A parent recently asked: why should her perfectly competent student use a college essay coach? She wrote her essay all by herself, and she got into college just fine! It's true, and I didn't use a writing coach either. Also true: we were applying to college (cough cough) 30 years ago. Like it or not, things have gotten more competitive.  I can't turn back time to when college apps were simpler and decent-enough essays were enough.  I can help each student I work with write the best essays they can.

 

What kind of student benefits from working with a writing coach?

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• students who want to go above and beyond and write seriously standout essays;

• students who feel stuck; feel like they have nothing original to say; are just rehashing their resumes;

• students who need help explaining something deeply challenging or complex about their lives in their college essays;

• students whose essays read boring, blah, vanilla, and they don't know how to fix it.

• students who are busy! Or who procrastinated! Or maybe both, and now they need to get those essays done and done right!

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What kind of student genuinely doesn't need (much) coaching?

 

If the student has answered the essay prompt fully and well; feels fantastic about their essay, with no lingering uncertainty or "what-if's?"; if an adult who is a good writer AND understands the assignment AND is not afraid to be brutally honest has looked over the essay and agrees that it's great: CONGRATULATIONS, they did it!

 

I humbly submit that a second opinion from a pro writer/editor is always a very good idea, not to mention a zero-risk investment as I don't charge for a 30-minute initial consult / look-over. I always send my important work to my Writing Salon, experienced writers and editors, etc., to "sign off" on before pressing "submit". I can't tell you how many times they have caught not just silly typos, but places where I really could have done better, been clearer, said more. It takes both engaging writers and engaged readers to make an essay great. Something to think about.

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What is your rate? How much can we expect to pay? 

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I do not charge a fee for our initial 30-minute get-to-know-you, no-obligation-whatsoever session.

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My Winter/off-season (January-June) rate is $60/hour.

Starting July 1 through December 31, my rate increases to $100/hour.

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My time/fee may include light project management (creating timelines, check-ins, organizing info, etc.) if the student and parent indicate that it's needed. I do not charge for the time I spend learning about your student’s desired schools, and what those schools look for in their applicants, unless you ask me to go above and beyond my usual process on your student’s behalf.  I charge only for time spent specifically in the craft of helping your student create brilliant college essays.

 

Services include all aspects of writing help including content coaching, content editing, fine-tuning of tone and style, rigorous grammar and syntax check, and final proofreading.  If need be, I will share student's work with UC Reader and college advisor colleagues.

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The amount of time each student requires varies varies greatly, but 4 to 6 hours is typical.

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Can't we find college essay help for free online?

 

College websites have terrific guides on answering their own essay prompts, and I would advise every student to start there.  I will gladly share that College Essay Guy (Ethan Sawyer) has tremendous resources online and I totally watch / recommend them!  I also monitor the A2C (Applying to College) sub on Reddit. If your student can translate what they glean from online resources into a great essay, that's fantastic!

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• https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-to-write-a-college-essay​  Updated, simple, truthful college essay info. Yes, you can talk about race in your essay. No, you don't have to focus exclusively on your accomplishments (memorable essays tend to get into the messier stuff).

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• https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2024/chatgpt-college-essay-ai-harvard-admission/

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My student's high school teacher / counselor / writing-helper-person looked over their essay. They're good to go, right?

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This is a tricky one.  I am a teacher. I love teachers! School counselors, English teachers, even some internet essay gurus can be great resources for college essay writers.  But my students' experiences attest that not every counselor or college advisor is an optimal college essay writing coach:

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• A client received feedback from his counselor that his essays were done- great!  And yet... he felt he could do better. He just didn't know how.  We ended up completely rewriting his essays (4 hours of work) until he felt 100% confident in them.  Either the counselor had underestimated what he was capable of, or they saw nothing wrong with a student submitting an essay that did not make a focused case for why he was a good fit for that college.  

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• Also common - a teacher or advisor recommends a change, and it's good advice - which the student then struggles to implement. This is where the writing coach comes in, with a technician's eye for content and detail, and an artist's feel for craft, to show not tell students how to turn their experiences into words that shine.​​

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Unlike most teachers, I get to create a dedicated, one-on-one, professional relationship with your student.  They have my undivided attention and assistance until they have written essays that truly do it all. I don't tell just tell your student what to do and leave them to figure it out (or not). I break the process down into achievable steps, and support them through it.

 

Of course my student won't use AI to write their essay, but it's a great tool for getting that first draft together, right? 

 

I sincerely caution all students against using Chat GPT or other AI resources, even in the draft process. There is too much at stake. Admissions readers are excellent at identifying AI-influenced writing. Colleges are investing in technology to identify AI-generated writing. None of them condone the use of AI in college essays. Why risk it?

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There's another reason why I'm firmly against using ChatGPT in college essays.  ChatGPT produces very well-put-together sentences with clean grammar and clear syntax (most of the time). Problem is, most people (and just about all high schoolers!) naturally write with, shall we say, funkier grammar and syntax. These charming idiosyncrasies help create *voice*, one of a writer's strongest assets! Students and parents are sometimes surprised when I choose not to iron every last syntactical kink out of an essay. I leave this stuff in because a) it's them, it's awesome, and it's honest, and b) it lets colleges know that this student did not use ChatGPT or other AI outsourcing.

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