Working on your college applications? Free workshop in Foothill Ranch this Saturday!

You're more than a number (SAT/ACT score/GPA), and you're more than the list of your extracurricular activities. But how do you show college admission officers the real you that goes beyond those numbers
and that list? There's only one real way, and that's through the essays you write for applications.
Well-crafted, authentic answers to the University of California personal insight questions or a standout
essay for the Common Application can make the difference between getting an acceptance or rejection during the increasingly-competitive college application process. Last year, for instance, UCLA received the most
number of freshman applications to any college in history--102,000 for approximately 7,000 slots. With college admission decisions increasingly becoming more "holistic" in their review of students, the essay has
grown in importance.

So do you need to spend $1,000 for an group essay writing "boot camp," as some private college counselors charge locally? Absolutely not. Start with a free workshop from The Write Direction, which will help give you the writing tools you need to tackle your personal statements. The workshop is being offered Saturday, July 15 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Foothill Ranch Library, 27002 Cabriole.

In this one-hour interactive workshop, students will:

• Discover what colleges are looking for and why application essays are so important
• Learn about this year's Common Application essay prompts and University of California personal insight questions
• Brainstorm topics
• Find out how to tell their own stories, in their own voices

The workshop is limited to 20 students, so please register in advance at www.thewritedirection.org. Workshops are offered throughout Orange County, with events scheduled in Irvine and Orange in the next week. Please check our events calendar to find a date and location that works for you.

The Write Direction is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Tax ID #81-4316251, that guides high school students as they prepare essays for college admissions and scholarships. We work to level the playing field for students who can't afford private college counseling services.