Libsyn Directory

618: Inside the Personal Statement Process (Part 2): Discovering Values Through Revision with Alisha, HS Senior

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Release Date: 10/28/2025

716: Making the Price of College Make Sense with Adam Miller

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Welcome back to the podcast! I'm Tillie Gottlieb, a senior college counselor and content specialist here at CEG. This season, we're sitting down with admission officers to hear their real stories. I spent years on that side of the desk myself, and one thing I want listeners to walk away with is this: these aren't gatekeepers deciding your fate. They're people trying to build a class and a community, often inside a system that feels chaotic from every angle. So over the next few weeks, we're getting to know some of them as people, hearing what actually drives them, and along the way, getting a...

715: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 12: The Translator) with Lavon Robinson

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Hi, friends, and welcome back to our series, “On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling.” I’m Tom Campbell, former Pomona and Holy Cross admissions officer, and one of the CEG podcast co-hosts, alongside my lovely colleagues Tillie and Ethan. In this series, we take a close look at personal essays written by real students, talking about why we love them, what makes them work, and how they came to be. In this episode, we break down an essay that we’re calling The Translator. This student, who worked with one of our amazing essay coaches Lavon Robinson a few years...

714: A Live Essay and Application Review with Anna, HS Senior

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Hi friends, and welcome back to the podcast. Today's episode is a special behind-the-scenes look at a live application review I did with Anna, a high school senior I met last year. We recorded this about ten days before her early deadlines, and she was kind enough to let me walk through her entire application in real time: her personal statement, her activities list, and all of her supplemental essays for Yale. Fun fact: Anna emailed me a couple months later to let me know she actually got into Yale (congrats again, Anna!). In this episode, we get into: What it was like for Anna to pivot away...

713: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Storytelling (Ep 10: The Stomach Whisperer) with Tillie Gottlieb

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Hi, friends, and welcome back to our series, “On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling.” In this series, we take a close look at personal essays written by real students, talking about why we love them, what makes them work, and how they came to be. In this episode, we break down an essay called "The Stomach Whisperer" about a student who used to lie on her grandmother's stomach and wonder if the echoing gurgle I’d just heard was caused by the molasses or by the cinnamon. I'm joined today by Tillie Gottlieb, a former admission officer turned Director of College...

712: Empowering First-Generation Student Success: The Warren High School BUS program with David Cha

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Welcome back to the podcast! Today’s episode is hosted by Tom Campbell, a former admission officer and now a college counselor and content creator here at College Essay Guy. This show often reminds us that beneath the essays, the deadlines, and the color-coded college lists, this whole thing is really about people — and today's guest is exhibit A. Quick disclaimer: this is a feel-good episode. Very “This American Life.” If you've ever needed your faith in public education restored, cancel your other plans. In a content landscape where some of the loudest admissions "experts" run on...

711: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 10: The Silent Assassin) with Amber Patterson

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Hi, friends, and welcome back to our series, "On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling," where we take a close look at personal essays written by real students, talk about why we love them, what makes them work, and how they came to be. In this episode, I'm joined by Amber Patterson, Regional Director of Admission at Texas Christian University. This conversation does two things at once. We read a real student essay closely, line by line, and we get inside an admission reader's head to understand what's actually landing as she reads through it. We get into: What Amber hopes to...

710: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 9: Where I Grew Up) with Hillary Dickman

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Hi, friends, and welcome back to our series, “On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling.” where we take a close look at personal essays written by real students, talking about why we love them, what makes them work, and how they came to be. In this episode, I’m joined by Hillary Dickman, Senior Assistant Director of Admission at Colorado College. In past episodes, we've really broken down these essays and gotten into the nooks and crannies of what makes them work. But in this episode, I really wanted to get a sense of how Hillary sees essays from an admission reader's...

709: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 8: Molding Clay) with Calvin Pickett

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Hi, friends, and welcome back to our series, “On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling.” In this series, we take a close look at personal essays written by real students, talking about why we love them, what makes them work, and how they came to be. In this episode, we break down an essay that is one of my new favorites. It’s conceptually rich because even though it’s on molding clay, it could be considered any of these montage types: I love/I know, Essence Objects, Skills/Superpower, Identity, Home, or Uncommon extracurricular activity. That’s not a goal I’m...

708: On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling (Ep 7: Robes) with Andrew Callery

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Hi, friends, and welcome back to our series, “On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling.” In this series, we take a close look at personal essays written by real students, talking about why we love them, what makes them work, and how they came to be. In this episode, we share an essay that begins: “Robes are the textile version of comfort food; they’re my chicken noodle soup.” And it is indeed about the different robes the student wears and how each one reveals a different aspect of who the author is. I'm joined today by Andrew Callery, a college counselor...

707: Inside the Personal Statement Process (Part 5): Making the Decision with Alisha, Class of 2026

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Hey friends, and welcome back to the College Essay Guy podcast. Today’s episode is a special follow-up with Alisha, who you might remember from our series last season where we walked through her personal statement process step-by-step. Now that she has officially received her results, Alisha is back to share the final chapter of her journey and reflect on the experience of reaching the finish line. In this session, Alisha and I explore: The emotional ups and downs of receiving college acceptances and rejections Alisha’s advice for students currently navigating the application process What...

More Episodes

Hey friends, and welcome back to the College Essay Guy podcast. Today’s episode is part two of our series called Inside the Personal Statement Process. If you’re just tuning in, this series takes you behind the scenes as I work one-on-one with Alisha, a current high school senior applying for the Fall 2026 term. In the first episode, we got to know Alisha through her brainstorming and outline.

In this episode, we pick up right where we left off — Alisha’s second draft. We get into:

How did the new outline work for Alisha?
How to approach trimming—not just words, but how Alisha can focus on a particular idea or value in the session to help her find her focus and what to trim
How to align the insights that you have in your paragraphs with the examples
And more

Whether you’re a student working on your own essays right now, a parent supporting from the sidelines, or a counselor guiding students through this process, I hope you’ll find something useful here.

Alisha is a current high school senior going through the application process who loves science, movies, and discovering new places. When she’s not studying the brain, she’s mentoring younger students through her program Running Start or planning her next adventure.

Hope you enjoy our session.

Play-by-Play:

1:24 – How is Alisha’s writing coming along?
4:10 – Alisha shares her goals for feedback
5:50 – Alisha reads through her second draft
11:13 – Alisha shares her thoughts on the draft
15:10 – Ethan makes suggestions for trimming by focusing on values that Alisha wants to communicate to the reader
- 16:40 – Paragraph one: Curiosity
- 23:10 – Paragraph two: Empathy and nurturing
- 32:50 – Paragraph three: Creativity.
- 39:50 – Paragraph four: Pakistan.
46:40 – Ethan and Alisha map next steps for Draft 3
49:22 – Alisha shares new revision ideas and closing thoughts

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