This group workshop will guide rising college seniors through the challenging process of creating a truly great and memorable personal statement for their college applications.

The class will begin with detailed and specific advice on writing a personal statement, using successful examples from past application years. Through a series of brief, illuminating lessons, students will learn how this writing task is different from anything they’ve done before—and how to adapt their writing style to produce a more genuine and effective essay.

Then, through both group workshop discussion and one-on-one consultation, students will:

1) Brainstorm and develop potential ideas

2) Create one or more outlines for possible essays

3) Write a first draft of the personal statement

4) Edit and re-write their drafts multiple times to create a final, polished essay

Meeting Dates (all classes 12 PM - 3PM):

June 24 (Mon), June 26 (Wed), July 1 (Mon), July 3 (Wed)

About the Instructor: Julio Machado graduated from Harvard University with a BA in History and Literature in 2003, and completed an MFA in Creative Writing in 2018. He has been guiding students through the college application process for nearly 20 years, first as a high school teacher and then as an independent tutor and advisor. His students have attended the best institutions in the country, with an overall acceptance rate of 34% at Top 10 universities. He has read and helped perfect hundreds of personal statements and thousands of supplemental essays. He is the expert on all things college, and he can help students at all levels achieve their academic goals.