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Getting College Essay Help: Important Do's and Don’ts

College Essays

If you grow up to be a professional writer, everything you write will first go through an editor before being published. This is because the process of writing is really a process of re-writing —of rethinking and reexamining your work, usually with the help of someone else. So what does this mean for your student writing? And in particular, what does it mean for very important, but nonprofessional writing like your college essay? Should you ask your parents to look at your essay? Pay for an essay service?

If you are wondering what kind of help you can, and should, get with your personal statement, you've come to the right place! In this article, I'll talk about what kind of writing help is useful, ethical, and even expected for your college admission essay . I'll also point out who would make a good editor, what the differences between editing and proofreading are, what to expect from a good editor, and how to spot and stay away from a bad one.

Table of Contents

What Kind of Help for Your Essay Can You Get?

What's Good Editing?

What should an editor do for you, what kind of editing should you avoid, proofreading, what's good proofreading, what kind of proofreading should you avoid.

What Do Colleges Think Of You Getting Help With Your Essay?

Who Can/Should Help You?

Advice for editors.

Should You Pay Money For Essay Editing?

The Bottom Line

What's next, what kind of help with your essay can you get.

Rather than talking in general terms about "help," let's first clarify the two different ways that someone else can improve your writing . There is editing, which is the more intensive kind of assistance that you can use throughout the whole process. And then there's proofreading, which is the last step of really polishing your final product.

Let me go into some more detail about editing and proofreading, and then explain how good editors and proofreaders can help you."

Editing is helping the author (in this case, you) go from a rough draft to a finished work . Editing is the process of asking questions about what you're saying, how you're saying it, and how you're organizing your ideas. But not all editing is good editing . In fact, it's very easy for an editor to cross the line from supportive to overbearing and over-involved.

Ability to clarify assignments. A good editor is usually a good writer, and certainly has to be a good reader. For example, in this case, a good editor should make sure you understand the actual essay prompt you're supposed to be answering.

Open-endedness. Good editing is all about asking questions about your ideas and work, but without providing answers. It's about letting you stick to your story and message, and doesn't alter your point of view.

Think of an editor as a great travel guide. It can show you the many different places your trip could take you. It should explain any parts of the trip that could derail your trip or confuse the traveler. But it never dictates your path, never forces you to go somewhere you don't want to go, and never ignores your interests so that the trip no longer seems like it's your own. So what should good editors do?

Help Brainstorm Topics

Sometimes it's easier to bounce thoughts off of someone else. This doesn't mean that your editor gets to come up with ideas, but they can certainly respond to the various topic options you've come up with. This way, you're less likely to write about the most boring of your ideas, or to write about something that isn't actually important to you.

If you're wondering how to come up with options for your editor to consider, check out our guide to brainstorming topics for your college essay .

Help Revise Your Drafts

Here, your editor can't upset the delicate balance of not intervening too much or too little. It's tricky, but a great way to think about it is to remember: editing is about asking questions, not giving answers .

Revision questions should point out:

• Places where more detail or more description would help the reader connect with your essay
• Places where structure and logic don't flow, losing the reader's attention
• Places where there aren't transitions between paragraphs, confusing the reader
• Moments where your narrative or the arguments you're making are unclear

But pointing to potential problems is not the same as actually rewriting—editors let authors fix the problems themselves.

Bad editing is usually very heavy-handed editing. Instead of helping you find your best voice and ideas, a bad editor changes your writing into their own vision.

You may be dealing with a bad editor if they:

• Add material (examples, descriptions) that doesn't come from you
• Use a thesaurus to make your college essay sound "more mature"
• Add meaning or insight to the essay that doesn't come from you
• Tell you what to say and how to say it
• Write sentences, phrases, and paragraphs for you
• Change your voice in the essay so it no longer sounds like it was written by a teenager

Colleges can tell the difference between a 17-year-old's writing and a 50-year-old's writing. Not only that, they have access to your SAT or ACT Writing section, so they can compare your essay to something else you wrote. Writing that's a little more polished is great and expected. But a totally different voice and style will raise questions.

Where's the Line Between Helpful Editing and Unethical Over-Editing?

Sometimes it's hard to tell whether your college essay editor is doing the right thing. Here are some guidelines for staying on the ethical side of the line.

• An editor should say that the opening paragraph is kind of boring, and explain what exactly is making it drag. But it's overstepping for an editor to tell you exactly how to change it.
• An editor should point out where your prose is unclear or vague. But it's completely inappropriate for the editor to rewrite that section of your essay.
• An editor should let you know that a section is light on detail or description. But giving you similes and metaphors to beef up that description is a no-go.

Proofreading (also called copy-editing) is checking for errors in the last draft of a written work. It happens at the end of the process and is meant as the final polishing touch. Proofreading is meticulous and detail-oriented, focusing on small corrections. It sands off all the surface rough spots that could alienate the reader.

Because proofreading is usually concerned with making fixes on the word or sentence level, this is the only process where someone else can actually add to or take away things from your essay . This is because what they are adding or taking away tends to be one or two misplaced letters.

Laser focus. Proofreading is all about the tiny details, so the ability to really concentrate on finding small slip-ups is a must.

Excellent grammar and spelling skills. Proofreaders need to dot every "i" and cross every "t." Good proofreaders should correct spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. They should put foreign words in italics and surround quotations with quotation marks. They should check that you used the correct college's name, and that you adhered to any formatting requirements (name and date at the top of the page, uniform font and size, uniform spacing).

Limited interference. A proofreader needs to make sure that you followed any word limits. But if cuts need to be made to shorten the essay, that's your job and not the proofreader's.

A bad proofreader either tries to turn into an editor, or just lacks the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job.

Some signs that you're working with a bad proofreader are:

• If they suggest making major changes to the final draft of your essay. Proofreading happens when editing is already finished.
• If they aren't particularly good at spelling, or don't know grammar, or aren't detail-oriented enough to find someone else's small mistakes.
• If they start swapping out your words for fancier-sounding synonyms, or changing the voice and sound of your essay in other ways. A proofreader is there to check for errors, not to take the 17-year-old out of your writing.

What Do Colleges Think of Your Getting Help With Your Essay?

Admissions officers agree: light editing and proofreading are good—even required ! But they also want to make sure you're the one doing the work on your essay. They want essays with stories, voice, and themes that come from you. They want to see work that reflects your actual writing ability, and that focuses on what you find important.

On the Importance of Editing

Get feedback. Have a fresh pair of eyes give you some feedback. Don't allow someone else to rewrite your essay, but do take advantage of others' edits and opinions when they seem helpful. ( Bates College )

Read your essay aloud to someone. Reading the essay out loud offers a chance to hear how your essay sounds outside your head. This exercise reveals flaws in the essay's flow, highlights grammatical errors and helps you ensure that you are communicating the exact message you intended. ( Dickinson College )

On the Value of Proofreading

Share your essays with at least one or two people who know you well—such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or friend—and ask for feedback. Remember that you ultimately have control over your essays, and your essays should retain your own voice, but others may be able to catch mistakes that you missed and help suggest areas to cut if you are over the word limit. ( Yale University )

Proofread and then ask someone else to proofread for you. Although we want substance, we also want to be able to see that you can write a paper for our professors and avoid careless mistakes that would drive them crazy. ( Oberlin College )

On Watching Out for Too Much Outside Influence

Limit the number of people who review your essay. Too much input usually means your voice is lost in the writing style. ( Carleton College )

Ask for input (but not too much). Your parents, friends, guidance counselors, coaches, and teachers are great people to bounce ideas off of for your essay. They know how unique and spectacular you are, and they can help you decide how to articulate it. Keep in mind, however, that a 45-year-old lawyer writes quite differently from an 18-year-old student, so if your dad ends up writing the bulk of your essay, we're probably going to notice. ( Vanderbilt University )

Now let's talk about some potential people to approach for your college essay editing and proofreading needs. It's best to start close to home and slowly expand outward. Not only are your family and friends more invested in your success than strangers, but they also have a better handle on your interests and personality. This knowledge is key for judging whether your essay is expressing your true self.

Parents or Close Relatives

Your family may be full of potentially excellent editors! Parents are deeply committed to your well-being, and family members know you and your life well enough to offer details or incidents that can be included in your essay. On the other hand, the rewriting process necessarily involves criticism, which is sometimes hard to hear from someone very close to you.

A parent or close family member is a great choice for an editor if you can answer "yes" to the following questions. Is your parent or close relative a good writer or reader? Do you have a relationship where editing your essay won't create conflict? Are you able to constructively listen to criticism and suggestion from the parent?

One suggestion for defusing face-to-face discussions is to try working on the essay over email. Send your parent a draft, have them write you back some comments, and then you can pick which of their suggestions you want to use and which to discard.

Teachers or Tutors

A humanities teacher that you have a good relationship with is a great choice. I am purposefully saying humanities, and not just English, because teachers of Philosophy, History, Anthropology, and any other classes where you do a lot of writing, are all used to reviewing student work.

Moreover, any teacher or tutor that has been working with you for some time, knows you very well and can vet the essay to make sure it "sounds like you."

If your teacher or tutor has some experience with what college essays are supposed to be like, ask them to be your editor. If not, then ask whether they have time to proofread your final draft.

Guidance or College Counselor at Your School

The best thing about asking your counselor to edit your work is that this is their job. This means that they have a very good sense of what colleges are looking for in an application essay.

At the same time, school counselors tend to have relationships with admissions officers in many colleges, which again gives them insight into what works and which college is focused on what aspect of the application.

Unfortunately, in many schools the guidance counselor tends to be way overextended. If your ratio is 300 students to 1 college counselor, you're unlikely to get that person's undivided attention and focus. It is still useful to ask them for general advice about your potential topics, but don't expect them to be able to stay with your essay from first draft to final version.

Friends, Siblings, or Classmates

Although they most likely don't have much experience with what colleges are hoping to see, your peers are excellent sources for checking that your essay is you .

Friends and siblings are perfect for the read-aloud edit. Read your essay to them so they can listen for words and phrases that are stilted, pompous, or phrases that just don't sound like you.

