  
Three comprehensive virtual college essay and application 
boot camps for your students

How to Write a Personal Statement

The College Application & Supplemental Essays

The University of California Personal Insight Questions

Recordings will be available for all boot camps.

How it Works:

Students join me live this summer.
Students can log-in from home or school, or watch the recordings of all the live sessions.

They get inspired to write.
Students receive a series of tools to guide their writing, and complete drafts in between sessions.

They start the fall with great drafts.
The flexible format allows counselors to be as hands-off (or hands-on) as they’d like.

Who is this program for?

This program was designed for high school college counselors with medium to large caseloads who work within a school setting, non-profit or Community Based Organization.

It’s for those counselors that need a little bit of help and would like to partner with me on guiding your students through the college essay process.

  
      We'll help you get the word out

        To make CEG Live as impactful and joyful as possible, we’ve created a collection of shareable assets, ready to send out to your students:

Assets Included:

Promotional PDF (pictured)
Copy and paste email templates
Short snippets of text for social media
Images/graphics to share with your students

  
"I LOVE THIS PROGRAM!  I recently did a classroom lesson for 12th graders and asked who their favorite college website was.  The students said—the College Essay Guy!"
  
-High School College Counselor

 
"I am so grateful for your willingness to help students (and counselors!) prepare their students for essays and to address other pertinent questions surrounding the college application process. This will be my 24th year as a Director of College Guidance, and your materials are truly the most user-friendly and practical guides for students I have ever encountered."
  
  -Carla, HS Counselor

Session Schedule & Details

How to Write the Personal Statement

Option 1: June 3, 5, 7 (Mon, Weds, Fri)
Option 2: June 17, 20, 21 (Mon, Thurs, Fri)

Live sessions run 10-11:30am & 4-5:30pm pacific

Session 1 | Brainstorming
Session 2 | Outlining & Writing
Session 3 | Revising & Upleveling

In this boot camp, I’ll walk your students step-by-step through how to brainstorm, outline, revise, and draft their personal statements.

Using my Choose Your Own Adventure essay tool, students will leave with everything they need to revise and polish their drafts.

What’s the Choose Your Own Adventure Essay Tool?

As part of CEG Live, your students get access to our step-by-step tool that helps them discover their personal statement topic, decide on a structure, and revise it as much as they like.

Inside the tool, I cover things like:

What’s the Purpose of the Personal Statement?
What are Four Qualities of an Outstanding Personal Statement?
Essay Brainstorming Exercises
Montage vs. Narrative Structure
7 Types of Montage Essay
How to Raise the Stakes and Draw Your Reader In
19 Ways to Make Your Essay More Insightful
How to Make Sure Your Personal Statement “Flows”
Lots more

How to Write the College Application + Supplemental Essays

Sunday, September 22nd
2-4:00pm PST (5-7:00pm EST)

In this session, I offer a values-based approach to helping students produce not only a stand-out Common Application, activities list, and additional information section, but also tips on answering the supplemental essays that many selective schools require. (Counselors are welcome to join too.)

In this crash course, I’ll cover:

How to Create an Inspired Application in Half the Time
The Activities List, Additional Info, and "Why Us?" Essay
The Extracurricular Essay
Specific Supplemental Essays for 40+ Colleges and Universities
The Short Answer Questions
How to Make Sure a College Application Is Doing Its Job

How to Write the UC Personal Insight Questions

This crash course provides students with a step-by-step guide to understanding the University of California’s Personal Insight Questions and Activities List.

Session 1: Saturday, October 5th | Brainstorming & Outlining
Session 2: Sunday, October 6th | Writing & Revising
Sessions held at 2-4:00pm PST (5-7:00pm EST)

I’ll cover:

7 Essential Tips for Applying to the UC Schools
What are the 13 elements of a comprehensive review?
How to Pick Your 4 UC Personal Insight Question Topics
Why You Should Outline Your PIQs Before Writing
How to Structure Any PIQ
Getting Feedback on Your PIQ Topics
Revising a Narrative PIQ (Writing about a Challenge)
Revising a Montage PIQ (Not Writing about a Challenge)

Students and counselors can tune in from anywhere.

watch anytime. anywhere.

