Ready to write brilliant college application essays?

PERSONAL STATEMENT will open for enrollment for the class of 2025 in the spring.

Class of 2024, your college application essays will matter even more than you think they do.

Your essays will matter more than…

SAT scores schools may not consider / Gaps in your education or extracurriculars due to COVID-19 / Stellar grades alone / Any other guarantees you believe are baked into your transcript

Do you want to write your best essay yet?

The essay that spells out your truest self, and launches you into the running for acceptance at one or more of your dream schools?

You can crack the code of exactly what to say and how to say it…

gain deeper self-knowledge you can use to your advantage…

shed the pressure to perform that often slows you down…

and find that you are actually quite an amazing wordsmith.

This is the course I wish I’d had in high school while dashing from play rehearsal to Interact community service events to conduct research for AP Psych: a clear road map of exactly what to do, how to do it, and a schedule to keep me on track.

PERSONAL STATEMENT is an eight week transformation from the blank page to having a real live Common App essay through lessons delivered into your inbox each week in both PDF and audio form. While reading a lesson is helpful, also hearing that lesson (maybe even while taking a walk?) can really help the message come to life. These lessons cover important topics such as…

* how to brainstorm great ideas for college essays
* how personal to get and what to not write about
* how to revise each layer of your draft using different objectives
* handy literary devices with examples of use
* common grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors
* how to connect with admissions officers you’ve never met
* turning the task of writing college apps into a revolutionary act
* language tools you can use in all areas of your life

In addition you’ll receive two rounds of edits at key moments in your writing process, with thorough notes delivered via a Google doc which I will share with you. Use all you’ve learned from the course and then get personalized feedback on your work!

As a champion of young people, a screenwriter and performer in Hollywood, a malcontent about convention, and a teacher of writing as wizardry, I created PERSONAL STATEMENT for you and your transformation.

Skip the conventional advice, the cookie cutter instructions, and those tired old books such as Top Fifty Essays That Hogwarts Loved and come join the ranks of all my students who have enjoyed taking a more fruitful and individualized route.

Through my oddball anecdotes and humorous explanations (sometimes they’re just dad jokes) gain a greater understanding of how to think and write that will massively improve your college applications and serve you well in next year’s honors or AP English class, in college, and beyond.

Learn at your own pace by following along on schedule or taking more time to finish. You’ll have the files to download and keep–the equivalent of a solid textbook–and the course will end with plenty of time prior to your deadlines to rework and submit.

Once you’ve powered through the lessons of PERSONAL STATEMENT, you’ll walk away with a giant list of topics and an expanded skill set to draw from that will aid you in fulfilling the requirements of the rest of your college application essays.

AVAILABLE UNTIL ALL SEATS FILL, or by 6/2/23 (Summer I) or 7/14/23 (Summer II)

Sign ups are rolling (until all available seats in the course are taken, or by 6/2/23 for Summer I or by 7/14/23 for Summer II). Once you enroll, the course will begin delivery to you on 6/4/23 for Summer I or 7/16/23 for Summer II and will run for the following eight weeks with materials delivered every Monday morning. Instructions on how to send in your work and receive each editing round with be delivered along with course materials.

***Please include the full name and email address of the student the course is for in the notes section of the payment process so that I can send out the course materials directly to them.***

WHY DID I CREATE THIS COURSE?

YEAR OF TRANSFORMATION, my signature counseling package which includes second semester of junior year through all of App Season, has evolved over years from the enormous amount of deep work, feedback, and planning I do for my students. Not everyone can afford to hire me and not everyone reaches me in time to nab a spot on my roster (working with me on college applications usually sells out the October before the year the student begins to apply). I packed my key lessons on writing the personal statement—which normally cost thousands of dollars for tailored one-on-one sessions over many months—into this much more affordable eight week online course that comes with two full rounds of edits.

For much less than the cost of working individually with a college counselor, you’ll gain transformative written communication skills to set you on just the right path.

For those of you for whom the cost of counseling or scheduling meeting time is a barrier, I’ve got your back. I wrote PERSONAL STATEMENT because you deserve as much as anybody to learn how to write brilliant essays that win acceptance letters to great colleges. Ultimately it’s the course I’ve been formulating since I wrote my own personal statement at age sixteen, ignoring mediocre advice from English teachers and forging my own path to the University of Chicago and then Stanford. PERSONAL STATEMENT represents what I have learned through running my own college admissions consulting firm and through all of my prior educational advising (more about me).

I specifically designed this course to be accessible and useful to many more students than I am personally able to coach each year. For less than the cost of meeting with me a few times individually, you can access the foundational knowledge that will whip your most important college essay–and every one that comes after–into fabulous shape.

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?

If you are any of the following, this course is totally for you:

* Super smart people who want next-level writing instruction
* Those who don’t consider themselves great writers but are passionate about great colleges
* Anyone who’d appreciate a feminist/social activist perspective in their college app essay course
* Comedy nerds (or if you like rolling your eyes at jokes LOL what)
* Traditionalists who want to DO EVERYTHING EXACTLY RIGHT and need permission to get emotional and messy
* Rebels who are 100% over how most adults teach teenagers
* Those who are ready to throw down, have faith, and fully commit to rewriting a whole lot of times
* Anyone who isn’t able or doesn’t want to hire a college counselor but wants some help
* You, if you’re shouting ABSOLUTELY LET’S DO THIS! #westayready

WHO IS THIS COURSE NOT FOR?