You can even trade essays and give helpful advice on each other's work.

If your editor hasn't worked with college admissions essays very much, no worries! Any astute and attentive reader can still greatly help with your process. But, as in all things, beginners do better with some preparation.

First, your editor should read our advice about how to write a college essay introduction , how to spot and fix a bad college essay , and get a sense of what other students have written by going through some admissions essays that worked .

Then, as they read your essay, they can work through the following series of questions that will help them to guide you.

Introduction Questions

• Is the first sentence a killer opening line? Why or why not?
• Does the introduction hook the reader? Does it have a colorful, detailed, and interesting narrative? Or does it propose a compelling or surprising idea?
• Can you feel the author's voice in the introduction, or is the tone dry, dull, or overly formal? Show the places where the voice comes through.

Essay Body Questions

• Does the essay have a through-line? Is it built around a central argument, thought, idea, or focus? Can you put this idea into your own words?
• How is the essay organized? By logical progression? Chronologically? Do you feel order when you read it, or are there moments where you are confused or lose the thread of the essay?
• Does the essay have both narratives about the author's life and explanations and insight into what these stories reveal about the author's character, personality, goals, or dreams? If not, which is missing?
• Does the essay flow? Are there smooth transitions/clever links between paragraphs? Between the narrative and moments of insight?

Reader Response Questions

• Does the writer's personality come through? Do we know what the speaker cares about? Do we get a sense of "who he or she is"?
• Where did you feel most connected to the essay? Which parts of the essay gave you a "you are there" sensation by invoking your senses? What moments could you picture in your head well?
• Where are the details and examples vague and not specific enough?
• Did you get an "a-ha!" feeling anywhere in the essay? Is there a moment of insight that connected all the dots for you? Is there a good reveal or "twist" anywhere in the essay?
• What are the strengths of this essay? What needs the most improvement?

Should You Pay Money for Essay Editing?

One alternative to asking someone you know to help you with your college essay is the paid editor route. There are two different ways to pay for essay help: a private essay coach or a less personal editing service , like the many proliferating on the internet.

My advice is to think of these options as a last resort rather than your go-to first choice. I'll first go through the reasons why. Then, if you do decide to go with a paid editor, I'll help you decide between a coach and a service.

When to Consider a Paid Editor

In general, I think hiring someone to work on your essay makes a lot of sense if none of the people I discussed above are a possibility for you.

If you can't ask your parents. For example, if your parents aren't good writers, or if English isn't their first language. Or if you think getting your parents to help is going create unnecessary extra conflict in your relationship with them (applying to college is stressful as it is!)

If you can't ask your teacher or tutor. Maybe you don't have a trusted teacher or tutor that has time to look over your essay with focus. Or, for instance, your favorite humanities teacher has very limited experience with college essays and so won't know what admissions officers want to see.

If you can't ask your guidance counselor. This could be because your guidance counselor is way overwhelmed with other students.

If you can't share your essay with those who know you. It might be that your essay is on a very personal topic that you're unwilling to share with parents, teachers, or peers. Just make sure it doesn't fall into one of the bad-idea topics in our article on bad college essays .

If the cost isn't a consideration. Many of these services are quite expensive, and private coaches even more so. If you have finite resources, I'd say that hiring an SAT or ACT tutor (whether it's PrepScholar or someone else) is better way to spend your money . This is because there's no guarantee that a slightly better essay will sufficiently elevate the rest of your application, but a significantly higher SAT score will definitely raise your applicant profile much more.

Should You Hire an Essay Coach?

On the plus side, essay coaches have read dozens or even hundreds of college essays, so they have experience with the format. Also, because you'll be working closely with a specific person, it's more personal than sending your essay to a service, which will know even less about you.

But, on the minus side, you'll still be bouncing ideas off of someone who doesn't know that much about you . In general, if you can adequately get the help from someone you know, there is no advantage to paying someone to help you.

If you do decide to hire a coach, ask your school counselor, or older students that have used the service for recommendations. If you can't afford the coach's fees, ask whether they can work on a sliding scale —many do. And finally, beware those who guarantee admission to your school of choice—essay coaches don't have any special magic that can back up those promises.

Should You Send Your Essay to a Service?

On the plus side, essay editing services provide a similar product to essay coaches, and they cost significantly less . If you have some assurance that you'll be working with a good editor, the lack of face-to-face interaction won't prevent great results.

On the minus side, however, it can be difficult to gauge the quality of the service before working with them . If they are churning through many application essays without getting to know the students they are helping, you could end up with an over-edited essay that sounds just like everyone else's. In the worst case scenario, an unscrupulous service could send you back a plagiarized essay.

Getting recommendations from friends or a school counselor for reputable services is key to avoiding heavy-handed editing that writes essays for you or does too much to change your essay. Including a badly-edited essay like this in your application could cause problems if there are inconsistencies. For example, in interviews it might be clear you didn't write the essay, or the skill of the essay might not be reflected in your schoolwork and test scores.

Should You Buy an Essay Written by Someone Else?

Let me elaborate. There are super sketchy places on the internet where you can simply buy a pre-written essay. Don't do this!

For one thing, you'll be lying on an official, signed document. All college applications make you sign a statement saying something like this:

I certify that all information submitted in the admission process—including the application, the personal essay, any supplements, and any other supporting materials—is my own work, factually true, and honestly presented... I understand that I may be subject to a range of possible disciplinary actions, including admission revocation, expulsion, or revocation of course credit, grades, and degree, should the information I have certified be false. (From the Common Application )

For another thing, if your academic record doesn't match the essay's quality, the admissions officer will start thinking your whole application is riddled with lies.

Admission officers have full access to your writing portion of the SAT or ACT so that they can compare work that was done in proctored conditions with that done at home. They can tell if these were written by different people. Not only that, but there are now a number of search engines that faculty and admission officers can use to see if an essay contains strings of words that have appeared in other essays—you have no guarantee that the essay you bought wasn't also bought by 50 other students.

• You should get college essay help with both editing and proofreading
• A good editor will ask questions about your idea, logic, and structure, and will point out places where clarity is needed
• A good editor will absolutely not answer these questions, give you their own ideas, or write the essay or parts of the essay for you
• A good proofreader will find typos and check your formatting
• All of them agree that getting light editing and proofreading is necessary
• Parents, teachers, guidance or college counselor, and peers or siblings
• If you can't ask any of those, you can pay for college essay help, but watch out for services or coaches who over-edit you work
• Don't buy a pre-written essay! Colleges can tell, and it'll make your whole application sound false.

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications and then explore our step-by-step guide to writing a great college essay .

Using the Common Application for your college applications? We have an excellent guide to the Common App essay prompts and useful advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that's right for you . Wondering how other people tackled these prompts? Then work through our roundup of over 130 real college essay examples published by colleges .

Stressed about whether to take the SAT again before submitting your application? Let us help you decide how many times to take this test . If you choose to go for it, we have the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

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Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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Personal Statement Essay (Common Application)

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Despite the odds stacked against me, I find myself here today. My parents, survivors of World War II bombings and refugee camps, arrived in the United States with just $20, a single suitcase, and no knowledge of the English language. Their lack of formal education didn’t deter them from believing in the power of learning and its potential to create a better future for their five children.

I am Kevin Krebs, the founder of HelloCollege, the largest college planning company in the Midwest. My parents’ unwavering support, guidance, and strong work ethic empowered me to pursue my dreams. My father, a dedicated and no-nonsense bricklayer, served as a mentor through his actions. He woke up at 5:15 a.m. every day, never late, and never missed a day of work, even though he didn’t particularly enjoy his job. He approached his responsibilities with seriousness and determination, tackling every task with diligence. My mother, a kind-hearted lunchroom manager at a school for special needs children, passed away last summer at the age of 88. She encouraged me to set ambitious goals, reminded me to give my best effort each day, and provided unwavering support that boosted my self-confidence beyond measure.

My parents instilled in me the belief that I could achieve anything I dreamed of. I attended Hibbard Elementary, the most ethnically diverse grade school in Chicago, where students from over 50 countries, 90% of whom came from low-income households, gathered. Despite the overcrowded classrooms, I thrived as a strong student, fortunate to have exceptional teachers who cared deeply for their students and pushed me to reach my individual potential.

I successfully tested into Lane Tech High School, a renowned magnet school with over 4,600 students, known for its excellent academics and athletics. Surrounded by a group of motivated and aspirational friends, I set my sights on attending a Big Ten university and participating in sports. Before I knew it, we were seniors preparing for college. I earned a full scholarship to Northwestern University, where I played quarterback on the football team and pitched for the baseball team. Meanwhile, my friends pursued their education at prestigious institutions such as the University of Chicago, Northern Illinois University, University of Wisconsin, and CalArts.

Arriving in Evanston as a broke, first-generation college student could have been overwhelming, both socially and academically. However, it only fueled my focus and determination. The memory of my parents’ sacrifices and perseverance motivated me, especially during countless nights spent writing papers with tight deadlines or pulling all-nighters to study for finals.

Northwestern’s liberal arts curriculum and quarter system exposed me to a wide range of courses that expanded my worldview and honed my critical thinking skills. I had never worked so hard in my life, but I will forever be grateful to the incredible professors who shaped my future. As a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, I graduated with high hopes but without a job.

Despite my excellent grades, I found myself utterly clueless about how the real world, particularly the white-collar professional world, operated. My parents’ network consisted of plumbers, cleaning ladies, and carpenters, not investment bankers, Fortune 500 executives, or influential journalists. Like many unemployed college graduates, I turned to student loans and pursued a master’s degree, accumulating nearly $30,000 in debt.

A year later, I graduated from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, expecting my dream job of anchoring ESPN’s SportsCenter to materialize. However, I found myself unemployed once again, burdened with a Sallie Mae student loan payment each month.

At the age of 25, I felt lost, drowning in debt, and overwhelmed with frustration. How did I end up here? Why had no guidance counselor, academic advisor, coach, or anyone else prepared me for the realities and uncertainties that awaited me?

