515: Inside the Application Part 1: Brainstorming, Outlining, and Drafting with Cassidy, HS Senior

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

Today’s episode kicks off a new series, Inside the Application. Ethan is joined by Cassidy, a current high school senior who is working on her college applications for the Fall 2025 term. Ethan and Cassidy will be walking step-by-step through the college application process as it unfolds this school year. In episode 1, they get into:

• How did Cassidy approach brainstorming and outlining for her personal statement?
• What brainstorming activities helped Cassidy pick her topic?
• Cassidy’s first draft of her personal statement
• Ethan’s suggestions for revision
• And more

This series will also be different in that, normally, we share episodes-in-a-series consecutively. For these, we’re releasing them pretty much as we record them, so you’ll notice them interspersed among other topics we’ll be covering.

Stay tuned for future episodes where Ethan and Cassidy continue the conversation! They’ll revisit her personal statement, talk about supplemental essays, go over how Cassidy developed her college list, and even talk a little bit about the activities list and the additional information section. We’ll continue to check in with Cassidy to see how things are going, and you’ll find out how it turned out a few months from now.

Cassidy is a current high school student going through the college application process. She lives in the Bay Area, loves ballet, knows a lot about Biology, and identifies as a “yapper”—more on that in our conversation.

We hope you enjoy!

Play-by-play:

• 2:57 - Getting to know Cassidy through her brainstorming materials
  • 3:27 - Cassidy’s social identities
  • 4:29 - Cassidy’s values
  • 7:05 - Cassidy’s superpower
  • 8:12 - Cassidy’s islands of personality
• 8:40 - What were some of the topics Cassidy considered for her essay?
• 13:51 - Cassidy walks through her essay outline and examples
• 16:01 - How did outlining make things easier for Cassidy?
• 18:48 - Cassidy reads the first draft of her personal statement
• 22:42 - Cassidy shares her thoughts on her draft
• 26:04 - Ethan gives feedback
• 39:18 - Ethan shares suggestions for the next draft
• 41:52 - Closing thoughts

Resources

• Cassidy’s brainstorming and first draft
• College Essay Guy’s Personal Statement Resources
• College Essay Guy’s College Application Hub
• Funko Pops