Sign up for the Great San Francisco Personal Statement Weekend!

It’s that time again — come one, come all (whether you’re a registered volunteer or not!) to give and get support with those college application essays.

ALL OF THE SESSIONS ARE FULL! Students: Join us for a drop-in hour on both Saturday and Sunday from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Enter Mission High School from the parking lot on Dolores Street, and follow the signs. We will have tutors on hand, and you will be paired on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Still want to support our work with SFUSD students? Please consider making a donation to 826 Valencia. Thanks to the generous support of our donors, we are able to offer our free writing programs to thousands of youth in San Francisco each year. Click here for more information.

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826 Valencia is proud to announce our eighth annual weekend-long personal statement tutoring event, The Great San Francisco Personal Statement Weekend, on October 15 and 16 at Mission High School. We’re inviting all high school seniors in SFUSD to register, attend and get that extra boost of individual support, and all available adults in the community (registered 826 Valencia tutors or not!) to come out to support them as they write, revise, and edit these important essays.

Here’s how it works: Students and tutors can sign up for one or more tutoring sessions, which run from 1:00 to 3:00 and 3:00 to 5:00 each day of the weekend, with an additional drop-in hour from 5:00 to 6:00. During these times, 826 Valencia will pair trained tutors with students to provide individualized feedback on their college application essays. All personal statement and scholarship essay writers are welcome, whether they’re just starting, almost finished, or somewhere in between. We’ll have computers on hand for easy editing, as well as yummy snacks to keep everyone going!

Here are what some of last year’s students and tutors had to say about the event:

  • “I was able to learn that being specific and going in depth on the important events that changed my life is really important in order to spark the reader’s mind. You have to write uniquely and passionately in order to make the essay stand out.”
  • “Having a knowledgeable tutor working with me made this writing process A LOT less stressful and made me more confident in my work.”
  • “I love to see the light bulb go off when kids get excited about telling the story only they can tell!”

Ready to jump in? Registering for the event as a student or as a tutor is easy—just follow the links below:

Students: ALL OF THE SESSIONS ARE FULL! You can join us for a drop-in hour on both Saturday and Sunday from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. We will have tutors on hand, and you will be paired on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Tutors: ALL OF THE SESSIONS ARE FULL! We hope you join us next year! 

*Please note: for the first time in 10 years, the UC has changed the Personal Statement prompts. All tutors will be required to attend a training on the new Personal Insight Questions. Some trainings are scheduled in advance of the weekend, while some are offered during the weekend. Please choose one.

If you have questions, please contact Program Manager Ryan Young at ryan@826valencia.org.