Driven by these experiences, I founded HelloCollege with the intention of helping students and parents navigate the college path while raising awareness about the escalating costs of higher education. Over the past 20 years, my team and I have had the privilege of sharing our college planning and career readiness workshops, curriculum, and guidance with over 10,000 families.

Looking ahead, we aim to leverage our expertise to assist more than 250,000 students in successfully navigating the college admissions process. Join our movement and discover how students, just like you have gained admission to their dream colleges using our S.A.F.E. method. Together, we are on a mission to shape the next generation of scholars, ensuring they graduate within four years, free from overwhelming debt and equipped with a well-defined career plan.

I am filled with immense gratitude toward my late mother, Mrs. Ursula Krebs, and my 89-year-old father, Mr. Karl Krebs. Their unwavering belief in my potential has been the driving force behind my journey.

Director of Tutoring and Essay Services

In high school, Ian had a diverse set of interests but was unsure of his future path. He loved music, raiding the library’s CD collection after school, playing trumpet in the school band and with friends. He loved English, finding solace in absurdist and surrealist literature, writing short stories and free-form poetry. He loved math, reveling in the real-world applications of each concept, enjoying the puzzle of each problem. He loved history, fascinated with other cultures, inspired by the wealth of knowledge in years past. Ultimately, he loved learning and craved a challenge, a dual passion that took him to the University of Illinois for engineering.

UIUC exposed Ian to the true beauty of math and science in action—the experience was both exhilarating and humbling. Ian graduated from UIUC with his BS in Electrical Engineering, specializing in semiconductor fabrication, analog/digital design, and audio engineering. After working in the field as a design engineer for many years, he took a chance and opened a private tutoring business, a decision that solidified his leading passion, sharing his love of learning with students and guiding them to achieve their true potential. 

Over six years, Ian’s business quickly expanded from just himself to a team of twenty-two trained tutors that helped students navigate the challenging terrain of academics, executive functioning, and college preparation. 

Today, Ian is, at heart, that same high school boy but with a much better head on his shoulders. He loves his wife and two cats. He loves mathematics and electrical circuit design. He loves the outdoors and backpacking in the wild. He still loves music and reading. But most importantly, he loves mentoring others and helping them find their passion so they can change the world. 

Kimberly Shipman

College Counselor

Kim was born and raised in rural Virginia, dreaming of big city life.  She earned dual BS degrees in Human Development and Psychology from Virginia Tech and an M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration from North Carolina State University before taking the leap to live and work in the 3 rd largest city in the country—Houston, TX.

After graduate school, Kim worked in Career Advising at Barton College and Rice University. While at Rice University, Kim designed and implemented career programming specifically to support first generation students.  College access and success for all is a passion of hers.

In the 7 years prior to joining HelloCollege, Kim worked as a high school College Counselor and fell in love with the field.  She combines her experiences to help students discover careers they are passionate about and then plan and execute the path to obtain those careers.  Kim builds relationships with her students to get to know them as individuals allowing her to give every student a personalized experience.  She brings kindness, warmth, and joy to every interaction.

When applying to college herself, Kim had to figure it all out on her own so she has made it her mission to give her students the support she wished she’d had.  Applying to college can be complicated, but Kim strives to make it as approachable and fun as possible for her students. When not working, Kim loves spending time with her husband, son, and fur babies.  They enjoy camping, attending community theater productions, and trying new restaurants together.

Brooke Kent

College Counselor & Essay Coach

Brooke has spent two decades helping students, executives, and professionals craft personalized, persuasive, and achievement-focused essays, resumes, and LinkedIn profiles.

Brooke received her bachelor’s summa cum laude in history, policy studies, and Spanish translation from Rice University. While there, she won a Boren Award for International Study for pin-pointing what led not-for-profit organizations in Buenos Aires to succeed or to fail as they interacted with the city government.

Brooke began her communications career by interviewing several White House chiefs-of-staff for the White House Transition Project, a non-partisan initiative that facilitated the transition between President William J. Clinton and President George W. Bush.

Brooke later served as the executive writer for the director of Los Alamos National Laboratory. She was the director’s voice to a staff of 8,000 technical staff members, researchers, and professionals.

Brooke then started her own writing and speaking business. Her work as a writer and lecturer for a community-wide, multi-generational program saw adult enrollment increase by 54% and children’s enrollment grow by 160%.

Brooke lives with her husband and three children in Colorado Springs, where she enjoys baking, cooking, reading, cycling, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and visiting U.S. national parks (15 down, 47 to go).

Chris Bench

Assistant Director of Tutoring & Essay Services

Chris Bench has known that words were his vocation since he first learned, bedtime-bound, that Horton’d heard a Who. Chris earned his BA in English from Kenyon College, writing poetry and combining his interests in systems theory and cognitive science with contemporary literature (wildly pretentious Honors Thesis title: Pynchon, Gaddis, and the Art of Artificial Life: Cybernetics, Nonlinearity, and the Recovery of Structure in the Discourse of the Novel ), before spending the better part of a decade in the University of Chicago’s English Literature Ph.D. program, teaching courses (both there and at Roosevelt University) on writing, literary analysis, and American literature (wildly pretentious undergrad course title: Wayward Shots from the Western Canon: Alternative Aesthetics of the US West). At UChicago, Chris realized his love of working with young people and, especially, his love of teaching writing. At the same time, he also worked a side gig as the UChicago Laboratory School’s in-house essay tutor, which allowed him to further deepen his love of writing instruction and to hone his editor’s craft. When Chris left academia, that side gig quickly turned – as side gigs are wont to do – into his central pursuit, and Chris has spent the last 15 years aiding students with essays (and tutoring them for SATs and ACTs). Since joining HelloCollege in 2018, Chris has primarily served as an Essay Coach, helping students to transmute experience lived in the world into pixels glowing on a screen – and into admission to institutions ranging from community colleges to Ivy League universities. He now serves as HelloCollege’s Director of Essay Services. When he isn’t ruthlessly pruning students’ superfluous modifiers, Chris enjoys cooking regional Mexican cuisine, binging kung fu films, and scrambling mountains. If you ask him about the time he was emergency choppered out of Alaska’s Gates of the Arctic National Park, he will briefly feign embarrassment before detailing every bumbling step of his ill-fated adventure.

Will Wagner

Essay Coach

Will fell in love with the written word his junior year in high school, thanks to an English teacher named Mrs. Kelley. She exposed him to the magic of writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and especially John Steinbeck. Just like that, his future came into focus.

And while Will never became the next Steinbeck (darn!), he did go on to have a gratifying career in publishing as a writer and editor for everything from national magazines to websites. He even wrote a book of his own, Wrigley Blues: The Year the Cubs Played Hardball with the Curse (but Lost Anyway), published in 2004 by Taylor Trade. For the past several years, he also has worked as an essay coach at HelloCollege. His goal in this role is simple: to bring a little “Mrs. Kelley” to the game and help students down the path of fulfilling their passions and achieving their dreams.

Alisha Braun

Alisha worked in higher education for 13 years, having taught at Michigan State University and the University of South Florida. She is the author of 30 book chapters and research articles on diversity and inclusion, comparative and international education, and qualitative research methods. She has consulted for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and has led numerous independent and collaborative community-based research projects and service-learning study abroad programs in Botswana, Cambodia, England, Ghana, Malawi, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, and the United States. Working on multiple college campuses domestically and abroad has made Alisha appreciate the diversity of collegiate experiences available to students. As an essay coach, she enjoys mentoring students and families as they navigate the college application process and step towards their college and career goals.

Alisha received her Ph.D. in Educational Policy from Michigan State University with graduate specializations in International Development and African Studies. She also holds a M.A. in School Psychology from Michigan State University and a B.A. Honors degree from the University of Calgary. In her free time, Alisha enjoys yoga, golf, Broadway, and most of all spending time with her husband and young daughters.

Sara currently serves as an Essay Coach at HelloCollege. She has worked as a high school English teacher for the past 15 years, beginning her career at The Dwight School in New York City. Sara later taught at EF Education New York, an international boarding school, where she taught students from more than 49 different nations.

Sara is a graduate of The University of Notre Dame and holds an M.A. in English from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She has been published in The Washingtonian, The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, and Chronogram. As an essay coach at HelloCollege, she is honored to be a witness to the students’ stories. Sara currently lives in Oak Park with her husband, son and Frankie (their terrier).

Andi Taylor

Andi graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics. She specialized in sociolinguistics, studying the wide variety of accents and dialects used by American English speakers in different regions and communities. Over one summer, she held a research assistant position for a project focusing on African American Vernacular English accents among speakers in an upstate New York community. Her approach to editing is informed by her background in linguistics; she values maintaining the unique voice and style of each student while also keeping each essay concise, clear, and appropriate to a collegiate setting.

Throughout her college years, Andi was a Student Visit Coordinator in the UChicago admissions office, helping parents and prospective students gain a better understanding of the application process. Working alongside admissions counselors gave her insight into the fine details that make college essays stand out. This role also ignited her passion for working with soon-to-be college students. Choosing a college to attend is a big decision, and she loves being able to support young adults so that they feel prepared and can focus on the excitement of having so many new possibilities ahead of them!

Andi has been living in Chicago since 2017, but she is originally from Los Angeles, California. She enjoys traveling in her spare time, and she makes it a point to try a few local specialties. Whether it’s a late-night pizza slice in New York City, gelato in Florence, or ahi poke in Honolulu, she loves trying out the classic flavors each location is famous for.

Andi has always liked to read, and her favorite genres are science fiction and fantasy. Her current favorite book is Exhalation by Ted Chiang. She recommends it to anybody who will listen! It explores themes of time, technology, humanism, themes which Andi would like to consider in her own short-form creative writing projects.

Nicholas Pizzo

Nick grew up a New York City native in Midtown, Manhattan. He attended the Bronx High School of Science despite his affinity for reading and writing. Wanting a change of pace, he took his talents to the Green Mountain State to study English and European History at the University of Vermont. After receiving his BA, Nick worked a variety of odd jobs before the world shut down in 2020.

