College Essay Workshop

Summer 2024 Offerings: June 17-28 and July 15-26

The College Essay Workshop will be offered twice during Summer 2024. When registering, students can choose their preferred session from one of the two offerings: June 17-28 or July 15-26.

This is a two-week workshop designed to help rising 12th-grade students get a head start on the college application process. During the first week of the workshop, students will attend synchronous video conferences and work sessions designed to get them from ideation, to an outline and ultimately to a draft. The second week of the workshop will be centered around small-group feedback sessions during which students and teachers will work to improve initial drafts. Students will walk away from this two-week workshop with a strong working draft of an essay that they can continue to refine for their college applications.

Note: The College Essay Workshop costs $250 for students from member schools and $350 for students from non-member schools. Unlike other GOA courses, this workshop is ungraded and non-credit-bearing.

Drop Deadline: For the June 17-28 session, the last day to drop with no financial penalty is June 17, and the last day for a 50% refund of the enrollment fee is June 18. For the July 15-26 session, the last day to drop with no financial penalty is July 15, and the last day for a 50% refund of the enrollment fee is July 16.

Students in GOA courses will need reliable access to a computer with webcam/microphone connections, an email address (preferably school-based), a Web-conferencing app (GOA courses use Zoom), and a Word processing app (GOA courses use Google’s G Suite). When necessary, alternative arrangements may be made. Some courses require additional materials which can be found here.

View Course Outline

Meet the faculty facilitating the College Essay Workshop:

Kim Banion is an English instructor at Pembroke Hill School in Kansas City, Missouri and has been a part of GOA since 2013. She brings over a decade's experience ushering students through the college essay process as a teacher, mentor, and tutor. She has a passion for helping students understand the power of their own stories and unique voices in the college application process.

Joel Garza teaches Fiction Writing and Race & Society at GOA. He has also served as the Upper School English department for seventeen years at Greenhill School in Texas. Joel guides students through the process of finding the right story to tell in just the right way. With his guidance, students find their voice, find their stories, and bring themselves and their goals to life.