College Essays & Counseling

Welcome! I am a college counselor, writing tutor, and editor for high school and college students in both undergraduate and graduate programs, and adults. I provide individualized tutoring to meet each student's needs and help them improve their writing and revision skills. I work with students applying to undergraduate and graduate programs (Master's and PhDs), as well as those seeking to transfer. My students attend programs in STEM (including medical, computer science, and engineering programs), history, political science, economics, the arts, and more at Ivy League, top tier, private, and public colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad.

I guide students through the college application and writing process—including brainstorming and outlining, as needed, and provide detailed editorial feedback for each draft of every essay. Students and I look closely at and discuss the requirement and nuance of each prompt or guideline so that the student has a clear idea of how best to approach each response. It is a robust process.

Most lessons are one hour, one day per week, though students can schedule longer or more frequent sessions.

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Read testimonials on my Wyzant page here.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

COST

My rate is $110 per hour. However, I do provide a sliding scale and package rates to meet student and family budgetary needs. Contact me to discuss further.

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BACKGROUND

I began this work in 2013 as a writing and special projects mentor for a mentoring company in New York City. I worked with students to help them improve their writing skills or those who were applying to college. This segued to more comprehensive college counseling. I joined Wyzant in early 2017 and became a college counselor, writing tutor, and developmental editor. I continue to work via Wyzant and through word of mouth.

ESSAY WRITING
I work with students on essays for college applications as well as academic papers (primarily at the college level, including final projects and capstones). My role is to guide students and support them through the writing process, and to help them craft strong, compelling narratives written in their own voice. For college applications, essays usually include the personal statement (i.e. Common Application and other platforms), as well as supplemental or secondary essays, and résumés,.

Depending on how far along in the writing process someone is when I begin working with them determines my role in the writing process. For example, students may need help brainstorming topic ideas, while others need help refining and revising the essay(s), or both. Many students have commented that they feel better prepared for college writing after working with me on this process.

In my experience, I find that most essays require a minimum of three 1-hour sessions. The length of time varies from student to student, and often depends on the individual's natural writing abilities, and/or how much time they have to work on the essay(s).

 

ACADEMIC PAPERS, CAPSTONES, AND FINAL PROJECTS

I provide comprehensive editorial feedback on papers, capstones, and final projects, with close attention paid to both internal edits (punctuation, grammar, syntax, word choice, et al.), as well as helping to ensure that the overall content fulfills the requirement of the thesis, prompts, guideline, or outline. 

COLLEGE COUNSELING (UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE)
I often conduct an initial search and/or review and refine a student's college list in order to ensure it aligns with a student’s interests, budget, academic record, and any specialized needs. The search process can coincide with discussions and possible research re: scholarships and financial overview. This may also include other help such as how to “visit” a college website, prepare for an interview with Admissions personnel, edit a student resume, etc.

Additionally, when requested, I work students to help them select programs and/or courses that suit their interests, goals and competencies.

ORGANIZATION
Staying organized is half the game. Upon request, I create and share a spreadsheet(s) that allows the student and their parents/guardians to stay on top of the application process. The spreadsheet lists names of schools, deadlines, what will need to be submitted, scholarship info, dates visited, etc.

TIMELINE
Creating a timeline allows the student (and parent/guardian) to keep track of when things are due. The list is tailored to the student’s particular to-do list and helps prevent missed deadlines, cramming and "bottlenecking." Timelines usually list SAT/ACT test dates, FAFSA/CSS applications, scholarships, applications deadlines, dates to request letters of recommendations, etc.

PROCESS
Lessons are conducted online. Students and I usually review work in real time in Google Docs while speaking on a video platform such as Zoom or by phone. This is a highly focused and effective approach to the work, and it saves on travel time, which can be crucial as most students are quite busy.

GENERAL COMPONENTS OF A COLLEGE APPLICATION
Personal essay
Supplement or secondary essay(s) [this varies from college to college]
Résumé
2-3 letters of recommendation
Financial information (usually FAFSA/CSS)
Scholarships