1-Week Intensives

Intensives for 2016

We have an exciting offer for those of you who have conflicting schedules for the full six-week Paving the Way to the College of Your Dreams workshop or for those who would like to do intensive work on one or more of the modules of the full workshop. It’s also great for those who have taken the workshop, and would like to do further work in any of these areas. They are as follows and all will be held at UCLA:

IDENTITY EXPLORATION

Date: TBA

In the college selection process, you must first discover who you are, what you like, what you want, where you fit, what type of environment works best for your style of learning and what will give you the best opportunity to become the fully-realized person you are capable of being. In high school, you have had the opportunity to grow and expand, but within fairly narrow boundaries. Choosing a college to attend is most likely the first opportunity you’ve had to really see where and how you can fly, grow, seek out a large variety of opportunities and develop your own uniqueness. By starting now, you can assure that wherever you go, you will thrive and develop into the best you can be.

In this one-week intensive, students will:

  • Engage in powerful and eye-opening self-inquiry and creative exploration so that they can better ascertain their passions and goals while creating a unified underlying vision.
  • Discover, cultivate, and articulate their unique qualities, garnering a better understanding of their authentic selves and tapping into their personal “signature”
  • Identify their “likes” and “dislikes” and how these preferences will inform their research, exploration, and decision-making process
  • Pinpoint strengths as well as areas for potential growth so that academic coursework and extracurricular endeavors can be sought out with greater clarity and purpose
  • Understand how the right fit college will grow, inspire, and equip them to play out their dreams.
  • Creating three profiles: Self-generated, teacher-generated, and workshop leader-generated
  • Referring to their “likes” and “dislikes” list
  • Creating and/or refining a college list
  • Our College Admissions Counselor will review and make additional and specific recommendations individually tailored for each participant

COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSENTIALS

 Date: TBA

Putting together a compelling college application takes time, consideration and organization. In this one-week intensive, you will learn the essentials of what will make your college application brilliant, organized, impactful and the best expression of your unique value to the schools of your choice. We will delve into all the important steps of the college application process, leaving no stone unturned.

Students will:

  • Learn and implement organizational and time management skills which are individualized to work specifically for each one of them in order to track application deadlines, submission materials deadlines, transcript deadlines, etc.
  • Cultivate stress-management techniques that will serve them both now and later in college and throughout their lives.
  • Determine what steps are important to take in their current and/or upcoming year of high school and often-overlooked areas to consider while navigating through the process including:
    • reviewing common “most-asked” questions;
    • exploring misconceptions;
    • talking about factors to consider when choosing a college;
    • learning why the personal statement is so important and determining what elements comprise a powerful, memorable essay;
    • how to stand out in the selection process and why learning about oneself plays an invaluable part in making an optimal personal choice
  • Move into the actual exploration of coming from an authentic place in order to choose a subject for the common app essay and review common supplemental essay topics
  • Determine if application for financial aid is desired, how to gather the information needed to apply and when that process takes place
  • Choosing a teacher or two and/or coach or school advisor to write a letter of recommendation.
  • Get their individual needs addressed to ensure optimal college planning and/or the admissions process

WRITING A COMPELLING PERSONAL STATEMENT

Date: TBA

 At this point, you have decided what you want from college, have a good foundation for putting together your college list, taken a good look at the narrative of your application based on your academic and personal enrichment criteria. Congratulations! The next step is writing a compelling personal statement which will serve as the unifying and anchoring of an impactful admissions package and will set you apart from every other applicant.

This week will focus on exploring and choosing two or three of your own experiences that have been important or transformative, and then turn them into vibrant stories that show not only the impact of the experience itself, but will also showcase who you are!

Curriculum includes:

  • Learning the key essentials that comprise memoir style writing
  • Reading and discussing some examples of exceptional college application essays
  • Doing guided free writes to help you discover a few compelling stories from your past and pick one or two to develop further
  • Exploring your distinct voice as a writer, using various methods for tapping into that voice
  • Looking at prompts from actual college supplemental applications, choosing the most fitting ones, and writing authentic and inspired short essays
  • Outlining the narrative of your essays and how they should all fit together
  • Writing, receiving feedback from peers and instructors, and finish two essays of your choice

 Please call our administrative team at 310-902-7912 to enroll or to ask questions.

“Enrolling in Rainbow’s “Paving the Way to the College of your Dreams” workshop was the best thing I could have done to prepare myself for the college application process. The amazing support that I received from both Sascha and Avriel helped me organize my thoughts around what college would best fit my needs as a student, and gave me individualized, expert attention that I couldn’t have gotten at my school. Even after participating in the program, I continue to work with Avriel, and find the mentoring relationship we’ve built invaluable. I am grateful to have such a wonderful, bright mentor who really cares about me and knows what I want even when it seems hidden to me. But more than anything, Rainbow Tutoring helped me define who I am now and who I want to be in the future. Not only do I feel prepared to take on my college applications, but I also hold a new self-awareness that has given me the confidence I need in moving onto the next stage of my life.”
-Areanna Sabine; Undergraduate, Emory University & Alumna of The Brentwood School

Wendy Hammers

"I know this is a big statement, but my son's participation in the Paving The Way To the College of Your Dreams workshop has been a life altering, and a much needed anchor for him, as he prepares for college and beyond. The Rainbow educators present the types of questions that desperately need to be asked at this crucial, and sometimes challenging, point in a teenager's life. Just as importantly, the environment in which these questions are posed is a fun, safe one, where he has been open and willing to explore in a way he would not with his own parents.  Our family will be forever grateful to the Paving Program and the Rainbow team!"
WENDY HAMMERS
PARENT, SANTA MONICA HIGH SCHOOL

Leven Simon

It's hard to find words to describe how I feel about Rainbow Tutoring. Their impressive repertoire of skilled tutors helped me navigate the road to the SAT in a fun and creative way. The comfortable and stress free environment that they provide made preparing for the SAT a once in a life time experience that I will cherish forever. I am blessed to have found Rainbow Tutoring, and anyone else who gets the privilege to work with them will love the ride.
Leven Simon
Crossroads School

April K - llink

“I signed up for the Ivy League Creative Writing Intensive, hoping that I’d learn something that would aid me in writing my college application essays. After just two weeks, I’d written two amazing pieces about my life and experiences. When reading over what I’d written, I couldn’t believe that the words were mine. This course gave me the tools I needed to recognize my own abilities.”
April K.