Our services

How we can work together

Personal Essay
Editing & Coaching

My goal is to guide students to completion of a personal statement and essays that truly reflect them, are well-written, and get them into a college they love.

The personal statement is an important part of this. It is essentially a story about the student in their own voice. I’ll guide each student through a step-by-step process to choose their topic and craft a story they’ll be proud to share with colleges. We will work on this both in our sessions together and, yes, they’ll have some work to do in-between sessions. (I don’t want any surprises for them!) But we will take into account their schedule and any challenges and make it manageable.

With 27 years of professional experience writing and editing memoirs, essays, and other narratives, I can help students get to the heart of their essays quickly and easily. My speciality is helping young writers develop depth, passion, authentic voice, emotional truth, clear themes, and great narrative technique. Writing is a craft, one I know well, so I can get students there. And I love doing it!

Here’s the bonus. The process of creating a personal statement (and supplemental essays) can do more than get students into college. It’s an opportunity for students to reflect and learn some pretty awesome things about themselves, a chance to grow on their journey towards higher education and greater independence.

College Application
Coaching

My goal is to take the mystery and anxiety out of the college application process and get students to the finish line with noteworthy SUBMITTED applications.

A college application includes many different elements; it's not just a form. There are five types of applications, and each college chooses which they require, but the elements are similar in all. I’ll guide students through each element so that their application serves as an impressive and complete calling card to the colleges of their choice and truly reflect who they are. In order to do this, I’ll be asking them lots of questions to learn about their activities, interests, challenges and successes.

Along the way, I’ll make sure they keep track of deadlines for getting letters of recommendation, ordering transcripts, and turning in applications. I’ll go over with them the variety of admissions options to help them choose the right one for them.

They’ll have my guidance, support and accountability throughout the process.

College Analysis &
Selection Coaching

My goal is to get students into a college where they will be happy and succeed.

The good news is that with around 3,000 four-year colleges and universities in the United States alone, there is a school for everybody! When I understood this as the parent of teenagers, I felt a whole lot better. There’s a lot of hype about how hard it is to get into certain schools, and while some are very competitive, students will undoubtedly discover many schools that will be of interest to them, fit their needs, and where they will want to spend the next four years.

Helping students decide which colleges to apply to starts with self-analysis. I guide them as they answer questions about their academics, personalities, interests, talents, values and goals. Next, we figure out what college characteristics are important to them, like location, setting, campus activities and affiliations, size and available majors. Students then have criteria to do more effective research and create a balanced college list.