New Classes: College Writing Workshop, Mock Trial Nationals Team, and More!

Our college counseling mentees are thriving. From the rising senior who just advanced to the American Legion Auxiliary’s highly prestigious Girls Nation civic training program, to the rising sophomore who’s giving back to the community by teaching the speech and debate techniques she’s learned with us to local students, to the rising freshman who worked out a clear four-year plan for success in mock trial, music, public service, artistic Chinese paper cutting, and academics, our students are well on their way towards identifying and enrolling in their right-fit colleges.

Our model works. We want as many students as possible to experience it. That’s why we’re opening up new classes for our students who want an edge in admissions but prefer a group environment to our one-on-one counseling.

First, students can enroll in our College Writing Workshop (grades 9 through 12). This new class will walk high schoolers through four key units, which include writing a personal statement, preparing interview responses for selective institutions, creating an appropriately formatted and college-ready research paper on a subject of their choice, and planning a student-led service project relevant to their college ambitions.

Second, students will be able to participate in our new Mock Trial Nationals Team (grades 8 through 12). Historically, students needed to compete with a school-sponsored team of at least eight students to participate in high school mock trial tournaments. ModernBrain has worked closely alongside Peer Potential Mock Trial (PPMT), a Shanghai-based annual competition with over a half-decade of experience, to expand their middle/high school mock trial circuit to Americans. This is a system that’s already seen results at some of the top colleges in the country; students matriculating at Stanford, Princeton, Yale, MIT and more have featured their PPMT experience. Students who join our Mock Trial Nationals team will prepare every week in groups of four to eight. They need to have already competed in mock trial or taken our mock trial class, since we’ll jump right into our preparation for high-level competitions. They must be 100% free for all competition dates. You can read about our competitions here.

Third, students will have more opportunities to polish their passions and have future-focused fun. For instance, our Advanced Philosophy and Dungeons and Dragons class (grades 6 through 12) teaches students the leadership, preparation, and creative writing skills to be a Dungeon Master, offers opportunities to play and direct the game, and provides instruction on world-building techniques. Students study geography, mythology, history, language, flora and fauna, and other relevant elements of fictional content creation and game design. Advanced Philosophy and DND has a strong college-focused element: by the end of the class, students who follow the curriculum will publish their material through an official website, providing proof of their passion to colleges and universities.

We’re just about a day away from launching our Fall 2022 Class Schedule. We’re going to make it easier than ever to register for classes with a new portal. Stay tuned!