College Essay Guy's
2026 Counselor Training Program
 
Uplevel your college essay coaching with access to expert-led professional development, my comprehensive college essay coaching framework, and new frameworks for helping students navigate use of AI.

Live sessions in March and April, or watch ondemand.
 
Register Now

Early Bird Registration Ends February 20th.

Hi, Counselors

If you’re looking for a clearer, more repeatable way to coach personal statements, supplemental essays, and activities lists without reinventing the wheel, I hope you’ll consider joining me for my 2026 Counselor Training Program.

This year I’ve kept the core structure, but have included a few updates to make your work more effective, more meaningful, and easier to apply in real sessions.
 

Introducing My 2026 Counselor Training Program

Updated and revised to be even more effective and more practical than ever.

 
What Is It?
"Based on the culmination of the 18+ years I’ve spent helping students navigate the college application process, my Counselor Training Program is a live two-part professional development course that equips college counselors and independent consultants with the tools, skills, and resources they need to more confidently guide students through the college application process. It remains the most effective way I know to help a student go from 'I have no idea where to start' all the way to a personal statement and supplemental essays that stand out." - Ethan Sawyer
 
 

What's Included?

Register

Featuring My Two Signature Courses for Counselors

Join me live or take the courses on-demand.

LIVE SESSION DATES & Times:

March 10, 17, 24, & 31, 2026
Advanced Track: 10-11:30am PT (1-2:30pm ET)
Foundational Track: 4-5:30pm PT (7-8:30pm ET)

Advanced Track Syllabus
Foundational Track Syllabus

Learn to help your students find their deepest story, structure their essays, and craft a personal statement they're proud of. Leave your students inspired to write their story.

Take a Look Inside part one

Week 1: Brainstorming & Choosing a Topic +

Included in this module:
  • A Walk-through of the (Updated) Process I Use With My Private One-on-One Students

  • How to Handle Writing About Religion, Politics, and Other Stigmatized Issues

  • Tips for Students Writing about Mental Health Issues in the Personal Statement

  • What to Do When a Student Feels They Have “Nothing to Write About”

  • And more

Week 2: Outlining & Writing +

Included in this module:
  • How to Help a Student Find 2-3 Ideas: Upleveling Our Sense of What’s Possible

  • Why I Recommend Outlining at Least 2-3 Ideas + A Simple Template Chart to Use with Students

  • Why Outlining is So (So) Important

  • How to Help a Student Outline a Narrative (Challenges-Based) Essay

  • How to Help a Student Outline a Montage Essay (Not Based on Challenges)

  • Tips for Writing the First Draft

  • How to Help Students Stand Out with Overused Topics (Another Person, a Common Sport or Instrument, Moving to a New Country or School System, etc.)

  • And more

Week 3: Editing +

Included in this module:
  • How to Diagnose and Provide Feedback on a First Draft: 4 Questions to Ask

  • How to Help a Student Uplevel Each Paragraph in a Montage Essay

  • Why Starting Over with a New Outline (Often) Makes Sense

  • How to Improve the Middle of a Challenges-Based Essay

  • Tips for Helping a Student Write a Compelling Hook

  • How Make An Essay More Insightful

  • And more

Week 4: Refining & Up-Leveling +

In our live Session 4, you can expect:
  • How to Generate Insights Using the Roles and Identities Exercise

  • How to Know if a Personal Statement Is “Doing its Job” (Updated for 2025 Based on the Roles and Identities Exercise)

  • Mini Session: A Start-to-Finish Case Study: The “Food” Essay

  • How to End a Personal Statement (Brief Review of the Tool Module)

  • Live “speed sessions” from me as I apply the principles taught in this course

  • Q&A on anything and everything personal statement related

“For the first time in my eight years of college counseling, I‘m beginning to get a handle on how to assist my students with the essay writing process. I’m extremely grateful to be given tools I can relate to and apply with my students.”

- Valerie J. (Private School Counselor)

LIVE SESSION DATES & TIMES:

April 7, 14, 21, & 28, 2026
Advanced Track: 10-11:30am PT (1-2:30pm ET)
Foundational Track: 4-5:30pm PT (7-8:30pm ET)

Advanced Track Syllabus
Foundational Track Syllabus

Learn to help your students create an outstanding application, develop an overall application strategy, and write supplemental essays & activities lists that stand out.