If you are any of the following, this course is likely not for you:

* If you haven’t been able to pull a B or better in your English classes, this course may be too advanced
* Those who want the typical writing exercises and advice—basic formulas, please
* Anyone unwilling to simultaneously work with the wild space of feelings and grammar rules
* Ultra serious people who only care about getting into Harvard
* Parents wondering how to advise their kids (check out my top eight tips for free instead)
* Counselors wanting material (this course is my intellectual property, but you can hire me as a consultant for your school)
* Underclassmen (if you’re not a rising senior, wait on taking this and contact me for a reminder when the course opens again)
* Students who are already doing one-on-one counseling with me (I’ve got you covered)

What results come from the insights I share in PERSONAL STATEMENT? Yes, getting into dream colleges. But if you’ve ever heard that it’s not just the destination, it’s the journey…

“To put it simply: Audrey helped me achieve my dream since second grade. She allowed me to translate the jumbled-up mess of thoughts and ideas swirling around in my brain into a story that was both creative and compelling, and most importantly, presented the best version of myself without failing to maintain honesty and authenticity…With Audrey, I was able to craft the most genuine, endearing, and colorful picture of myself, and I can’t thank her enough for the humor, inspiration, and fun she brought into my life for several months.  Audrey is a gem of a human, and I am so beyond thrilled about and thankful for the opportunities working with her has opened up for me, and surely will open up for everyone who chooses Audrey as a writing coach.” –Eleanor, Stanford ’23

“Audrey is such a wonderful counselor! She was always there for me, rooting for me and helping me stay positive. She really helped me flesh out my ideas and communicate my story through my essays. She was with me through all the ups and downs (there were a LOT of essays to write).” –Evan, University of California Los Angeles ’22

“Audrey is a beautiful human being, in every way you could interpret that word, and this is why. She realizes the importance of numbers (grades, SAT scores, etcetera), but more importantly she values and helps bring out the most important element in any college’s admission process: YOU. That’s right, I said it. You are more important than your grades. Despite what you may think, colleges care if you eat rainbow rolls with your ex or just happen to like pans or even if you’ve done Shakespeare in drag. Whatever your own personal quirks and stories are, Audrey will help you realize just how much they define you as a person. Admissions officers are not looking for human shaped supercomputers, they are looking for real people.” –Emre, New York University ’21

“Audrey is there to guide you through periods of writer’s block and epiphanic moments – and everything in between! Audrey is simply the best in writing and life advice; a fun, dynamic spark of personality that often brought me solace and appreciation for the reflecting process of college applications. She’s dedicated in caring for her students and an incredible life adviser! I couldn’t have asked for more when working with her–she’s the best!” –Austin, The University of Chicago ’19

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Question: What is included in the course, and what does it cost?

Answer: PERSONAL STATEMENT includes eight weeks of lessons delivered in PDF and audio format every Monday for eight consecutive weeks. You will also receive two thorough rounds of edits on your personal essay draft given over a shared Google doc during the course (instructions to follow alongside course materials). The course costs $995, and you can use any debit or credit card supported by Square.

Question: What if I want you to read my essay and give me feedback?

Answer: This course is designed primarily for you to fly solo, but this year I am offering two rounds of edits on your personal statement (see the above answer to the prior question). At the end of the course, I will also offer the option to purchase one more editing round. If you want to work with me more extensively, you can use the contact form on my website to reach out about one-on-one counseling (you can join the waitlist to be notified if any spots open for the rest of 2023).

Question: I might not get that draft review in to you during the eight weeks of the course. How do I know that this course will help me improve my writing if you don’t review my work? What if I’m going on vacation for one or more of those weeks?

Answer: While I have no idea exactly how strong of a writer you currently are, if you let these lessons take you on a journey, you will go deep and your skills will exponentially increase. How do I know this? I see what students create with these teachings and prompts even before I’ve given them notes. This course is just as much about personal exploration as it is about putting words on the page, and if you dedicate at least a few hours each week to contemplation and revising drafts, you’ll significantly improve. How great that this course is yours to work through while on vacation and/or after you get back!

Question: Do you offer refunds for the course?

Answer: I do not offer refunds for the course for any reason. If you are unsure as to whether you’ll benefit from what I have to offer, you’re welcome to review my website to get a sense of my approach and the results I’ve gotten with students as well as to sign up on my site to receive my newsletter. If you still aren’t sure, perhaps I’m not the right teacher for you. And that’s okay!

Question: My internet is spotty. If I buy the course, will I have access to the materials?

Answer: New lessons (in PDF and MP3 format) go out over email every Monday for eight weeks. If you can go online once weekly, you can download and print the lessons to take with you.

Question: I have suffered through really sad attempts by some of my teachers to educate me over the internet. How do I know that this won’t be similarly boring and unhelpful?

Answer: Zero is the amount of tolerance I have for homework assignments that aren’t also fun and ideally a little mind-blowing. Lessons that drag on? Bah no way! If you get tired of reading, you can listen to me deliver the material in my comedic fashion. If you need things spelled out, I explain it all. And if you’d like to feel you’re working a magic spell in writing your very best essay to get into your favorite colleges, that’s my true intention in how I crafted our class.

Registration for PERSONAL STATEMENT will close Friday June 2nd 2023 for Summer I and Friday July 14th 2023 for Summer II *or sooner once each section is filled* and contain only a limited number of seats. Register now to grab your spot!

“Thank you so much for guiding me to write an essay that unlocked a creative side of me that I had never seen. The essay that we worked on together is probably the piece of writing that I am most proud of to this day.” –Alan, UCLA ’19