How to write BYU application essays that stand out and get you remembered


I’ve spent more than a decade helping students write successful college essays. In the process, I’ve read too many that are bland and forgettable. This often happens when students quickly read the essay prompts and dive in to write essays the way they would for a high school English assignment. This approach doesn’t work for college essays.


Let’s think about the process.


The BYU admissions committee reviews over 50,000 essays each fall! How much time do you think admissions officers have to review each essay?  What can you do to make sure that the admissions officers are engaged and connected with you while reading your essays?

First, know that all applicants to BYU go through a holistic review; they want to get to know applicants on a personal level. The essays are the best place to tell the admissions committee about who you “genuinely” are - your potential, character, testimony and values. 

Second, BYU wants to know if you are prepared for its unique educational mission (the Aims of a BYU Education). This means it’s important that the essays demonstrate meaningful examples of these 4 Aims: Spiritually Strengthening, Intellectually Enlarging, Character Building, and Lifelong Learning and Service.

Finally, your BYU essays should tell great stories.  Everyone who applies will be writing about things like adversity, service, and extracurricular activities. But only a few will be able to write about those topics through interesting, personal, and compelling stories that will get noticed, marked and remembered.

Given this information, how will you plan and write BYU essays that contain all of these elements? 

Don’t leave it to chance.

Get help from an expert who knows what BYU is looking for in application essays. I’ve been helping students write compelling essays for over 15 years and have developed a reliable approach that gives students the templates, guides, videos, and step-by-step instructions they need to write outstanding BYU application essays that stand out and get remembered.


Click the link below to begin the course - absolutely FREE. No credit card is required. Enrollment is limited, so don’t wait!