According to the Higher Education Research Institute, 35 percent of first-time freshmen applied to seven or more colleges during the Fall 2016 admission cycle. More than 80 percent of first-time freshmen apply to at least three colleges each year. But more applications mean more essays for students. And more colleges seem to be requiring unique essays to try and get to know the students better. With students having to write 10 or more essays for their college applications, it seems like the process has possibly spiraled out of control. But Ethan Sawyer, also known as The College Essay Guy, sees it differently. He views it as an opportunity for students to get creative. Sawyer has four steps for making the college application essay writing process as easy as possible for students and a way to cut down on the overall number they need to write. He calls it a "Venn diagram approach." The four steps are presented in this article along with discussion on possible topics on college essays.