Not at all! Write Big 101 lets students work at their own pace. While students can completely set their own schedule, the course does include 3 significant bonuses—unique timelines for finishing the essay.  Write Big 101 students can choose from a 2-week, 1-week, or Quickstart option to help them stay on track and finish their essays.

Write Big 101 is simple and easy to use! I use an excellent learning platform called Kajabi, built specifically for online courses. Once registered, your student will set up an ID and password to Write Big 101 that they’ll need to save. Additionally, they’ll have 24/7 access to all of the lessons and resources. If they experience any difficulty with access, there’s IT support available to help them.

First, things first. Your student is not a bad writer, but likely a developing writer, someone who might try hard but lacks sufficient understanding of how good writing works. [End soapbox.] That said, Write Big 101 combines my years as a college writing professor and writing coach to fill in the gaps in their composition education. How? By treating them like writers and teaching them storytelling. As students discover there’s a process for selecting topics, an organizational structure that helps them develop meaning, and strategies for making changes and edits, they learn. And just in time for college.

Yes! Write Big 101 is elastic enough for all college-bound seniors who want to submit their very best essay for admissions. The majority of my private coaching clients are top students with upwards of 3.8 unweighted GPA, including many accomplished 4.0 students. Learn the strategies in Write Big 101 helps these students tremendously because while they are familiar with achievement, they might not be skilled at talking about themselves in a conversational style or understand the traits that will make them standout—especially as they apply to schools with other top students.

Yes! Write Big 101 includes a bonus called Quickstart, an abbreviated pathway so students can dive into writing OR revise their essays for overall improvement. The Quickstart includes 4 essential lessons, including the Write Big signature structure, a deep dive into standout essays from real college students, Next-Level writing—a lesson devoted to the revision and editing decisions essential for making their essays shine, and more!

And…it’s rare that I see an essay from a student written in class or independently that does not need significant improvements. Why? It’s not because college-bound seniors are bad writers but more because they’re way out of their comfort zone with personal writing, and even some underestimate the high expectations of a college-level essay.

The answer is very likely, yes! While every learner is different, WB 101 was designed with learning styles in mind, with video lessons, visual tools, downloadable exercises, and a free copy of my book Write Big. The course contains essay models throughout with x-rays of standout essays to show students how they work and before and after segments that show change and progress.

Many of the students featured in Write Big share one or more learning challenges. It's inspiring to see their amazing writing in the book.

Great question! The final lessons in Write Big 101 teach your student how to revise and edit like a pro. In fact, these lessons come from the advanced writing class I taught in college for years. There’s tremendous value in your student learning to employ some of these techniques for themselves, along with the satisfaction in knowing that their essay demonstrates growth and new understanding. That said, I do encourage all students to invite an editor and proofreader into their final drafts. Everyone—even me who hired an editor for my book—need another set of eyes on our work, both to look for errors but also to ask questions when something doesn’t make sense. 

A little reminder never hurts…but you won’t be alone in that! When students begin the course (make sure to register with their email address), they’ll receive regular emails from me for the first 2-weeks to coach them through some of the snags in the writing process. I’ll even be checking in with them after the 2-week mark, to make sure they’ve made it to the end of writing their essay.

If your student takes the class, completes the lessons, has a 2.5 GPA or above, and submits her essay to colleges and is not accepted, I will give you your money back. Simply send me the list of colleges where your student applied, a copy of their essay and transcripts, and I will refund your money. Send information to me directly at [email protected]