Gannon, a Greenwich resident known as “The Essay Conqueror.” This writing coach has helped more than 230 students earn admission to 100-plus undergrad and graduate universities, and colleges worldwide. Step 1, she says, is to start writing now, as the best time to get to work on that essay is during the summer.
What sparked your interest in starting a business as a college essay coach?
Because I’m a professional writer, over the years my friends with kids would often come to me for advice on their application essays. It was fun to do, and I really enjoyed being a mentor. I taught my first class in 2020, and that was the beginning of my business. I’m hyper extroverted with a background in reporting. I love getting to know people. The ability to interview students is essential to help them figure out how to present themselves. »
What’s your method of coaching?
When someone isn’t accustomed to writing a first-person narrative, it can be a struggle. Reading is the best way to make yourself a better writer. If you’re not reading, how could you expect to become a writer? I’m often working with kids who don’t have a lot of practice, so I’ll ask them to write something, then I read it and recap out loud to them what I interpreted from their writing. Next, I ask them if what I said matches what they mean to say. Often the response is no, which means it needs more work.
Do most students come to you with an idea for the essay, or do many require help figuring out where to start?
I’d say 85 percent have no idea where they want to start. A lot of them say they don’t have anything unique, dramatic or shocking to say about themselves. I remind them that every person on this planet has somewhere between one and 1,000 stories to tell. It’s just a matter of finding out where the energy is and working with them to figure out how to convey that through their writing. And often, through a discovery process, we find out that their best story doesn’t involve what they originally thought it might. Many times, a tale of inspiration ends up being anchored to another individual, someone important in the student’s life that they love and admire. That can end up becoming a portrait of another person, not a story revealing something important about the student.Writing about what makes you tick, what brings you joy or what character traits you want to showcase are good places to start.
What’s the most challenging aspect of coaching?
I ask students to write down notable things like biographical facts, preferences, experiences, accomplishments and achievements. But once we’ve narrowed down a subject, conditioning kids to think in terms of specificity can be challenging. For example, if a student told me they liked to swim, I’d want to know if it’s in a pool or at the beach. Through questioning we could end up narrowing it down to a story about a yearly polar bear plunge, which would reveal that the student is a thrill-seeker with a high tolerance for cold water. The character of a student can really explode out of one fact.
What are the signs that a student is close to finding their topic?
I know we’re on the right track when a student’s face lights up. I notice wide eyes and instant energy. When there is a lot of laughing and fast talking, I know there is a story to be told. Sometimes students want to write about difficulties with mental health or personal situations. Those instances can be incredible sources for material and character development, but we make sure to focus on telling a story of resilience, where they came out the other side and how they got there.
What advice do you give to parents who want to set their child up for success with application-related essay writing?
They should tell their children to read, read, read. That includes asking their kids to review sample essays that others have written to get into similar schools. They may not like the topics or the structure in those samples, but they’ll learn. Elite athletes don’t show up at the most important matches of their lives without watching tape. They’ve seen themselves screw up and have observed their opponents.
I like to say that specificity trumps summary every time. Details tell the story. The goal is to show, not tell, and to be as reliable as you can as a narrator. Admissions officers want to read writing that’s thoughtful and observant, whether it’s an obsession with red lollipops or growing mushrooms in a garage. If you are a reliable witness, you can tell a story of having been there. What you don’t want is a recount from someone else who was standing 50 yards from the action.
How critical is the essay for admission?
When all credentials are the same, the essay distinguishes Candidate A from Candidate B, whether it’s the topic or the way that it was conveyed. I always suggest having students carve out some quiet observation time when they start documenting things for the essay.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of your work?
There’s nothing like watching a student get to the point where they are in the groove and trusting the process. It’s like watching them mature when they can express themselves in their own way with their own words. I love hearing from parents who say their child became more confident because of learning how to write better.
Suzanne Gannon is a published author whose work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Town and Country and The Financial Times. For more information on her coaching services, visit theessayconqueror.com.
Quick Tips for Essay Writing
Read every day, everything from personal college essay samples to fiction, nonfiction, sports features, opinion columns, obituaries (yes, obituaries) and profiles on sites like the New York Times.
Set up a CommonApp account—it’s free—and then cruise around, look at schools you’re interested in and what type of essays those schools require.
Observe details all day long. Good details make for a stronger essay.
Create a timeline for your writing, working backwards from your deadlines. Include the phases of your writing process, such as brainstorming, research, interviews, drafting, revising and editing.
Create your own accountability group of friends and check in with each other on the writing progress. You don’t have to show each other your work.
Each day, take 10 minutes to document one thing in writing. That could be anything from something you saw that was odd or beautiful to an emotion you felt.
Check out the College Essay Guy podcast or scroll through the website.