When Applying to College, Write About "What Makes You Tick"

January 1 is a common deadline for college applications. Jacques Steinberg, senior vice president of national non-profit organization sayyestoeducation.org, and author of The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College (Penguin, 2003), offers advice for high school seniors, and their families, on getting the applications in on time and writing a superior essay, even with the deadline looming. His main tip for writing an essay is to really show "what makes you tick." And don't shy away from using the common app -- it's "the coin of the realm" for many schools and will give you a chance to show your stuff.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should apply to 15-20 colleges. 10 is a good maximum #, says Jacques Steinberg on @BrianLehrer

— SchoolBook (@SchoolBook) December 13, 2013