College essays tend to be a source of stress for many students. This stress only increases as more colleges go test-blind, meaning they are not considering an applicant’s SAT/ACT scores. As a result, essays are going to be a bigger part of the consideration for acceptance to certain colleges.

However, there is no need to worry. There are always people who are willing to help you through this time, whether it be your English teachers, counselors, or even friends. There are also resources both on and off campus that can help make the process easier if you are experiencing stress.

One of the amazing online resources is College Essay Guy. This site offers various tools such as free writing guides, video courses, and one-on-one consultations with essay coaches. The site has both free and paid options, including an option to simply pay what you can. The coaches are highly qualified educators, college counselors, and those who specialize in essay writing of all forms. We highly suggest you explore www.collegeessayguy.com, which can also be used as a great guide for scholarship essay writing.

Sometimes, going to your teachers for help, although beneficial, can be intimidating. Because of that, one on-campus resource that can help us all is the Writing Center where peers help peers. The Writing Center offers sessions Tuesdays – Thursdays in Study Room 2 of the Media Center, as well as lunch time assistance Monday-Thursday. Note that during these sessions you can receive help with any kind of writing, not just college essays, but they are aware that college essays is a major focus for most of us seniors now and are prepared to help alleviate our stress.

In addition to the Writing Center, there will also be writing sessions held by the counselors at the Media Center to help students with their Common App applications. These sessions will be from Nov. 13-18 and Nov. 27-30 during lunch and after school. All of the counselors will be in the Media Center during these sessions to help students with their applications, including the personal statements.

Although college essays and college applications in general are an extremely stressful process, remember that there will always be resources available to help ease the stress; you do not have to go through the process alone.