Having (too much) time to reflect on his past, present, and future, Nick ended up applying to the University of Aalborg for an MA in International Relations. He spent a year in Denmark before pivoting back to the U.S. to complete his graduate studies. There, he received an MA in the Humanities, with a focus on creative writing, from the University of Chicago.

Nick spent the next year with the national nonprofit SADD working to push high school and college students to action in community outreach, mental health awareness, LGBTQA+ inclusion and support, and safe driving practices, among other initiatives. The job saw him traveling throughout New York State, from New York City, to Syracuse, to Niagara Falls, and even Whitehall (best bigfoot festival in the country!).

Now a member of the HelloCollege team, Nick is excited to get started on the next round of college essays! Outside of work, he spends his time hiking, writing, and getting disappointed by the New York Knicks. He’s always down to talk about obscure moments in world history or his new favorite fiction.

Sana Rahman

Sana Rahman holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stony Brook University, both in English Literature.

Her main areas of study were African American literature, critical race theory, Marxist theory, and film studies. During her undergraduate studies, Sana worked as a Resident Assistant and would regularly edit and proofread essays for residents writing on a variety of topics. In her graduate studies, Sana found a passion for turning complex, and sometimes difficult to understand ideas into writing that was approachable and accessible for readers and scholars outside of tight academic circles.

After leaving the classroom setting, Sana has continued to keep in touch with literature by reading, annotating, and critiquing essays and novels of interest to her, typically in the science fiction and speculative fiction genres focusing on authors such as Octavia Butler, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Ursula K. LeGuin. Sana also regularly writes narrative essays and poetry, and is now attempting to write her first novel-length project.

Currently settled in New York, Sana works as an Essay Editor/Coach for HelloCollege. It is her goal to use the skills she has developed in her academic career, with reference to writing, editing, proofreading, and researching, to help college applicants through the difficult task of making the captivating stories unique to them fit for the admissions process. Sana believes it is vital to take a creative approach to this segment of the application, and is eager to assist applicants in turning what could be a boring personal statement into a work of art to be proud of.

Sarah Bellardini

Sarah is a comedy writer with nearly a decade of experience working in scripted television content. She is a native of Upstate New York and a graduate of Boston University where she studied screenwriting despite her mother’s pleas for her to “get into computers.” As a Film & Television major, Sarah enrolled in a program that brought her to Los Angeles for her final semester where she interned on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and in the writers’ office on the final season of AMC’s Mad Men.

After graduating, Sarah began her career as a writer’s assistant and script coordinator on several animated productions before landing her first staff writing job on the Adult Swim comedy Lazor Wulf. As a first time writer, Sarah wrote the pilot episode of the series, and three of the ten total episodes that season. Since then, Sarah has written on over 100 episodes of television produced by Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, TBS, HBO Max, Amazon and Paramount+. She currently works as a freelance scriptwriter while developing and pitching her original material.

Sarah has studied sketch comedy and improv at multiple comedy schools in LA, and spent many years writing, producing and performing weekly comedy shows for (sometimes!) sold out audiences at The Pack Theater. She later became a teaching assistant and co-teacher for the theater’s popular sketch writing program. Sarah is excited to bring her experience in storytelling and appreciation for comedy to her position on the essay team at HelloCollege!

Other things to note: Sarah enjoys volunteering with rescue dogs, is suspiciously good at ping-pong and has an unironic obsession with Guy Fieri. She currently resides in the beautiful San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles with her bull terrier, Nikki Peanuts.

Steven Flores

Steven Flores is a writer and educator based in Wisconsin, where he is currently an AOP Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Over the past decade, Steven has worked in higher education as a Teaching Assistant, English Advisor, Academic Writing Specialist, Director of Academics, and Director of the Milwaukee Office for a boutique college counseling company. In this latter role, he worked with approximately 100 students on 1,000+ essays for selective and highly selective colleges and universities. His deep love of learning motivates his passion for working with students as they plot out their futures in essay form.

Steven holds a BA in Philosophy and English (Iowa), an MA in Literature (UChicago), and an MFA in Fiction from the highly-selective University of Wisconsin-Madison Creative Writing. Steven’s fiction has been published in The Iowa Review and his book reviews have been published in the Harvard Review. He has received multiple fellowships in support of his novel-in-progress. Over the course of his writing career, Steven has been lucky enough to study with a number of internationally-renowned writers, including a Pulitzer-Prize winner. He brings his deep knowledge of narrative craft to each student, combining his writing experience with his deep knowledge of academia.

Outside of Hello College, Steven also works as a developmental editor for academic books and educational publications, and as a “book doctor” for aspiring novelists. In the summers, Steven teaches the Creative Writing Master Class at Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development. Away from the page, he enjoys swimming, cycling, yoga, traveling, and spending time with his fiance and their greyhound, Gigi.

Gina Twardosz

Gina Twardosz has always felt safest in an academic space. As a first-generation student, she felt most at home in her school’s library, surrounded by endless knowledge. This hunger for learning and natural curiosity led her to pursue journalism in college. She graduated from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, IN with a BFA in English Writing.

Gina has interned for both the Northwest Indiana Times and the South Bend Tribune; she won five collegiate press awards for investigative journalism while working at Notre Dame University’s student newspaper, the NDSMC Observer. As a student journalist, Gina investigated and reformed the tri-campus community’s mental health resources for students. She is passionate about making academic spaces safe and healthy for everyone.

Her love of storytelling led her to pursue her master’s in creative writing at Columbia College Chicago. While studying, she had the opportunity to teach two creative writing classes a year, and she fell in love with writing workshops and teaching students how to tell their own stories and share them with the world. Currently, she is working to transform the traditional style of writing workshops by making them more inclusive for students of color and LGBTQIA+ Students.

When not teaching, Gina is writing her memoir. She has had ten personal essays and poems published in magazines, literary journals, and zines. In 2022, Thimble Literary Magazine and Gotham’s The Razor nominated two of her pieces for the Pushcart Prize. She also hosts a monthly reading series called “Freshly Squeezed” that invites writers of color and LGBTQIA+ writers to perform their work for a crowd of Chicagoans.

She loves nothing more than to sit on the couch and watch a movie with her cat, Radar, who, despite being a black cat, is very scared of most horror movies. Radar’s favorite film is Kiki’s Delivery Service.

Elena Van Lare

Elena has enjoyed over 30 years of experience as a middle school and high school literature and writing teacher. She grew up in the Finger Lakes area of New York, where her very first high school job included tying grape vines for one of the iconic wineries in the area. She later earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Old Dominion University in Virginia. However, her love of theater, acting, and writing led Elena to share her passion with others; she completed her teaching credential and Master’s degree in Education at Nazareth College of Rochester in New York.

As she embarked upon a career of inspiring teenagers to realize their own potential, she also met her husband, moved from New York to Los Angeles, and had two children. After returning to New York to be closer to family, Elena taught English at the high school and college level for Brockport High School and SUNY Brockport for eleven years. As their children entered middle school, Elena and her husband decided to show their children the world by accepting positions as international teachers, which led them through the next ten years of their lives. They enjoyed teaching at top-tier schools in Myanmar, Jordan, Thailand, and Singapore, while their children graduated high school with IB Diplomas in Southeast Asia.

Elena currently lives in New York City with her husband, her adult children nearby, and the newest addition to the family: Dachshund Sammy. When she’s not working, Elena loves watching the Food Network, Master Chef, and any other platform offering cooking competitions (she is a horrible cook, but loves to eat)!  Elena is an Academic Dean and teaches full-time at Dwight Global, and she is truly excited to work with students at HelloCollege!

Bertrand Cooper

Bertrand spent most of his childhood in New Jersey but moved around a lot once he became a foster youth at the onset of high school. It was not until college that he discovered how much he enjoyed academic life: reading, writing, discussing, and repeating each until you find a niche for your own creativity within a field that interests you. The first year ultimately went down in flames since Bertrand did not understand financial aid and could not afford textbooks or tuition without it. Still, it was enjoyable enough to try again. 

After two years of working all manner of odd and menial jobs, Bertrand returned to school. He went from community college to a four-year and then from a four year to a Master’s program. Being a first generation student, he had to learn to navigate the financial aid process on his own, which led to becoming an informal FAFSA mentor for partners, relatives, and friends. There were many experiences like this that made it clear that teaching was something he wanted to do. Adopting an education major felt like the clear way forward. At the same time, graduate school put a greater emphasis on writing, and though he chose Education Theory, his closest friends chose film and screenplays, which fostered a group dynamic wherein writing appeared like a tool for every form of expression. 

Today, Bertrand lives in a sleepy part of Los Angeles county. He splits his time between formal education work and writing creative non-fiction. For eight years, he worked at an online education company, eventually heading academic content and development there before returning to tutoring. He continues to work as a freelance writer for outlets ranging from the New York Times to Current Affairs, and he plans to complete a book proposal soon. In addition to obsessively reading nonfiction on every subject, Bertrand is an avid powerlifter, martial artist, and beach bum.

Stewart Lewis

Stewart Lewis has published eight critically acclaimed Young Adult and Adult fiction novels, and several non-fiction essays online and in anthologies. His books have been translated into five languages, and called “Charming” by Elin Hiderbrand and “Spirited” by Augusten Burroughs. He has published with Random House, Sourcebooks, and Turner. His latest Young Adult novel, ONE STUPID THING, is now becoming a major motion picture from director Linda Yellen, starring Sky Katz and Corey Fogelmanis, set to be released in 2025. He has been a professor of Creative Writing at the University of Maryland and at Belmont University in Nashville for over a decade combined. In addition to writing and teaching, Stewart has toured and licensed his music as a professional singer songwriter, sharing the stage with such acts as Shawn Colvin, Sheryl Crow, Andy Grammer, and Better Than Ezra. His songs have been featured in the television shows Laguna Beach , Body of Proof , The Biggest Loser , as well as the feature films Firehouse Dog , Violet Tendencies , Shelter , and A Four Letter Word . He is married to Steve Swenson, an NPR executive, and has a daughter, Rowan, who is a commercial dancer. He enjoys traveling, investing in real estate, fine dining, and the cuteness overload from his French bulldog Oliver. 

