College & Graduate Admission Essay Consultant
Shirley Tokheim, Ph.D.
College & Graduate Admission Essay Consultant
Shirley Tokheim, Ph.D.
College Admission Essay Writing Workshops
College admission essays are a critical aspect of your student's application. Thoughtful, creative essays set students apart from their scores and grades—they provide a view into what makes your student unique.
With the college application season around the corner, most high school students benefit from guidance in writing their college essays. The College Admission Essay Workshop provides a structured approach to help students write their admission essays.
Its founder, Shirley Tokheim, has spent the last thirty years developing an effective college essay writing process. She’s helped countless students craft successful college essays and is excited to help your student through this reflective process.
Shirley currently teaches English at Palo Alto High School, where she was also Head of the English Department for twelve years. Shirley has a Ph.D. in Education Policy from U.C. Berkeley, an M.A. from Stanford, and a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley.
College Admission Essay Writing Workshops
College admission essays are a critical aspect of your student's application. Thoughtful, creative essays set students apart from their scores and grades—they provide a view into what makes your student unique.
With the college application season around the corner, most high school students benefit from guidance in writing their college essays. The College Admission Essay Workshop provides a structured approach to help students write their admission essays.
Its founder, Shirley Tokheim, has spent the last thirty years developing an effective college essay writing process. She’s helped countless students craft successful college essays and is excited to help your student through this reflective process.
Shirley currently teaches English at Palo Alto High School. She has a Ph.D. in Education Policy from U.C. Berkeley, an M.A. from Stanford, and a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley.
This 5-day online workshop focuses on writing the Common Application essay. The small classroom-like setting allows for ongoing instruction and individualized feedback. Throughout the workshop, Shirley will provide extensive, personal feedback on each student's ideas and writing.
Dates: June 10 - 14, 2024, from 1-4 p.m. Pacific Time
Limited to 10 students.
What the workshop will cover:
- Fundamentals of college essays and personal narratives
- Exercises to discover voice and story
- Review of admission essay examples
- Daily feedback sessions
- Daily work sessions
- Assignments to prepare for the next day’s class
- Guidelines for polishing essays
By the end of the week, each student will have:
- A refined draft of their Common Application essay
- 3 to 4 additional stories to support supplemental essays
- Strategies for responding to supplemental essay prompts
Sometimes students need a little extra support than the workshop allows. Shirley has set aside time throughout the college application season to work with a limited number of students one on one.
You’ve finished your college admission essay drafts, but you know they could sound better. Crisper. Tighter. With more voice. You’re ready to take them to the next level before submitting them.
Sound familiar?
Shirley can help. During this revision mini-workshop, you’ll learn strategies for how to edit your drafts to make them pop. You’ll also get personal feedback from Shirley about your writing. And you’ll have time to implement the instruction and feedback to make the essays polished and ready to send.
Bring your drafts and come ready to work!
College Admission Essay Revision Workshop
2024 Dates TBD
Clients have gained admission to:
Stanford | Harvard | Princeton | Brown | Yale | UC Berkeley | Northwestern | Boston University | University of Washington | UCLA | USC | Georgetown | Tufts | Tulane | Oberlin College | George Washington | UC Santa Barbara | UC Santa Cruz | Claremont McKenna | UC San Diego | UC Irvine | SMU | University of Colorado Boulder | University of Oregon | Babson | Webster | American University of Paris | New York University
About Shirley Tokheim, Ph.D.
Shirley has loved working with teenagers practically since she was one herself. Her expertise: breaking down the writing process to make it accessible. Through extensive experience inside and outside the classroom, Shirley has developed a step-by-step process for how to write a fantastic college essay.
She’s an expert at asking the right questions to elicit core values and stories from a student’s life. Her eyes light up when students connect to their soul—and again when they capture their stories in excellent writing. “YES—that’s it!” she’ll exclaim when it all comes together in a beautifully crafted essay. Nothing is more satisfying to her than seeing polished pieces that represent a student’s best thinking and writing. It’s work they’re proud to send to colleges.
And the payoff can be acceptance into their chosen schools.
While raising her three now adult daughters, Shirley started a boutique tutoring business in the Bay Area that specialized in writing instruction. She soon became an expert in guiding students through the process of crafting successful college application essays. (Not surprisingly, she also has extensive experience helping students with their graduate school personal statements.)
Contact
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