Your students will receive simple and clear instructions for logging in to the tools and live events from home.

Adaptable curriculum

We’ll provide a suite of resources that can work flexibly with your college counseling process.

Counselor Support

Counselors get access to all the resources, tools, and live sessions so you can follow along.

  
You know soooo much about the college essay process. It was an easy program to promote and I felt comfortable knowing that an expert was leading the process for my students. It was a win-win! 
-Public School College Counselor

 
"The entire experience was very insightful and gave me the inspiration and motivation to get ahead on my college search and application process."
  
-Angelina, Student

 
  "You're an amazing teacher, and I can feel the passion you have for us. I really appreciate all the work you've done for us. Thanks to you, I've been able to say what I've wanted to say about my life and show how it has impacted me. That's something that I've struggled to do in the past. So from the bottom of my heart, I just want to say thank you!"
  
-Miles P, Student

 
"I followed every step from your videos for the main personal statement essay and my college advisor was wowed by my first draft. I made some small changes and now it's finished. I just wanted to thank you for that."
  
-Tea, Student

 
"First of all, this was incredibly beneficial for my writing process. Kudos to you and your team and my school counselor for recommending this. I enjoyed the brainstorming activities a lot, especially the “Essence Objects” and the “I Love” exercises. I have a few essays written now, thanks to those brainstorming sessions. Also, independently of the sessions, I found your list of recommended verbs for the activities list. It was a lifesaver."
  
-Alex, Student

 
I love how we went over actual samples to critique so that we could look out for certain things in our own essays! I loved how there was a step by step process to follow that made the whole process achievable. With everything going on, the brainstorming part of the process helped me further appreciate what I have instead of mourning the things I’ve lost. The process has shown me how grateful I am to have so many things worth writing about. That being said, I just wanted to say thank you.
  
-Andrea, Student

CEG LIVE at a Glance:

how to write the Personal Statement
Boot Camps

Option 1: June 3, 5, 7 (MWF)
Option 2: June 17, 20, 21 (MThF)

10-11:30am & 4-5:30pm PST
(1-2:30pm & 7-8:30pm EST)

College App + Supplemental Essay crash course

Sunday Sept 22nd from
2-4:00pm PST (5-7:00pm EST)

University of california Personal Insight Questions crash course

October 5 & 6 (Sat & Sun) from 2-4:00pm PST (5-7:00pm EST)

Student will receive access to my Choose Your Own Adventure Tool, which answers pretty much any college essay questions a student might have. They will also receive resources and guides for supplemental essays and the rest of the application, as well as access to the UC Personal Insight Questions Tool.

  
      Qualifying schools may join College Essay Guy Live at little to no cost. 
Learn more below.

College Essay Guy LIVE is always free for students..

At College Essay Guy, we’re committed to providing access to high-quality essay support for any student, anywhere.

After surveying you, our counselor community, we learned that budgets vary widely, so we’ve created options for qualifying organizations to join CEG Live at a reduced cost.

Yep, that’s right. Submit the form below to see if your organization qualifies, and to request a pro-bono spot for CEG Live.

COLLEGE ESSAY GUY LIVE

Schools and Organizations

^$997
$497*
*Early Bird Pricing

regular price: $997 PER YEAR

For: Any school or organization. Your contribution supports our Matchlighters Scholars program.

College Essay Guy Live

Schools and Organizations

^$0*
*Pay-What-You-Can Spots

PER YEAR

For: Qualifying schools that work with students who have high financial need.

Request a spot

PERSONALIZED WORKSHOPS

Book a Private Workshop

Schedule a Call
with Us

Private customizable workshops for your school
Led by an inspiring trained facilitator
Take place virtually or in person at your school
Professional development, student workshops, and consulting options

LEARN MORE

MEET YOUR GUIDE

Ethan Sawyer is a nationally recognized college essay expert and sought-after speaker. Each year he helps thousands of students and counselors through his online courses, workshops, blog posts, 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, is certified in Myers-Briggs and hypnotherapy. He lives in Los Angeles with his beautiful wife, Veronica, and their amazing daughter, Zola.

Learn more about Ethan »

Frequently Asked Questions

+When will College Essay Guy LIVE 2024 Registration Start?

