Summer has arrived and for those students who will be a senior next year, the dreaded college essay looms in the distance. Most students spend hours staring at a blank piece of paper or a computer screen. What will you write about? How will you even begin? What topic is best? What are admissions officers looking for in the essay? The list of questions goes on and on.

If you are looking for advice or help or just need some tips about how to begin, these guys know what they are talking about: College Essay Guy, Essay Hell and Essay Edge. Ethan Sawyer, the College Essay Guy, gives parents and students tons of “free stuff” to help with the essay, personal statement, and supplemental essay. Essay Hell offers tips on the Common App essays, University of California Essays, Coalition for Access Essays, and Apply Texas essays with a great blog filled with additional tips as well. Essay Edge provides tons of sample essays on their site (just for ideas–not for copying!) along with a great blog with tips on the Common App essay prompts.

Most students just need a starting place–a jumping off point. These sites will provide excellent ideas and help. They are perfect for summer reading and research. And if you’re so inclined, consider hiring one of them as an essay coach. The cost is affordable and the benefits (along with handing your student over to another person to avoid the stress) will be well worth the price you pay.

I wrote a great post for TeenLife Media: How to Write the Best College Essay. It is a step-by-step guide on how to write the essay, along with resources to help students avoid plagiarism and help with editing.

My best advice: use the essay as a tool to give the college an inside look into who you are. It should give them an idea of what type of student you will be and who you are (much more than words on a sheet of paper).