Emily Phares

Emily is a writer and editor with a “creative and atypical storytelling” style, as a former colleague put it. Her forte is finding the interesting story, and telling it with a unique voice.

Originally from New Orleans, Emily’s background spans academia, journalism, and marketing— including roles at Harvard Medical School, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and America’s Test Kitchen, where she won the Leaders in Innovation award. She’s also worked as a freelance writer, with her work appearing in Eater , Boston Magazine , Metro , and more.

With a keen interest in both health and education, Emily earned a Master of Education degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education where two of her projects were awarded top honors—including a special commendation for her writing. Her curriculum also included coursework at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to that she studied Mass Communication at Louisiana State University, minoring in French Studies, and also completed two study abroad programs with New York University: Italian Cuisine and the Mediterranean Diet (Florence) and Global Food Studies (Paris).

Emily loves teaching and tutoring, and has experience working with students of all ages–from elementary schoolers to college student-athletes.

Sam was born and raised in Houston and spent their high school years in North Carolina. Growing up, Sam played softball very competitively and was recruited by numerous colleges. They chose to play for the University of Chicago for its balance of athletic and academic rigor. 

At UChicago, Sam found their intellectual passion where they didn’t expect it to be. Sam started undergrad as a pre-med, fell in love with sociology their first year, switched majors, and never looked back. They now hold a Bachelor’s and Master’s in sociology and are earning a PhD in the same subject at the University of Michigan. 

During undergrad at UChicago, Sam studied abroad in Paris, became a Mellon Mays Fellow, and took several writing courses that changed their life. These experiences catalyzed Sam’s joy of travel, love for critical scholarship, and passion for writing and editing. As an undergrad and a PhD student, they have had the opportunity to share this passion with numerous students through teaching and mentorship. Sam works hard to guide their students to understand that the more clear, concise, and persuasive they make their writing, the better chances they have of achieving their academic desires. Sam always looks forward to making this learning process creative and inspiring. 

Sam finds great joy in live music, growing their own veggies, and spending as much time as possible in nature. They live in the northeast and can usually be found near the ocean, the mountains, or a river, no matter the season or weather. They take great delight in the small things in life that seem mundane and would eat ice cream everyday if they could. 

Growing up in Chicago, Emily Mack was a natural storyteller. Inspired by the city around her, she became “the writer girl,” editing her high school’s paper and lit mag and coaching their Louder Than a Bomb poetry slam team. By the time she left Chicago for Columbia University, the choice to study creative writing was instinctual.

At Columbia University, her official concentration was nonfiction which provided the chance to write criticism, essays, and journalistic features. She also learned to mine her own experiences for her work. One of those pieces — “On Belmont and Clark” — was published in The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook in 2019. The same year, she became an editor at The Columbia Review and, upon graduation in 2020, earned the program’s inaugural Ellis Avery Prize for Creative Writing. The award was for showing “exceptional promise” in the field.

Now, she is putting that promise to use.

First, Emily became a staff writer for Wide Open Media, a subsidiary of Publishers Clearing House, creating content for their Americana sites, Rare.us and Wide Open Country. She turned out several articles per day on topics ranging from pop culture to politics before stepping up to an editorial role at Agent Publishing, a national network of real estate magazines.

As senior editor there, she still writes — a lot — in addition to interviewing subjects, editing stories, training reporters, and planning the monthly print edition of Chicago Agent magazine. Every day brings a new challenge, which she loves. Outside of her nine-to-five, Emily seeks additional opportunities to write and edit.

As an essay coach for HelloCollege, she’s excited to help the next generation kickstart their academic journey. Emily knows everyone has a story to tell. She wants to help students find their own and craft their voice.

Willow Green

Willow is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, and teacher. They grew up in a small town in the foothills of North Carolina, a place which fostered their lifelong love for cicada songs, Southern Gothic literature, and moody folk music. They earned a B.A. in Dance and English from Kenyon College in Gambier, OH. They have also taught and mentored in various roles including dramaturg, English teacher, and LGBTQIA+ student programming manager.

Intertwining their love for writing and dance, Willow has curated several entries for Movement Research’s Critical Correspondence publication. They are in the process of publishing a co-authored biography of Maggie Patton, the founder of Kenyon College’s dance program, in collaboration with Professor Julie Brodie and University of Akron Press. Willow is passionate about oral histories, embodied memory, storytelling, and archives, and they are inspired by their experiences with intergenerational community building.

As a 2022-2023 Fulbright English Teaching Assistant based in Jaffa, Willow co-taught courses at Talpiot College and facilitated immersive English sessions for Israeli and Palestinian students. This included workshops in partnership with TEC4Schools and the U.S. Embassy. Willow also studied and danced alongside local choreographers as part of Machol Shalem’s Creative Incubator, culminating in a festival premiere of their solo choreographic research. Their work has also been performed at 7MPR! at Arts on Site and MOtiVE Brooklyn. 

In all aspects of their life and work, Willow is drawn to storytelling practices that invite us to witness each other more deeply. In their free time, they do their best to go on adventures with their friends. They love adventures big and small, whether it be trying a new sweet treat at the local cafe or hiking through the desert to visit a world wonder.

When Meg was a child, if you asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, you

might get a different answer on any given day—the future was a grand adventure and

the possibilities endless—but the follow-up never changed: “…or a writer or a teacher.”

In the end, writer and teacher both won the day, and as an adult, Meg has built a life

and career that combines these two passions.

After earning a Bachelor of Arts in English and political science from Plymouth State

University, Meg took a job with an independent publisher near her hometown and began

a 20-plus-year career as a professional developmental and copy editor. Non-

professionally, she has worn many hats: homeschooling her children through middle

school, co-leading a Girl Scout troop, teaching writing classes at homeschool co-ops,

and facilitating coming-of-age and lifespan sexuality programs for teenagers at a local

UU church. These days, her work is focused primarily on tutoring and coaching as she

helps young writers learn how to tell their own stories, and after a long hiatus from

academia, she is looking forward to beginning an MFA in creative nonfiction.

A New England native, Meg now lives in Buffalo, New York, with her two teenagers, a

dog, a cat, and a semi-aquatic turtle. When she’s not reading, writing, or teaching

writing, she spends her time dabbling in artistic pursuits, training as a competitive adult

figure skater, teaching skating classes for children and adults, and binge-watching

Gilmore Girls with her daughter. She is excited to be working as an essay coach at

HelloCollege, helping students craft essays that highlight their unique perspectives and

experiences as they explore the endless possibilities of their own grand adventures.

Zee is a passionate educator, prolific writer, and community builder with an unwavering dedication to nurturing the talents of aspiring writers. With over a decade of experience in the field of education, Zee has found her true calling in inspiring and empowering individuals to discover their voices through the written word.

As an educator, Zee’s approach is marked by creativity, empathy, and a deep understanding of the learning process. Her enthusiasm for teaching extends beyond the confines of the classroom, as she constantly seeks innovative ways to engage with her students and ignite their love for literature and writing. Whether she’s leading dynamic workshops, facilitating stimulating discussions, or providing one-on-one mentorship, Zee strives to create an environment where every student feels valued and supported in their journey as a writer.

In addition to her passion for teaching, Zee is a dedicated writer with a diverse portfolio spanning fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Her writing reflects her keen observation of the human experience, exploring themes of identity, belonging, and the intricacies of relationships.

Central to Zee’s work is her commitment to building vibrant communities of writers. Recognizing the importance of collaboration and shared experiences in the creative process, she actively fosters spaces where writers can come together to learn, grow, and inspire one another.

Why Choose Our Essay Services

Peace of mind, industry knowledge.

-Will Wagner, Essay Coach

We are dedicated to helping students and parents successfully navigate the college admissions process, providing a personalized experience based on your unique needs and goals.

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Do you already have a personal statement or supplemental essays drafted, but you’re not feeling 100% confident about it? Then our hourly plan is perfect for you. This efficient service gets right to the business of fine-tuning your essay, and it’s priced by the hour, so you’ll only pay for what you need.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Broad Review

You’ll send the personal statement draft you’ve already created to your consultant. They will give it a once over, focusing primarily on readability and coherence. 

They’ll also be looking to ensure that you have: 

• Fully answered the question.
• Presented yourself in a unique and distinctive way.
• Organized your personal statement(s) supplemental essays logically.
• Developed engaging openings and effective conclusions.

Step 2: Detailed Edit

Now that your consultant has helped you shape your story on a macro level, it’s time to drill down. In this second round, your consultant will focus on the microelements. They’ll pay special attention to things like clarity, grammar, style, spelling, and word usage. Once they’ve finely combed through your draft, they’ll shoot it back to you with suggested corrections.

Step 3: Submit Your Awesome Essay

After you’ve made all the corrections, your essay should be in good shape for you to do a final read through and send it on its way. It’s that easy. If you’re wondering how many hours to buy, consider the number of drafts you want reviewed. Then think about the general quality of your writing and how close your current draft is to being application-ready.

You can use the estimate guidelines in the chart below to determine your needs and move forward with purchasing some time ASAP. Or, if you need further assistance in making the decision, you can  obtain a free estimate before purchasing.

How Many Hours Do I Need?

Choose how many hours you want to start:.

Our rates provide prompt two-business-day turnaround.

Minimum required purchase

1 Hour (add-on)

Existing clients only

Starting at $ 30 /mo with Affirm .

Have a question? Not sure how much time you need?

We offer complete application packages too, initial personal statement package.