Take a Look Inside part two

Week 1: The College Application +

Included in this module:
  • What Colleges Want: Updated for 2026 (Based on an Analysis of 300+ College and University Websites)

  • The Nuances and Complexities of Institutional Priorities (w/Special Guest Tom Campbell)

  • How I Lead the First Two Sessions with a Student + Exercises & Tools I Use

  • How to Create an Inspired Application and Supplemental Essays in Half the Time

  • Helping a Student Write or Revise Their “Application Logline” (aka How They Are a Multi-hyphenate)

Week 2: The “Why Us” Essay +

Included in this module:
  • The Activities List: How and Why to Uplevel it in about an Hour

  • The Additional Information Section: How, Why (and When) to Use it

  • The “Why us” Essay: How to help students stand out

Week 3: Common Supplemental Essays +

Included in this module:
  • What I Learned from Analyzing Hundreds of Supplemental Essay Prompts This Past Year

  • The “Identity” or “How Will You Contribute?” (Sometimes Called the “Diversity”) Essay

  • The “Why major” Essay: Why every major is interdisciplinary (and how knowing that can help a student write a better essay)

  • The “Community” essay: Why it’s important, and what students often get wrong about it

Week 4: Bonus Content +

Included in this module:
  • The “Almost Done” process: What is it and what do we do at CEG?

  • How do you know if an application is “doing its job”?

  • Putting it all together: analyzing a final, full application

  • "Top 5" exercises / resources to have in our toolkit for supplementals

  • UC PIQ Crash Course

  • “Navigating differences” examples

“This course provides so much of what it took me 38 years to gain through firsthand experience in the business. Taking it will help anyone looking to hone an important part of their college counseling skills with the goal of truly helping students.”

- Dawn B. (Independent Consultant)

Register Now

PLUS: Brand New for 2026...

A Reflective Lab for Counselors and Essay Coaches.

Dates:
Wednesdays, March 18, 25, April 15, 22
4:00–5:30pm PT / 7:00–8:30pm ET

Session 1 — Foundations & Feelings:
We’ll begin by grounding ourselves in the current moment around AI and noticing our own reactions, questions, and concerns.

Session 2 — Exploration & Reflection:
In a low-stakes environment, we’ll try out AI tools, not to adopt them, but to consider how they make us feel and what they reveal.

Session 3 — Defining Boundaries:
We will continue our exploration in this session, with an eye toward co-creating personal guidelines on what’s ethical, ensuring we uphold student voice. And how do you have the conversation with a student who brings you a draft that you’re pretty sure was written by AI?

Session 4 — Communication & Alignment:
Finally, you’ll have the option to craft clear language to share with parents, students, and each other, ensuring confidence in your approach to AI and alignment heading into 2026.

We'll Stay Connected Throughout The Year

Join me in a year-long exploration of these new frameworks for helping coach compelling applications and essays.

After the course, we'll meet during the 2026 admissions season to share learnings, feedback, and best practices, including:

  • Exploring the latest applications for these tools and resources

  • Analyzing your student essays and applications live

  • Interviews with college admission officers on this approach

  • Optional working groups, for those interested

What Else Is New In 2026?

My approach has evolved and I’m excited to share these updates with you.

Updates & Additions:
A new early-course “North Star” reflection
Help students identify what they most want colleges to understand about them—giving them a clearer compass for their entire application.

“What Colleges Are Looking For” (with Tom Campbell)
Get a practical breakdown of institutional priorities, how holistic review actually works, and how readers evaluate applications in selective institutions.

A faster, cleaner approach to building a balanced college list
Learn thoughtful, ethical ways to leverage AI to generate a strong starting list, plus practical next steps for helping students assess academic, social, and financial fit more deeply.

Streamlined Activities List guidance
Discover an approach that’s simpler and more effective and that doesn’t rely on ChatGPT

Expanded guidance on sensitive topics + video essays
Hear clear advice on how to handle mental health challenges, updated guidance on writing about race, and how to handle the video responses.
Register Today

PLUS... You'll Get Access to My Comprehensive Choose Your Own Adventure Essay Revising Tool

What is the CYOA tool? It's the comprehensive curriculum I use with students to teach great college essay writing.

You and your students will get answers to questions like:

  • What’s the purpose of the personal statement?

  • What are some of the most effective exercises for brainstorming a topic?

  • What if I can’t decide if my topic will make a “good” essay?

  • Should I write about mental health challenges?

  • How can I bring more insight into my essay?

  • What are some ways that I can write a great hook/intro?

  • How can I more effectively communicate how I overcame and grew from my challenge(s)?

And so much more!

Included in 2026: After the success of last year's Counselor Training Program, I'm providing student-access for the full year for all of your students, too.

