Frequently Asked Questions

The essay is very important because it humanizes you to the admissions committee. You are SO much more than your GPA, test scores, or list of accomplishments, and the essay is where you show the university that fact! It is designed as a space for you to flesh out who you are as a person outside the context of academics. While it alone cannot make or break your chances at getting accepted, a strong essay can help the committee see what an excellent addition you would be to their school. It could also help explain—in context—anomalies in other parts of the application. On the other hand, a weak essay could prevent a student who is in the “questionable” pile from getting the getting the extra push they might need to be accepted.

Personally, I think English teachers rock! (I held that title for numerous years after all) And as a mom of two, I’m pretty biased toward thinking parents are rather awesome, too! But if you are anything like I was, you take direction better from someone—anyone—who isn’t your parent (Why? I don’t know. I think it’s a curse all parents have to suffer).

English teachers and parents have a lot of responsibilities on their plates and can do only so much in the time they have. And unless they have specific experience with the college application process, they might be learning the steps right alongside you. This is why you need me. I have dedicated my time to understanding the process and helping students write outstanding essays, which means I don’t have to try to fit it in among units on Shakespeare or meetings or laundry.

Most definitely! One of my favorite parts of the process is helping students brainstorm potential ideas. One way I do this is by having conversations with you about. . .well. . .you! I also have a lot of different activities to assist with the process, so there are bound to be options that work for you.

Yes! It’s great that you already started on your essay. What you have already written might work well for your application, but I also want you to be open to making changes—or even scrapping it altogether—if you discover better ideas and directions you could take your writing. The college essay is completely unlike essays you would normally write for school, and all too often I find that students who come in with a draft have written it like they would for a class assignment rather than what the universities want to see. But don’t worry! I’ll work with you to make sure you can submit your best possible essay.

No one can guarantee acceptance into a specific university. To do so is misleading at best and unethical (to the point of being illegal) at worst. I will do my best to ethically assist you in creating an essay you can proudly submit to your chosen universities. Please see my ethics policy for more information.

Yes, and I have a lot of experience doing so. I have worked with students who have learning disabilities, ADHD, vision impairments, hearing differences, and physical disabilities. I also have experience working with students on the autism spectrum. I am able to adjust my teaching and materials to meet each student’s individual needs. If you have specific questions or concerns about your needs, please contact me!

The short answer of how long the process takes is “it depends.” It depends on how many essays and/or responses you need to complete with my guidance, how easily ideas come to you, how quickly you can write drafts, and how well your availability matches mine.

The average is about two weeks for one essay. I’ve worked with students who were able to complete an essay in a few days, though that’s not common. Other students take longer due to a busy schedule, trouble generating ideas, or other reasons. Some students need me to set deadlines for them; other students function better when they set their own deadlines. I talk with each student to learn what works best for them and proceed as necessary.

I do always keep the application deadlines in sight, though, and will do whatever I can to ensure the student has the required essay(s) ready in time.

With college admissions being increasingly competitive across all types of higher learning institutions, it is imperative you do what you can (ethically) to show you belong at your chosen school(s). The essay is one of those application pieces that allows you to stand out among the crowd. 

As the student, you are the star of the show here! Your ideas and writing are authentic to you, and they are what the college admissions people want to see in your essays. It might feel a bit intimidating, but don’t worry, we’ll work together through the whole process so you end up with writing you can be proud of because it truly reflects who you are as an amazing individual. You are responsible for the hard work—the thinking and writing. But I’ll be by your side (sometimes even literally!). 

I will help you brainstorm, give you ideas for how to dig deeper into potential stories, give you feedback on drafts, and talk with you about ideas and issues. I’ll be your guide, your cheerleader, your coach. I won’t do any writing (that would be unethical), but I will give you quality feedback to let you know where you’ve got something great and where you might need a bit more work. (Please read my ethics policy and other policies before registering)

Parents, you’ve done a lot of work over the years raising your kid to be the awesome person they are. And let’s be honest, you’re not done. But this is your chance to take a bit of a breather. Sure, you might need to remind your child that a meeting is coming up or ask them to remind you when the application for a specific school is due (if only to make sure they know!), but the essay really needs to be written solely by the student. Admissions officers want to read stories about the student, by the student. And they can tell at a glance when an essay has been written by someone other than the student (especially when it’s been written by a parent, however well-intentioned the parent might have been). So, take your well-deserved break! 

Absolutely! I understand the importance of the college essay for students who have not been traditionally educated in an established school system. Homeschooled or traditionally schooled, I’m ready to help you express your unique qualities and experiences!

Yes, I do! I have almost twenty years of experience teaching writing at both the high school and college levels, which means I am adept at helping students hone a variety of writing skills. I am happy to provide individualized guidance for any type of high school or college writing, as long as your teacher or professor has not stated that outside guidance is prohibited.

There are two different scenarios where I could assist:

1. Situations are where the student’s ideas will be graded rather than the student’s writing abilities. Examples are a paper for a class that is not focused on writing, or a master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation. In these cases, I act as an editor & proofreader. The student’s ideas and words are entirely their own; I provide feedback to help them clarify their thoughts and make sure their grammar, spelling, and punctuation are correct.

2. As a high school or college student, you have been given an assignment you don’t understand. After asking the teacher/professor for guidance and visiting the writing center/tutoring center (if your school has one), if you still don’t understand how to go about the assignment, I go into full teacher mode and walk you through the instructions and steps of the process. Again, the thoughts and writing are entirely yours.

If you would like to work with me on a piece of writing, please contact me at: kat@collegeessaygps.com.