College Essay Boot Camp

Introduction: Just think: the essence of who are you condensed into one flawless, single-spaced page, a page that will so speak for you, that will determine your fate, and perhaps, in fact, shape the rest of your life. All of your trainings somehow come down to this. The clock is ticking. It's game time. You're not worried, are you? The college essay is the only part of the application you have total control over. You can't change your grades, your test scores or your extracurricular activities, but you can represent yourself well in the essay. Colleges are more competitive than they have ever been, and the essay is the only chance you have to present yourself as an individual. It's as if your best self is standing there with a microphone speaking directly to your schools while they listen carefully. A good college essay not only reveals something about your value system and your personality, but it shows how your brain works in a way that no other data in the admissions packet can capture. It's the real you, not the SAT scores. In other words, it's an incredible opportunity. Don't waste it. Dr. Wilk's College Essay Boot Camp is a tiny, friendly and informal one-day writing workshop. Students show up with absolutely nothing and leave at the end of the day with a perfect, finished and ready-to-send college essay. The day includes lots of rough writing and brainstorming, a discussion of some fabulous college essays, lessons about specific writing techniques that will make a big difference, outlining advice and as much one-to-one time as you need. We also provide free water, lunch, snacks, pencils and journals. You can bring your own laptop, or use one of ours. Dr. Wilk is a writing teacher at Paramus High School in Paramus, New Jersey. She earned an Ed.D in English education with a concentration in the teaching of writing from Teachers' College, Columbia University in 1996. She has worked as a newspaper reporter, written a non-fiction how-to book, published some poetry and taught both graduate and undergraduate courses at the college level. She has more than 20 years of teaching experience. Mostly, she's been working with high school kids on improving their writing. Every year, dozens of students come to her scared, stuck, angry or blank and ask for college essay help. They all leave happy. They get into great colleges, they're proud of their essays, and they learn something about writing. "That was fun," students often say at the end of a workshop. "Do you realize that you've been writing for six hours?" Dr. Wilk asks. "I didn't notice!", they always answer with a smile. Go to our website for more information on prices, dates or to email Dr. Wilk.