When you purchase our Personal Statement Package, you’ll receive:

• Up-front guidance and advising to save you “churn time.” Your initial introduction to your consultant will be through a questionnaire. They’ll look over your answers and then schedule time to meet with you via video conference or phone call. This 'face-to-face' meeting will provide them with the opportunity to get better acquainted with you. You’ll brainstorm together in real time and determine how to best present yourself and your unique qualifications in your personal statement. In this session, you’ll go over the core idea behind your essay and how to approach structuring it, as well as any important life experiences you might want to include.
• An outline for your personal statement.  Based on your questionnaire responses and the ensuing discussion you had on the brainstorming call, your consultant will create an outline for your personal statement that provides structure and direction. It consists of bullet points and prompts and is not a full draft. Applicant feedback has been that between the meeting and the outline, our clients have the confidence and direction they need to start writing. This initial step saves them time in creating their first draft and ultimately helps to produce a superior final result.
• Personal statement editing.  Once you’ve completed a strong first draft, your consultant will dig into the copy and begin editing. They’ll be focusing primarily on clarity, word usage, style, grammar, and spelling. From there, you’ll receive a draft with suggested corrections and changes. You’ll revise it based on those recommendations and then shoot it back to them. At this point, you’ll likely do a bit of back-and-forth with your consultant, fine tuning and editing until you have a personal statement you’re 100% happy with. Note that most personal statements benefit best from 2-4 rounds of review, but there is no clock ticking.

Our thorough and individualized Personal Statement Package gives you the confidence of knowing you are submitting the strongest personal statement possible.

Personal Statement Package

Starting at $107 /mo with Affirm .

Our regular rates provide prompt two-business-day turnaround. Our rush rates provide maximum one-business-day turnaround.

Starting at $ 80 /mo with Affirm .

• One Personal Statement Package provides all the editing and consulting you need for ONE essay at ONE school. Using our assistance in modifying this essay for other schools will incur additional charges.
• Packages must be entirely used in one application year.
• If you request to change consultants or work with a second consultant, you will incur additional charges.

Have a question? Not sure if a package is right for you?

Boring but important stuff.

• All rates are expressed and billed in U.S. dollars.
• Our regular rates provide two-business-day turnaround for each round of editing. 
• Services are subject to availability.
• All prices are subject to change without notice.

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What current seniors are saying

Differentiating yourself is more important than ever.

With more schools going test optional, college essays can help you stand out from the rest, and they can often make the difference between a rejection and acceptance.

Essays are 25% of your application

Grades alone won’t get you accepted to your dream school. The college essay is an extremely important piece of your college application. Essays help you stand out from the rest.

Show your personality

Admissions officers want to better understand who you are through your essays. Showcasing your unique view of the world and the experiences that have led you to where you are is pivotal.

Become memorable to admissions

Admissions officers only spend a few minutes on each application. Ensure your essay will be memorable by getting honest feedback from people who don’t already know your story well.

Write amazing college essays

Stop guessing what admissions officers will take away from your college essay. Our community of peer reviewers will let you know and provide feedback. You’ll build confidence and improve your own writing by reviewing peer essays, which help you learn to read essays just like an admissions officer.

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Get exposed to how admissions officers read and evaluate your essays. Our essay guides provide students with clear, actionable ways to write an authentic essay. We analyze real essays from the past to see what works to get accepted.

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The Write Stuff: 4 College Admissions Essay Editing Services Reviewed

Looking for good news about the college admissions process these days? You won't find much of it. Not only has the cost of attending college doubled on average since the 1980s, but also it's gotten considerably harder to get in. The majority of colleges in America have witnessed a plummeting acceptance rate as the number of student applications has exploded. Fifty years ago you had a 20 percent shot at getting into Harvard (all things equal, of course). Now the Crimson's acceptance rate is about 5 percent. In the last 10 years alone, the acceptance rate at many major universities has been cut in half . It's almost enough to make a kid consider trying out for the rowing team .

As if applicants didn't have enough to stress about, colleges have been making it more onerous to apply—requiring additional interviews, recommendations, and SAT Subject Tests. But the most burdensome of them all is an old standby: the application essay.

Essay requirements vary widely from school to school. The 150-plus members of the Coalition for College (which includes Harvard and Vanderbilt) requires a single 500-word essay selected from prompts such as "Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenges and rewards of making your contribution." Those with eyes on the University of California system must write a whopping four essays, with prompts such as "Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced."

Students can reuse essays with other colleges if the prompts are similar enough—or if the schools happen to be members of the same application partnership—but you'd be surprised how seldom this occurs. My daughter found that out the hard way, when she learned that she'd have to write 12 separate essays to cover just five schools.

What's a kid to do who doesn't have parents who both work full-time as writers and editors? Just run their essay through Microsoft grammar check and hope for the best? Good luck. The acceptance rate at the University of Chicago has dropped 81 percent in the last 12 years. It doesn't take a Rhodes scholar to know that if you don't put your best foot forward, you may as well not even bother.

All of this led me to the curious world of online editing services. While you can hire a consultant to help guide your child through this overwhelming maze, these consultants are expensive and much of their work involves managing the complex application process, figuring out which colleges are a good fit, and brainstorming essay topics. If you just need help whipping an already written essay into better shape, an online editor might be a better (and much cheaper) fit.

To be sure, some of these services are exorbitantly expensive. Services like EssayEdge and TopAdmit can run you close to $200 for editing a single essay of fewer than 400 words. I've seen prices as high as $379 after various upsells. Word for word, that's more than what my editor at WIRED makes. (Hi, Mike!)

The good news is there are plenty of more affordable options available. I tested four of them, all reasonably priced and seemingly legitimate. Most of these services charge based on a combination of the word count of the original essay and the turnaround time required. I used the same raw essay from my daughter as a test piece for each of the four services, and requested the slowest turnaround time each of them offered to minimize the cost. I submitted her 383-word raw essay at the same time to each of the services, on a Wednesday afternoon. I gave all the services minimal guidance with my submission, noting only (when prompted) that this was a college application essay. All four of the services allow you to upload a Microsoft Word document and receive a red-lined and comment-filled Word document in return.

When I received the revised essays, I reviewed them along with my wife (also a professional writer) and my daughter, the author. The reviews were done blind, without indicating the source of any of the edits, and we all rated each essay on a 1 to 10 scale. I also threw in a copy that I roughly edited. For the sake of comparison, the raw essay scored an average of 4.8, while my edit garnered a 6.9.

Here's what the various services cost, and how well they performed.

Note: When you buy something using the retail links in our stories, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Read more about how this works.

Total price: $13.91, 48-hour turnaround promised. Edit received within 24 hours.

Scribendi offers seven different turnaround time tiers, but its 72-hour and one-week turnarounds were the same price as the 48-hour turnaround. A four-hour turnaround was quoted at $28.53. Scribendi returned both a changes-tracked version of the document and a "clean" version with all edits accepted. Scribendi's edit was not just the fastest, it was incredibly thorough—almost nitpicky—with 16 comments or prompts to the writer suggesting avenues for additional content or revisions that were beyond the scope of a simple edit. Oddly, the final edit didn't resonate with readers, who largely felt it was somewhat awkward and clunky in its overall flow. That said, the editor's notes and the service's overall speed were a big plusses.

Readers' rating: 5.0

Total price: $13.90, three-day turnaround promised. Edit received after two days.

Elite Editing has an Advanced Editing service for $40, but the $13.90 plan I chose offers only "basic editing," which doesn't include "suggested rewrites to eliminate awkward phrasing, repetition, passive voice, etc." and "taking into account your original assignment." Three days is the standard turnaround; one-day turnaround for the Basic Editing plan would have cost $19.90. The site crashed when I checked out, but my payment and submission both went through successfully. As promised, Elite's edit was indeed basic. Its editor made the fewest changes of any of the services and left only three comments, one of which was about whether the use of indentations and double-spacing was appropriate. While Elite's edits were correct, they weren't terribly deep—although that was enough to propel it to a second-place finish from the readers.

Readers' rating: 5.7

Total price: $15.32, five-day turnaround promised. Edit received after four days.

Wordvice has eight different pricing tiers, with rates as low as 4 cents per word for a seven-day turnaround, though that tier was limited to materials longer than 3,000 words. The five-day turnaround tier was only marginally more expensive. When I received Wordvice's edited document, I was offered an upsell for a "second look" (basically another edit) for 30 percent off. Wordvice's embedded commentary was nearly as thorough as Scribendi's, though Wordvice was less obsessive over grammar and more focused on overall clarity. Turns out that was the right move: Wordvice's edit was the overall favorite of the quartet, and the finished draft reads cleanly and clearly.

Readers' rating: 6.3

Total price: $31.33, seven-day turnaround promised. Edit received after four days.

Scribbr initially quoted a price of $25.36, but I shelled out an extra $6 for both the "structure check" and "clarity check" options, despite not really understanding what those were. Prices include a 2 percent surcharge for using a credit card. For those in a hurry, 24-hour turnaround doubles the price. Scribbr seems more focused on editing academic coursework essays than admissions essays, with a relatively formal structure applied to its edits (removing contractions completely, for example). Editor's commentary was sparse, though on target. This draft was the most divisive of the services, earning high marks from my wife but very low marks from my daughter, who thought it stripped the writing of her voice.

Readers' rating: 5.3

Any good college essay has to end with a conclusion, so here are a few takeaways. First, all of the services sent back essays that were, on average, felt to be an improvement over the original draft, with all of them catching numerous spelling and grammatical errors—so students with no professional editing help may do well to consider them, especially given how affordable these services are. That said, also remember that when you engage with an editing service, you're really engaging with a single (anonymous) editor who you won't ever meet or be able to interact with. That editor won't have any level of understanding of the writer's personality beyond what's on the page, and quality will necessarily vary from one editor to another, even within a given editing service.

Further still, remember that editing quality is always going to be subjective, just like any piece of writing. Except for this story, of course. It's amazing.

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  Editors for Students Editing and Proofreading Services

Our dedicated student editing service ensures that your academic excellence is backed by professional editing. Make sure your writing not only meets university standards but also receives the expertise and attention it deserves from experienced academic editors for students who specialize in refining essays, theses, and papers.

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Fast-Track Your Academic Goals with Professional Editing and Proofreading

Whether you're aiming for a compelling admissions essay or a flawless final paper , our team of professional academic editors for students is here to help you shine in the competitive academic landscape. 