We anticipate registration will begin in April 2024! More details in the coming weeks.

+What are the dates for College Essay Guy LIVE 2024's live sessions?

How to Write the Personal Statement:

June 3rd, 5th, and 7th
June 17th, 20th, and 21st

The College Application & Supplemental Essays

September 22nd

The UC Personal Insight Questions

October 5th & 6th

+Who is eligible to register for College Essay Guy LIVE?

This program is designed for high school college counselors who work within a school setting, as well as non-profit organizations and CBOs that support students through the college application process.

+Once resgistration is live, how do I sign up? How do I register my students?

It’s pretty simple.

Once you’ve registered your school or organization at the Register links above, you’ll receive a welcome email as well as resources and instructions for next steps. Once signed up, we have two ways to register your students:

Option 1: You can send your students a specific link and they can register themselves.

Option 2: You can work with us to register all of your students in bulk with a simple spreadsheet.

+Can I register my students for only one or some of the offerings listed above?

This year, you can register your students for one of two personal statement boot camp options. All students will be registered for the College Application + Supplemental Essays crash course and the UC Personal Insight Questons crash course.

After registering, you’ll be instructed on how to register your students and how to indicate which personal statement boot camp you’d like to register your students for.

+Can I make payment by paper check/wire transfer/some other method? Can I get a purchase order/invoice for approval from my school?

Yes and yes. We’ve got you covered. Just email help@collegeessayguy.com with the subject “College Essay Guy LIVE” and share a bit more and we’ll follow up with next steps.

+We have three counselors at our school. Should each of us sign up for College Essay Guy Live separately?

Only one counselor needs to sign up per school/organization. You’re more than welcome to add multiple counselors or teachers to the registration list when you begin that process.

Or, as noted above, you can register yourselves through the self-registration link shared in your welcome email so that you can be notified via email of the program events and receive links to the live sessions.

+Is my student’s contact information safe? Will students receive marketing emails for other services?

Student privacy is very important to us. We will never share student emails or information or send them any marketing emails. All communication will be related exclusively to how to receive access to the free live workshop sessions and the tools and resources in this program.

+I’m a current student/parent of a student. Can I register my child for the program?

At this time, this program is only open to students whose counselor from their school/organization has registered their student.

If you’d like to have your school register, please feel free to share this program with your high school college counselor to see if they’d like to join the program.

If your school is not joining this program, we also offer a suite of live and recorded student courses that guide students through the college application process. (Keep an eye on our email newsletter for more about our live summer Boot Camps.)

+Is there a limit to how many students I can register?

This program is open to your entire class of rising seniors.

+Will there be recordings?

You bet! We record each live session and send a follow-up email to everyone who is registered with a copy of the recording. Recordings are typically uploaded within 24-48 hours.

+What is the deadline to register my students by?

We recommend that you sign up and let your students know as far in advance as possible of the live workshops so that you and your students can plan to mark the live workshop dates in the calendars. We recommend giving your students at least 4-6 weeks notice. The more time they have to plan, the more likely they’ll be to take advantage of the resources offered. We’ll close registration two weeks before the live event. At the very latest, aim to have your students registered a week before each live session begins.

+When will you send out emails to the students?

We’ll send out a “welcome” email to students once they’ve been registered.

After that, we’ll send them a few reminder emails in the weeks leading up to the Boot Camps that you’ve signed them up for.

+I received an email from my child’s school counselor about this essay boot camp. How do I register my child?

Your student’s school counselor will need to register their school, and they will likely have emailed you/your student directly with instructions on how to sign up. Keep an eye out for more instructions by email, or reach out to your counselor for more information.

+How long do my students have access to the materials?

Your students will have access to the video lessons, workshop recordings, and Choose Your Own Adventure revising tool through the end of the admissions cycle.

+What resources can I share with my students?

Our resources are always free to share with your students. But if you’d like to use our content in your curricula, please learn how to attribute materials to College Essay Guy at this link here.

+I’ve got another question that isn’t on here!

Check out our FAQ page, or email us at Help@CollegeEssayGuy.com if your question isn’t answered there and we will get back to you ASAP.