Real College Essays

The early sessions with students involve intense questioning, gentle pushing, and interpersonal connecting. You and your college admissions coach will engage in a lot of back-and-forth well before you get anything down on paper. You’ll learn how to be more honest with yourself than you thought possible, and you’ll eventually latch on to a genuinely original idea. Once you’ve spent time developing your personal narrative, your college essay coaching sessions will focus more on the mechanics of writing. You may notice that your coach becomes tougher or more critical at this point, but don’t worry; this often happens when you switch to the more tangible part of the process (and it’s a sign that the two of you have developed trust and rapport). On the other hand, if you have a lot of anxiety around writing, your coach will give you a set of exercises to help you become comfortable with the uncertainty that is a core component of written communication.