Admit One

WONDERWORKS presents the 12TH ANNUAL COLLEGE ESSAY/COUNSELING WORKSHOP for rising 12th grade Wonderworks students only (i.e. applying to college in Fall/Winter 2025/26)

21 - 25 July 2025 | 10AM - 4 PM | via Zoom

…by some estimates, half of all high-achieving low- and middle-income students have not even been applying to top colleges — largely because they believe they can’t afford it, doubt they’ll be accepted, or aren’t even aware of their options. As a result, they often lose out — and so do colleges that would benefit from their talents and diverse perspectives. Our country loses out too.

Michael Bloomberg, “More Aid for College Students,” New York Times, 19 November 2018

The college essay is the one chance most students have to give admissions committees a sense of their own voice, personality, circumstances, and potentials, apart from the clues standardized tests, coursework, and grades provide, even when supplemented by the third-person testimonials of teachers and counselors. These essays have not only spawned a cottage industry of coaches and consultants, they’ve also become a genre unto themselves, specimen examples of which are published in The New York Times annually, copiously anthologized, and even posted on the websites of some of the most selective colleges and universities nationwide.

Increasingly, admissions committees tend to be looking for “chemistry” when assembling freshman classes, so they may search for signs of “valence” in your essay. While there’s no way to outguess them, the essay is an important, possibly game-changing, opportunity to put your best self and sensibility forward. Properly understood, a college essay should be something you and only you could have written. It should be familiar in style rather than stiff and formal, as though you were telling it in a relaxed but focused way to a somewhat older friend. It should be interesting and, ideally, memorable for all the right reasons.

Over a period of five consecutive days, you will go through several drafts of an essay addressing current/recurring Common Application, with the help of our faculty of experienced college-level English and creative writing instructors. You will be expected to write outside of class as well as during it.

College counselors will provide individual consultations to devise well-balanced and attainable college application lists and strategies. The workshop includes morning and afternoon sessions, including all-class presentations, break-out groups, and one-on-one consultations.

Admit One is open exclusively to rising twelfth-grade students who have satisfactorily completed any Wonderworks pre-college program and is offered at no additional cost. The workshop is held via Zoom, Monday – Friday.

If you have questions or need additional information, please e-mail info@wonderworkshouston.org.