Wild Aster College Essay Summer Studio

6-Week Workshop: Wednesdays, 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm, June 17 - July 21

Ages: 15-18

Price: $550 (payment plans available)

*purchase tickets on our website

This 6-week coaching studio helps students shape authentic, compelling college admissions essays that feel honest, grounded, and personal. The focus is not on templates or formulas, but on helping each student find their own story and voice.

Through guided prompts, conversation, and writing sessions, students learn how to identify meaningful experiences, build narrative structure, and write with clarity and reflection. The emphasis is on developing an essay that sounds like the student, not like a sample.

Students will receive individualized coaching within a small group setting, along with structured feedback on drafts as they develop.

By the end of the program, each student will have a completed, polished college admissions essay and a clear revision path for applications.

Instructor: Aeriel Merillat is a writer based in Atlanta. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Pittsburgh, where she also taught undergraduate writing courses. A 2021 Lighthouse Workshop Fellow and 2023 Bread Loaf Contributor, she writes speculative short stories and is currently working on a science fiction novel. Aeriel is also a bookseller at Wild Aster Books and hosts their monthly Literary Open Mic and Fiction Book Club. Her work has appeared in The Massachusetts Review, Reed Magazine, and Fractured Lit

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Host or Publisher Wild Aster Books