Talks and Workshops on the College Application Essay
In live talks, webinars, and junior class workshops, founder Allan Reeder opens fresh and profitable ways of seeing and thinking for writers embarking on the essay-writing project.
The Story Inside
In this core Hillside teaching, Allan demonstrates how to close the distance between you and your reader by writing from inside of your experience. Excerpted from our webinar “Launching the Uncommon College-App Essay.”
The Common App Essay Talk
With a case-study approach, Allan demonstrates what makes an essay resonate in an admissions officer’s mind and offers practical preliminary steps toward achieving an authentic, memorable essay.
Creative Labs for Common-App Essay Writers
In this generative writing lab, students learn how to shape memory into material—and begin the work of writing what only they can write.
Junior Class Workshops
Workshop I
Students learn ways of sharing their experiences that close the distance between writer and reader.
Between Workshops
Students begin to write about promising areas of experience with The 3-Sentence Jumpstart Exercise.
Workshop II
Allan engages directly with students’ sentences and explores the stories behind them.
Parent Workshops
Allan provides guidance on supporting students through the most personal part of the college application process: the essays. Drawing on his work with students, he clarifies what to expect and how the process can become meaningful for writers and readers.
