Practical Coaching Strategies for the Average Student Writer

An On Demand Course for College Counselors and Educators

Every year, counselors ask us how to:

Use AI on a college essay (and if it's ethical and/or worth it)?
Talk to students about the use of AI?
Still honor a meaningful process of reflection and metacognition during this transitional time?
Encourage students who say they have nothing to write about?
Encourage students who lack confidence?
Encourage students who don’t recognize their storytelling superpowers?
Work with students who are intimidated by advanced example essays?
Teach students to tell a great story (in a tiny space)?
Uplevel students' details from safe to unique?
Coach students to take risks in their writing?
Give line edits that encourage more insight?
Explain what insight even means!
Coach students how to cut?
Help students understand what revision really means?
Encourage students (who’d rather have someone else–or something else–write their essay) to do the writing themselves?

Take a Peek Inside the Course

Module 1:
Helping Students Find Their Storytelling Gold

Module 2:
Helping Students Know What, When, and How to Edit

Module 3:
Insight: Helping Students Answer "So what?"

Practical Coaching Strategies for the Average Student Writer

An On Demand Course for College Counselors & Educators

Module 1: Helping Students Find Their Storytelling Gold

Module 2: Helping Students Know What, When, and How to Edit

Module 3: Insight: Helping Students Answer "So what?"

I (Ethan) am partnering with Lyn Fairchild Hawks—college essay coach and author—to bring you this course and offer specific and practical strategies to help students of varying writing abilities tell powerful stories, offer meaningful insight, and complete serious revisions on their college essays. We’ll get real about AI developments and how we’re talking to students about their writing process in this transitional time

In this course, we’ll cover:

What to do when a student says they have nothing to write about
What to do when a student is in love with big, fancy words
What to do when a student says they hate writing
How to coach students at their readiness level
How to encourage specific, cinematic detail
How to give line edits that prompt storytelling gold
How to use before and after models of dull to shiny writing
How to create a culture of celebration and trust
How to help students identify insight via mentor essays
How to get students answering analytical, evaluative, and speculative questions
How to coach unique epiphanies
How to help students express vulnerability that leads to insight
How to use mindfulness techniques that lead to insight
How to coach each part of the writing process
How to follow best practice with line edits
How to coach students out of revision ruts
How to help students see how their storytelling gold and personal insights are far more unique–and honest–than whatever AI can scrape from the Web–and why colleges want that
Plus new brainstorming exercises, and lots more

"Your workshop was like finding a genie in a bottle. Because of your expertise I now have coaching tools for producing excellence. It has been the single most transformative approach to my coaching, editing, and writing."

Help your students through the entire essay writing journey.

From:

"I have no idea what to write about"

To:

"I'm ready to write."

To even:

"This is the best piece of writing I've ever produced."

What folks are saying about this course:

"The workbooks are a fantastic resource. I came away with so many new tools to implement with my students in the writing workshops I am teaching this summer. I am so grateful to have this catalogue of student exercises!!"

- Katie

"Totally worth it. Do it for your students at your school!"

-David

"Lyn's approach to writing the college personal statement essay not only will help counselors and coaches and applicants organize the process, but it will also help instill a dynamism to the craft so that the writing speaks to its reader, saying, "Look at me, here I am!"

- Kieran

"Thank you for a wonderful experience. I have long struggled with coaching my students on craft, so your workshop was like finding a genie in a bottle. Because of your expertise I now have coaching tools for producing excellence. It has been the single most transformative approach to my coaching, editing, and writing."

- Kirk

Taken our courses before and wondering what’s new?

We’re answering many of the questions we get about coaching the reluctant student writer and will help you find the “just right” strategy, content, and approach for students at any ability level.

You'll be ready next time a student says:

"I don't get it."

"I hate writing!"

"I have nothing special to write about."

"I need to use big words to sound smart."

"I haven't written anything since last session."

“I was messing around with ChatGPT and look what it did…”

Meet Lyn (our Host)

Lyn Fairchild Hawks (She/her) is an experienced essay coach with her own business, Success Story, and loves helping students tell cinematic stories. She is a graduate of Stanford University with a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Education, and has an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She is the author of young adult novels, short stories, and books for educators, including lessons for teaching Shakespeare. For 15 years she designed and ran online programs for gifted youth at Duke University and loves personalizing writing activities for students as well as training teachers. She lives in Chapel Hill, NC with her partner, Greg Hawks, an Americana singer-songwriter. Her stepson, Henry, a proud graduate of DePaul, mixes sound in an L.A. studio and still forgives his stepmom for making him rewrite all his essays.

Meet Ethan (the Guy)

Ethan Sawyer is a nationally recognized college essay expert, sought-after speaker, and author of the Amazon bestsellers College Essay Essentials and College Admission Essentials.

Each year he helps thousands of students and counselors through his online courses, workshops, articles, products, and books, and works privately with a small number of students.

A graduate of Northwestern University, Ethan holds an MFA from UC Irvine, two counseling certificates, and is certified in Myers-Briggs and hypnotherapy. He lives in Los Angeles with his beautiful wife and daughter.

Meet Hanah (Special Guest)

Hanah Lim is the Head of Workshops and Curriculum at College Essay Guy. She is a former high school English teacher and essay specialist who is passionate about helping demystify the college admission process for young people and their families. Before teaching English at the high school she attended growing up, she worked as a college consultant for students in Bangkok, Thailand, and directed SAT prep centers in Irvine, California. She was an EL coordinator and an AVID teacher/coordinator at a public high school in California and made it her goal to help close the achievement gap. In addition to coaching seniors write their college essays, Hanah has also trained teachers and counselors internationally on how to take students through the college essay process. She graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Education and is a credentialed single subject teacher. As part of her work, Hanah oversees CEG's workshop and curriculum programs and organizes college application and essay workshops for students at schools and organizations in the US and around the world. Hanah finds joy in watching musicals, visiting Disney parks with her husband, and playing with her two cats.

Meet Tom (Special Guest)

Tom Campbell has reviewed thousands of college essays and applications and interviewed countless students as an admissions officer at Pomona College and the College of the Holy Cross. He also works on CEG's internal college essay review committee where he provides insight and practical feedback on college essays and applications. He has also worked as a college counselor at a selective independent high school and understands how challenging writing about oneself can be and how high stakes it can feel — you’ll find nothing but empathy and solidarity from him as you learn techniques on how to craft a narrative.

Meet Andy (Special Guest)

Andrew Simpson has helped 10,000+ students on their journeys toward higher education. He attended Stanford and Oxford, earning degrees in Political Science and Drama.

He taught college classes in Los Angeles in Critical Thinking, Sociology, Anthropology of Media, Political Science, English Composition, and Public Speaking. He believes Myers-Briggs is flawed and there are better personality tests out there.

He has worked with Ethan for more than 15 years, is Ethan's go-to coach when he gets stuck with a student, and now works with College Essay Guy full-time.

Coach students at every level of writing ability.