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  Scribendi's Statement of Ethics: We care about academic integrity. We do not write, rewrite, or paraphrase students' work.

For additional assistance, explore our FAQ page designed specifically for students seeking professional academic editing services. 

Still have questions? Feel free to contact our customer relationship specialists today for personalized support and guidance tailored to your academic writing needs.

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Essay proofreading.

Perfect your essays with our specialized Essay Proofreading service. Our professional editors, with years of experience, meticulously review your documents, addressing grammar, spelling, and overall clarity issues. Whether it's a personal statement, a research paper, or any academic essay, our proofreading services, tailored for various subject areas, include a sample edit to showcase our expertise. With our dedicated Essay Proofreading service, you can refine your writing to meet university standards and impress your audience.

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Elevate your academic writing with our professional essay editing service designed for college students. Our expert editors refine and perfect your essays, addressing grammar, structure, and overall clarity, ensuring your papers meet the highest standards. Trust our dedicated essay editing service to enhance your writing skills, improve word count precision, and optimize citation accuracy, maximizing your chances of success, especially in crucial areas such as admission essays and test scores.

Admission Essay Editing

Embark on your academic journey with confidence using our premier Admission Essay Editing Service. Our skilled editors, with years of experience, meticulously refine and elevate your college essays, ensuring they stand out in the competitive admission landscape. Count on our editing services to enhance the clarity and impact of your application essays, guiding students along a successful path to university acceptance.

Admission Essay Proofreading

Refine your path to college acceptance with our dedicated Admission Essay Proofreading service. Backed by experienced editors specializing in college application essays, we meticulously polish your writing, ensuring flawless grammar, impeccable style, and enhanced clarity. Elevate your essay to the pinnacle of excellence, positioning yourself as a standout applicant without compromising your unique voice.

Editors for Students FAQ

How much does an academic editor cost.

The cost of our student editing services is designed to accommodate academic budgets while ensuring professional editing for essays, theses, and papers. Our experienced academic editors offer quality proofreading and editing services tailored to university standards. With transparent pricing and the option to choose from various service levels, including essay editing and thesis editing, students receive value for their investment. Explore our professional editing services with the added assurance of positive customer reviews, ensuring a reliable online experience for all your academic writing needs in the social sciences and beyond.

Who can edit my college essay?

Our team of professional academic editors for students is ready to enhance your college essay. With extensive experience working on various academic writing projects, our editors provide expert essay editing and proofreading services. We understand the importance of polished papers for university submissions, and our dedicated team ensures that your writing meets the highest standards. Trust our academic editors to refine your work, addressing not only grammar and structure but also adhering to the specific requirements of the social sciences and other academic disciplines. Benefit from our editing services, backed by positive customer reviews, for a successful college essay.

How do I find a good essay editor?

Finding a good essay editor is crucial for academic success. Look for professional editors for students with extensive experience working on academic papers. Seek services that specialize in essay editing, thesis editing, and proofreading to ensure your writing meets university standards. Check for online platforms with positive customer reviews, indicating a track record of successful academic editing. A good editor not only refines grammar and structure but also understands the nuances of academic writing in various disciplines, including the social sciences. Choose an editing service that aligns with your needs and academic goals for a polished and impactful essay.

How long will it take to review my documents?

The time it takes our professional editors for students to review your document depends on the selected turnaround time and document length. Our goal is to provide a prompt and efficient editing process without compromising quality. You can choose from different turnaround times, including options for expedited editing, to meet your deadlines. Our experienced academic editors ensure a thorough review of your writing, whether it's an essay, thesis, or another academic paper. Check our service details for estimated turnaround times, and feel confident that your work will be edited promptly and professionally, maintaining the high standards required by universities.

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Reasons why our college essay writing service is popular with students

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All our writers are qualified, have more than 3 years of work experience dealing with academic writing, are graduates or doctorates, and are highly knowledgeable in their respective fields.

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Plagiarism is a serious offense in academia. That's why the work that we provide is 100% original and plagiarism-free. Enjoy the free "Originality Report" that you receive if you order from us. It will show you proof that the content is unique.

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Studyfy is 256 SSL-encrypted, so you can rest assured that your sensitive and personal information is safe and secured on our website. We also keep everything you do on our site 100% confidential.

Free features

How to order on our college essay writing help platform, fill out the order form.

Sign in or sign up and then fill out the order form. Here you should include all details and information regarding your essay, and you can also attach additional files. The clearer your instructions, the better the results.

Choose a college essay writer

Submit the form; our writers will bid to work on it. Choose a writer from your bids. Once you've chosen one, you'll need to make a deposit which you will later release as payment. You only need to pay after you've received your essay and are fully content with it.

Receive your essay

The writer will send you the essay once it's done. As mentionied, if you're satisfied, release your deposit as payment. If not, you can ask them to edit it as many times as they have to until you're happy with it. After that, you can release the payment.

Discover other offers on our college paper writing service

Our services don't stop at essay writing, so you won't need to look further for professional assistance in writing thesis papers, research papers, homework, and much more. Check out all our offers.

See what our customers say about our college essay service

Check out the latest customer reviews and see for yourself why you should start working with Studyfy as well.

I'm literally writing this review because I just had one of the best customer service experiences ever! Maria was so friendly and quickly helped me with the entire ordering process!

I was falling behind on some of my homework so I reached out to a writer who took on some of my work. I'm really happy I did because it was quality and affordable. I'd be happy to work with him the next time I'm running out of time.

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Frequently asked questions

How reliable and skilled are your college essay writers, how can you prove to me that my essay is plagiarism-free, can i communicate with my college paper writer directly, what if i'm not happy with the essay that i receive, are my privacy and security safe on studyfy website, how quickly can you complete my college essay, excel in your academic life with our professional college paper writing service.

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Ultimate Guide to Writing Your College Essay

Tips for writing an effective college essay.

College admissions essays are an important part of your college application and gives you the chance to show colleges and universities your character and experiences. This guide will give you tips to write an effective college essay.

Want free help with your college essay?

UPchieve connects you with knowledgeable and friendly college advisors—online, 24/7, and completely free. Get 1:1 help brainstorming topics, outlining your essay, revising a draft, or editing grammar.

Writing a strong college admissions essay

Learn about the elements of a solid admissions essay.

Avoiding common admissions essay mistakes

Learn some of the most common mistakes made on college essays

Brainstorming tips for your college essay

Stuck on what to write your college essay about? Here are some exercises to help you get started.

How formal should the tone of your college essay be?

Learn how formal your college essay should be and get tips on how to bring out your natural voice.

Taking your college essay to the next level

Hear an admissions expert discuss the appropriate level of depth necessary in your college essay.

Student Stories

Student Story: Admissions essay about a formative experience

Get the perspective of a current college student on how he approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about personal identity

Get the perspective of a current college student on how she approached the admissions essay.

Student Story: Admissions essay about community impact

Student story: admissions essay about a past mistake, how to write a college application essay, tips for writing an effective application essay, sample college essay 1 with feedback, sample college essay 2 with feedback.

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How to Write a College Essay: A Step-by-Step Guide

Writing a college essay can feel like a daunting task, but it’s also one of the most important parts of your college application. Your essay is your opportunity to showcase your personality, achievements, and goals, giving admissions officers a glimpse into who you are beyond your grades and test scores. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of writing a compelling college essay that can help you stand out from the crowd.

1. Understand the Prompt

The first step in writing a successful college essay is to understand the prompt. Whether you’re responding to a specific question or choosing from a list of topics, make sure you fully comprehend what is being asked. Take the time to read the prompt several times and break it down into smaller components. Ask yourself:

• What is the prompt really asking?
• What personal experiences or ideas relate to this prompt?
• How can I answer this question in a way that reflects my unique perspective?

Understanding the prompt is crucial because it sets the direction for your entire essay.

2. Brainstorm Ideas

Once you understand the prompt, it’s time to brainstorm ideas. This is your opportunity to think about what makes you unique and what you want to convey to the admissions committee. Consider the following:

• Personal Experiences : Think about experiences that have shaped who you are today. These could include challenges you’ve overcome, successes you’ve achieved, or moments that changed your perspective.
• Passions and Interests : What are you passionate about? How have these interests influenced your life and goals? Admissions officers want to see what drives you.
• Goals and Aspirations : Consider your future goals and how the college you’re applying to can help you achieve them. How does your past align with your future aspirations?

Don’t worry about organizing your thoughts at this stage. Just write down everything that comes to mind.

3. Create an Outline

After brainstorming, it’s time to organize your ideas into a cohesive structure. An outline will help you stay on track and ensure that your essay has a clear flow. A typical college essay structure includes:

• Introduction : Start with a hook that grabs the reader’s attention. This could be a thought-provoking question, a quote, or an interesting anecdote. Your introduction should also include a thesis statement that outlines the main point of your essay.
• Body Paragraphs : Each body paragraph should focus on a specific idea or experience that supports your thesis. Use concrete examples and descriptive language to illustrate your points. Be sure to connect each paragraph back to the main theme of your essay.
• Conclusion : Wrap up your essay by summarizing your main points and reflecting on what you’ve learned from your experiences. Your conclusion should leave a lasting impression on the reader.

4. Write the First Draft

With your outline in hand, start writing your first draft. At this stage, don’t worry too much about making it perfect. Focus on getting your ideas down on paper. Here are some tips for writing your first draft:

• Be Authentic : Write in your own voice and be true to yourself. Admissions officers want to hear your story, so don’t try to impress them with overly formal language or complex ideas.
• Show, Don’t Tell : Instead of simply stating facts, use descriptive language and examples to bring your story to life. For example, instead of saying “I’m hardworking,” describe a situation where you demonstrated your work ethic.
• Stay Focused : Stick to the main theme of your essay and avoid going off on tangents. Every sentence should contribute to the overall message you’re trying to convey.

