Coaching

Before I get to know you, I’ll help you get to know yourself. Who are you? What makes you tick? What defining events have made you who you are? What do you want colleges to know about you?

For this Prep Session, I’ll explain what colleges are hoping to see in your essay. I’ll then walk you through some simple, low-key writing exercises.

Your answers here will help me get to know you a bit before we meet for Session 2.

During this 90-minute, 1:1 zoom session, I’ll spend time getting to know you. We’ll explore who you are and some key events in your life. Together, we’ll consider which qualities and events would be your strongest essay topics.

We’ll narrow down which prompt you’ll answer, then we’ll figure out the best, most compelling way to approach this topic. How should you start? How much should you include? We’ll talk about all of this.

You’ll leave this session with a clear, do-able plan.

You’ll have up to 3 weeks after our strategy meeting to write a finished draft.

Why just three weeks? Because most of us (I’m raising my hand here) do better with a deadline! Without one, you could put off writing your college application essay indefinitely. I’m here to help you successfully complete this draft, and a deadline helps us to reach our goal! This also gets you writing while everything we discussed in our planning session is still fresh in your mind.

As you write, you’ll have access to my videos that provide tips and tricks for getting started, overcoming writer’s block, writing in your own voice, and more.

You’ll write your essay on a shared document file, which will allow me to check in on your progress and to add side comments to your draft. These notes will show you what’s working well and what you might need to clarify as you go, and will give you the confidence to keep writing and revising.

If you’re stuck, you can schedule up to four 30-minute zoom meetings, plus unlimited calls and texts, and we’ll work to get you un-stuck.

You’ll keep writing and revising until our next session.

In this 90-minute zoom session, we’ll take an in-depth look at your essay. Together, we’ll evaluate it for flow, clarity, grammar, punctuation, and the thousands of other things that make a strong essay.

We’ll make sure it’s telling your story in a way that’s as clear and interesting as it needs to be. We’ll confirm that your first line is really grabbing the attention of your reader. Then, we’ll go through your essay line by line to make sure that every sentence is strong and direct. We’ll cut out anything that’s unclear or unnecessary. We’ll make sure the whole essay is saying exactly what you want it to say. And we’ll have a pretty darn good time while we do it.

And when we finish?

You’ll be ridiculously proud of the piece of writing you’ve created.

Pin-it-on-the-fridge proud. Send-it-to-your-Grandma proud.

I promise.