622: Inside the Personal Statement Process (Part 4): Supplemental Essay Deep Dive with Alisha, HS Senior

Hey friends, and welcome back to the College Essay Guy podcast. Today’s episode is a behind-the-scenes look at Alisha’s supplemental essays. If you’ve been following our Inside the Personal Statement Process series, this episode zooms out a bit—you’ll hear us work live through several of her supplements and talk through how to bring clarity, intention, and personality into each one.

In this session, Alisha and I explore:

• What makes a great “list” response for Columbia—and how to avoid filler
• How to refine a topic that feels “too common” into something that might stand out a little more
• A simple way to use the roles & identities exercise to focus a short essay 
• Strategies for approaching the “navigating differences” essay, and
• How to tackle a “Why us” and a “why major” essay

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?
• 2:56 – Alisha reads her Columbia list responses.
• 5:45 – Ethan gives feedback on the list draft.
• 7:31 – Ethan introduces the Columbia lived-experience prompt.
• 8:25 – Alisha reads her draft.
• 9:30 – How did Alisha choose her topic?
• 16:31 – Ethan suggests an exercise for refining her draft.
• 25:41 – Alisha reads her draft of the “navigating differences” prompt.
• 31:37 – Ethan helps Alisha clarify each side’s perspective in her disagreement example.
• 38:41 – Ethan introduces the adversity prompt and Alisha reads her response.
• 45:27 – Ethan encourages Alisha to center the essay on the value she names (autonomy) and make the story more specific.
• 48:29 – Alisha reads her response to the “Why Columbia” prompt.
• 50:27 – Ethan and Alisha identify what genuinely sets Columbia apart for her.
• 56:17 – Alisha reads her response to the “Why major” prompt.
• 58:12 – Ethan helps Alisha frame her essay around the central theme she has chosen: the interdisciplinary nature of neuroscience.
• 1:04:36 – Ethan and Alisha explore how students can research their major when they're unsure what career they want.
• 1:15:15 – Ethan and Alisha reflect on the drafting process and what comes next.

 

 

Resources:

• The Values Exercise
• The Roles and Identities Exercise
• Why This College Essay Guide + Examples
• How to Write the "Why this Major" College Essay
• How to Write the Columbia University Supplemental Essays: Examples + Guide 2025/2026
• O*NET Career Research Tool
• College Essay Guy’s Personal Statement Resources
• College Essay Guy’s College Application Hub