It might sound rich coming from me... but every kind of student can benefit from working with a writing coach. Here's some ways you'll know if your student really needs me. 

 

What kind of student benefits most 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... but 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 really doesn't need (much) coaching?

 

If your 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 very good writer AND understands the assignment AND is not afraid to be brutally honest) has looked over the essay and agrees that's it great: then CONGRATULATIONS, your student is #goals!

 

I would 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 I expect to pay? 

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I do not charge a fee for our initial 30-minute get-to-know-you session.

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My Winter/off-season rate is $50/hour. Starting August 1, my rate increases to to $75/hour. My services include all aspects of writing help including content editing, content coaching, 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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My time/fee may include light project management (creating timelines, check-ins, organizing info, etc.) if the student/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.

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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.  A simple Google search yields lots of quality essay-writing resources, and I'm glad to share my favorites - I really like Essayhell.com.  If your student can glean what they need from online resources, that's fantastic!

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• 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):

  • ​​https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/how-to-write-a-college-essay​

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

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My student's high school teacher / counselor / high school essay writing helper 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 unfortunately, 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 essay was done- great!  And yet... he felt he could do better. He just didn't know how.  We ended up completely rewriting his essay (4 hours of work) until he felt 100% confident in it.  Either the counselor had severely 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.  Nothing beats one-to-one engagement to help a student go beyond the ordinary, and write an essay they feel great about.

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• Also common - a teacher or advisor recommends a change, 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 these amazing 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 out every last syntactical kink in an essay. I leave this stuff in because a) it's them, it's awesome, it's honest, and b) it lets colleges know that this student did not use ChatGPT or other AI outsourcing.

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