Register Today
What Can You Expect to Learn in This Program?
Inside the courses, you'll learn things like:

  • The New (Updated for 2026) Brainstorming Process I Use With My One-on-one Students (Including the Google Doc I Send Them)

  • How I Help a Student Choose a Topic

  • What to Do When a Student Feels They Have “Nothing to Write About”

  • How to Tackle the Topic of Mental Health Issues

  • How to Help a Student Outline & Structure an Essay When They Finally Have a Great Topic

  • How to Handle Writing About Religion, Politics, and Other Stigmatized Issues

  • How to Help Students Create an Inspired Application and Supplemental Essays in Half the Time

  • The Difference Between a Very Good Activities List and an Amazing One

  • How a Student Who “Hasn’t Done That Much” Can Up-level Their Activities List

  • What Students Should and Shouldn't Include in the Additional Information Section (& How this Section Could Make the Difference in Their Application)

  • How to Help Students Write All the Major Supplemental Essays Required of Selective Colleges

  • Lots More

Additional Resources Include

Who is this program for?


Foundational Track

This one’s for you if:

  • You’ve never taken one of my courses and aren't too familiar with my free resources.

  • You have 1-5 years experience guiding students on essays.

  • You want to learn the fundamentals of how to help students brainstorm, outline, and revise their essays and application.

  • You’re more interested in hearing me (Ethan) teach content.


Advanced track

This one’s for you if:

  • You’ve already taken my personal statement course (maybe even twice).

  • You have 6+ years experience guiding students on essays.

  • You already know the CEG approach; you want the latest and greatest information out there on college essays & applications.

  • You like a balance of Ethan teaching and connecting with other experienced colleagues.

2,600+

Counselors have taken their work to the next level through CEG courses.

“In the morass of college admissions, the College Essay Guy explains it all in a way that's amazingly attainable!”

Barbara Paterson

“I've been a dean or director of admissions for more than 20 years and enthusiastically recommend Ethan's essay writing courses and materials for students and counselors!”

Michael Trevino

 

Christine Holladay

Jessica Chermak

 

Flexible Payment Options
for 2026

Access is important to us. We want you to enjoy these courses in a way that fits your needs and budget.

Cost Per Course: $697

Choose Your Own Adventure Tool: $697

Additional tools, sessions, & resources: $799

Full Program Value: $2,890

2026 Early Bird Price: Just $997

That's just $300 more than a single course. For everything.

Early bird registration ends February 20th.
 
 


Single-
Payment
Option

Counselor Training Program

$1,297*
 $997


Value: $2,890

*Early bird pricing available through Feb 20th.

Pay-what-you-can spots available for college counselors in high schools, nonprofits and CBOs

Register Now


3-
Payment
Option

Counselor Training Program

$432*
 $332
X 3 payments

Value: $2,890

*Early bird pricing available through Feb 20th.

Pay-what-you-can spots available for college counselors in high schools, nonprofits and CBOs

Register Now


Scholarships, Group Rates, or Sign up with a Friend

We offer Pay-What-You-Can spots for high school counselors and CBOs
Inquire - Scholarship Spots
We also offer group rates for schools, CBOs, and IEC practices who enroll multiple counselors
Apply for a Group Rate
Or get 20% off if you sign up with a friend
Register with a Friend


100% Satisfaction Guarantee
Money Back Promise

We want the investment in the Counselor Training Program to be an absolute no-brainer for you.

So if you register for the program, engage in the sessions, and still don’t find them useful, email us and we'll refund your money within 60 days of the date you signed up.

This money-back guarantee only applies if you actually engage with the course sessions and complete the assignments.

Frequently Asked Questions

 
   Will CEG still offer individual live courses a la carte in 2026?

Yes. We’ll be launching our full, individual courses as we’ve done in past years at $697 each. The benefit of signing up for the Counselor Training Program (both courses) is that you pay a heavily discounted price (approx 50% off the second course).

   Do I need to attend all the live sessions?

No need. All the live sessions are recorded and will be uploaded for viewing inside your course library once you register.

   When are the live sessions?

2026 Personal Statement Course: March 10, 17, 24, & 31
2026 College App Course: April 7, 14, 21, & 28
Advanced Track meets at 10-11:30am PT (1-2:30pm ET) on those days.
Foundational Track meets at 4-5:30pm PT (7-8:30pm ET) on those days.

   Is there Pay-What-You-Can for this offer? Do you offer payment plans?

Yes to both! PWYC offers are available to counselors working in high schools, non-profits, or community based organizations, we have payment plan options for independent consultants, and we offer group rates (see above to apply). Email us if you have any questions: help@collegeessayguy.com

   Will you record all the live sessions?

Yes, we’ll record all the live sessions for the two courses. All recordings and session resources are uploaded to the course within 1-2 business days after the session.

   How long do I have access to the courses?

You’ll have lifetime access to the courses. In addition, your students will have access to the Choose Your Own Adventure Tool through Feb 1st, 2027.