Yes! CTCE workshops are meticulously designed to reduce student stress by framing each step in the positive and using “opportunity language” as opposed to “task language” in the spirit of Carol Dweck’s groundbreaking work on growth mindset.

Open-ended essay prompts create the fantastic opportunity to pick a subject that matters to the student, which ultimately yields the sharpest and most fascinating writing. The goal of the college essay is to separate yourself from the pack by saying what only you can say, not blending into the pile and being quickly forgotten by the reader.

No. The workshop is suited for writers of all proficiency levels. There is more than enough one-on-one time built into the curriculum to guarantee success for every student.

No. Students will complete the entire process of the college essay during session hours, from brainstorming to finalizing.

The most common cause of death for great college essays is having “too many cooks in the kitchen”. Every reader will have a slightly different opinion, and students often feel the need to adjust their essay to satisfy all. The result is often incoherence. Rather, students should choose no more than a couple trusted readers to provide feedback. As an old teacher of mine once said, the 4th draft of an essay is always better than the 67th.

The workshops are formatted to allow students to hit every benchmark during session hours. There will be very little, if any, work for students to do outside of class.

Yes. Each student will receive multiple rounds of professional editing.

Helping students discover novel ideas is my singular passion as an instructor. Each student will leave the first session hour with more potential ideas for the college essay than they ever thought possible.