College and University Bound Student Services

RISE College Essay Preparation module

This module is a focused and disciplined look at the student’s academic history, work experience, interests and passions to identify the combination of character traits and unique skills that can form the basis of college essays. 

The focus of this engagement is to unearth the genuine, heart-felt answers to questions outlined in specific college applications of the student’s choosing. 

Our primary goal in this engagement is to get to the WAFR (What is the Answer, For Real) that can be the focal point of college essays.

Understanding Self

• BIRKMAN Assessment

We will use the BIRKMAN Assessment tool for students to develop a better understanding of who he or she is and how the student desires to experience life.  This assessment will fine tune the student’s awareness of their behaviors and how others experience them at work, school, home and in the community. 

The BIRKMAN method will enable the student to develop keen insights into their behaviors, actions and language under high pressure situations. More specifically, the assessment will provide information on the student’s Usual and Stress Behaviors as well as reveal underlying Needs and Interests. Equipped with this information, students will be better able to see their underlying traits and better evaluate college and university environments that best suit their persona. 

More specifically, results from the BIRKMAN assessment will reveal:

We will utilize BIRKMAN certified Consultants to administer and debrief the assessments for all students. 

Essay preparation

• Unpack common app and school specific essay questions to help the student determine the real, authentic answers 

• Determine key topics that will highlight student’s character and achievements

 Essay Development

• Facilitate the development of selected topics into essays that best reflect the character and traits of the student

• Interactive work with the student to edit and refine the essays

College Interview practice

• Dedicated work with student to prepare for college interviews

  • Extensive role play

    • 1:1 practice with real interview questions 

  • Relaxation techniques to calm the jitters

• Execute an idea generation session to create compelling interview questions

Sample Approach

• An engaging framework that will help identify:

  • Key strengths

  • Key experiences

  • Common elements of Lauren’s character that show up in all facets of her life

  • An archetype that encapsulates and is a great representation of the combination of the student’s character traits and unique skills

• A repository of language and descriptors for Student to use to describe herself to external audiences

  • We will leverage the results of the BIRKMAN assessment for this exercise

• Bulleted answers to specific questions outlined in common app and specific colleges/universities of the student’s choosing

  • The answers to the questions will take the form of a one statement headline and a summary paragraph that provides context for the answer

  • The ‘answers’ identified in this deliverable will not be the college essay

    • The expectation is that the answers identified will form the basis or focal point for college essays that will be developed outside of this engagement

Achievement of the outcomes outlined above will require work by the student between sessions, including identification of the college essays that will be the focus of our engagement, personal reflection and writing headlines and context paragraphs. 

Our approach will be customized to best fit the needs of each student.

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