Cassie Nichols

BA, MA

College Admissions Expert

Cassie Nichols Quick Facts

Main Areas: College Admissions, the College Essay
Career Focus: College Admissions
Affiliation: College Specific

Cassie Nichols is a college counselor in Santa Barbara, Ca.

She is the founder and director of College Specific, a college consulting company that helps students and families navigate the increasingly complex college admissions process.

Cassie holds a Masters of Arts degree in Education from the University of Califo ia, Santa Barbara and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Princeton University.

Articles by this expert

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Article

Writing The College Application Essay

Why do we spend four years preparing high school students for college admissions, yet neglect to teach them the application’s most taxing, time-consuming component? I’m referring to the college essay, of course. Throughout high school, students master the five-paragraph essay, the topic sentence, the counterargument, the close-reading analysis, the thesis statement . . . the list goes on and on. Yet, when it’s time to sit down and write their college essays, too many students feel paralyzed. And far too many essays fail to illustrate what colleges really want.

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