5. Revise and Edit

Once you’ve completed your first draft, take a break before revising. This will help you approach your essay with fresh eyes. During the revision process, focus on the following:

• Clarity and Coherence : Make sure your essay is easy to follow and that your ideas flow logically from one paragraph to the next.
• Grammar and Spelling : Carefully proofread your essay for any grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors. Even minor mistakes can detract from the overall quality of your essay.
• Word Choice : Use precise language and avoid repetitive words or phrases. If you find yourself using the same word repeatedly, try finding a synonym to add variety.
• Length : Most college essays have a word limit. Make sure your essay stays within the required length, cutting any unnecessary details or filler words.

6. Get Feedback

Before submitting your essay, it’s a good idea to get feedback from others. Ask a teacher, mentor , or trusted friend to read your essay and provide constructive criticism. They can offer valuable insights and point out areas where you can improve.

However, be selective about the feedback you incorporate. While it’s important to listen to others’ suggestions, make sure the final essay remains true to your voice and perspective.

7. Finalize Your Essay

After incorporating feedback and making any final revisions, it’s time to finalize your essay. Make sure the formatting is correct, and the document is clean and professional-looking. Double-check that you’ve followed all the application instructions, including any specific guidelines for font size, spacing, and file format.

Once you’re confident that your essay is polished and ready to go, submit it along with the rest of your application materials.

Need Help Writing Your College Essay?

Writing a college essay can be challenging, but you don’t have to do it alone. At College Shortcuts, we offer personalized tutoring services to help you craft a compelling and authentic essay that stands out to admissions officers. Whether you need help brainstorming ideas, organizing your thoughts, or polishing your final draft, our experienced tutors are here to guide you every step of the way.

Click here to learn more about our tutoring services and how we can help you achieve your college dreams.

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5 Tips for Writing a College Essay

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The Common App to apply to PLU is officially open for the Class of 2025—so it’s time to start thinking about your college essay. Your essay is your moment to show colleges what makes you unique. Ready to get started? Here are five tips to help you write a standout college essay that truly reflects who you are. Let’s dive in!

Be Yourself

Colleges want to know you , not just your grades. Share your story in a way that’s authentic and true to who you are. Whether it’s a unique hobby or a personal challenge, let your personality shine through.

Show, Don’t Tell

Instead of saying “I’m a hard worker,” share a story that shows how you’ve worked hard. Use specific examples and details to paint a picture of your experiences. Even if you’re writing about a tough experience, focus on how you’ve grown or what you’ve learned. End on a high note—show how you’ve turned challenges into opportunities.

Don’t write what you think admissions officers want to hear. Write what matters to you. Authenticity is way more impressive than trying to fit a mold. Don’t feel like one prompt is better than another. Choose the writing prompt that you connect with. FYI, some essay topics are overdone (like sports victories or mission trips). If you choose one of these, make sure you bring a fresh perspective or unique angle.

Revise, Revise, Revise

Your first draft isn’t your final draft. After writing, step away from your essay for a bit, then come back with fresh eyes. Edit for clarity, grammar, and impact. Get feedback from someone you trust. Also, typos happen, but too many can distract from your message. Proofread carefully, but don’t obsess over perfection. Your voice and story are what matter most.

Be Proud of Your Work

Once you’ve put in the effort, be proud of what you’ve created. Your essay is a reflection of you—own it with confidence!

With these tips, you’ll be ready to craft an essay that truly represents who you are. Good luck, and remember, you’ve got this!

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How to Write a College Essay | A Complete Guide & Examples

The college essay can make or break your application. It’s your chance to provide personal context, communicate your values and qualities, and set yourself apart from other students.

A standout essay has a few key ingredients:

• A unique, personal topic
• A compelling, well-structured narrative
• A clear, creative writing style
• Evidence of self-reflection and insight

To achieve this, it’s crucial to give yourself enough time for brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

In this comprehensive guide, we walk you through every step in the process of writing a college admissions essay.

Table of contents

Why do you need a standout essay, start organizing early, choose a unique topic, outline your essay, start with a memorable introduction, write like an artist, craft a strong conclusion, revise and receive feedback, frequently asked questions.

While most of your application lists your academic achievements, your college admissions essay is your opportunity to share who you are and why you’d be a good addition to the university.

Your college admissions essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s total weight一and may account for even more with some colleges making the SAT and ACT tests optional. The college admissions essay may be the deciding factor in your application, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars.

What do colleges look for in an essay?

Admissions officers want to understand your background, personality, and values to get a fuller picture of you beyond your test scores and grades. Here’s what colleges look for in an essay :

• Demonstrated values and qualities
• Vulnerability and authenticity
• Self-reflection and insight
• Creative, clear, and concise writing skills

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

It’s a good idea to start organizing your college application timeline in the summer of your junior year to make your application process easier. This will give you ample time for essay brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

While timelines will vary for each student, aim to spend at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing your first draft and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Remember to leave enough time for breaks in between each writing and editing stage.

Create an essay tracker sheet

If you’re applying to multiple schools, you will have to juggle writing several essays for each one. We recommend using an essay tracker spreadsheet to help you visualize and organize the following:

• Deadlines and number of essays needed
• Prompt overlap, allowing you to write one essay for similar prompts

You can build your own essay tracker using our free Google Sheets template.

College essay tracker template

Ideally, you should start brainstorming college essay topics the summer before your senior year. Keep in mind that it’s easier to write a standout essay with a unique topic.

If you want to write about a common essay topic, such as a sports injury or volunteer work overseas, think carefully about how you can make it unique and personal. You’ll need to demonstrate deep insight and write your story in an original way to differentiate it from similar essays.

What makes a good topic?

• Meaningful and personal to you
• Uncommon or has an unusual angle
• Reveals something different from the rest of your application

Brainstorming questions

You should do a comprehensive brainstorm before choosing your topic. Here are a few questions to get started:

• What are your top five values? What lived experiences demonstrate these values?
• What adjectives would your friends and family use to describe you?
• What challenges or failures have you faced and overcome? What lessons did you learn from them?
• What makes you different from your classmates?
• What are some objects that represent your identity, your community, your relationships, your passions, or your goals?
• Whom do you admire most? Why?
• What three people have significantly impacted your life? How did they influence you?

How to identify your topic

Here are two strategies for identifying a topic that demonstrates your values:

• Start with your qualities : First, identify positive qualities about yourself; then, brainstorm stories that demonstrate these qualities.
• Start with a story : Brainstorm a list of memorable life moments; then, identify a value shown in each story.

After choosing your topic, organize your ideas in an essay outline , which will help keep you focused while writing. Unlike a five-paragraph academic essay, there’s no set structure for a college admissions essay. You can take a more creative approach, using storytelling techniques to shape your essay.

Two common approaches are to structure your essay as a series of vignettes or as a single narrative.

Vignettes structure

The vignette, or montage, structure weaves together several stories united by a common theme. Each story should demonstrate one of your values or qualities and conclude with an insight or future outlook.

This structure gives the admissions officer glimpses into your personality, background, and identity, and shows how your qualities appear in different areas of your life.

Topic: Museum with a “five senses” exhibit of my experiences

• Introduction: Tour guide introduces my museum and my “Making Sense of My Heritage” exhibit
• Story: Racial discrimination with my eyes
• Lesson: Using my writing to document truth
• Story: Broadway musical interests
• Lesson: Finding my voice
• Story: Smells from family dinner table
• Lesson: Appreciating home and family
• Story: Washing dishes
• Lesson: Finding moments of peace in busy schedule
• Story: Biking with Ava
• Lesson: Finding pleasure in job well done
• Conclusion: Tour guide concludes tour, invites guest to come back for “fall College Collection,” featuring my search for identity and learning.

Single story structure

The single story, or narrative, structure uses a chronological narrative to show a student’s character development over time. Some narrative essays detail moments in a relatively brief event, while others narrate a longer journey spanning months or years.

Single story essays are effective if you have overcome a significant challenge or want to demonstrate personal development.

Topic: Sports injury helps me learn to be a better student and person

• Situation: Football injury
• Challenge: Friends distant, teachers don’t know how to help, football is gone for me
• Turning point: Starting to like learning in Ms. Brady’s history class; meeting Christina and her friends
• My reactions: Reading poetry; finding shared interest in poetry with Christina; spending more time studying and with people different from me
• Insight: They taught me compassion and opened my eyes to a different lifestyle; even though I still can’t play football, I’m starting a new game

Brainstorm creative insights or story arcs

Regardless of your essay’s structure, try to craft a surprising story arc or original insights, especially if you’re writing about a common topic.

Never exaggerate or fabricate facts about yourself to seem interesting. However, try finding connections in your life that deviate from cliché storylines and lessons.

Admissions officers read thousands of essays each year, and they typically spend only a few minutes reading each one. To get your message across, your introduction , or hook, needs to grab the reader’s attention and compel them to read more..

Avoid starting your introduction with a famous quote, cliché, or reference to the essay itself (“While I sat down to write this essay…”).

While you can sometimes use dialogue or a meaningful quotation from a close family member or friend, make sure it encapsulates your essay’s overall theme.

Find an original, creative way of starting your essay using the following two methods.

Option 1: Start with an intriguing hook

Begin your essay with an unexpected statement to pique the reader’s curiosity and compel them to carefully read your essay. A mysterious introduction disarms the reader’s expectations and introduces questions that can only be answered by reading more.

Option 2: Start with vivid imagery

Illustrate a clear, detailed image to immediately transport your reader into your memory. You can start in the middle of an important scene or describe an object that conveys your essay’s theme.

A college application essay allows you to be creative in your style and tone. As you draft your essay, try to use interesting language to enliven your story and stand out .

Show, don’t tell

“Tell” in writing means to simply state a fact: “I am a basketball player.” “ Show ” in writing means to use details, examples, and vivid imagery to help the reader easily visualize your memory: “My heart races as I set up to shoot一two seconds, one second一and score a three-pointer!”

First, reflect on every detail of a specific image or scene to recall the most memorable aspects.

• What are the most prominent images?
• Are there any particular sounds, smells, or tastes associated with this memory?
• What emotion or physical feeling did you have at that time?

Be vulnerable to create an emotional response

You don’t have to share a huge secret or traumatic story, but you should dig deep to express your honest feelings, thoughts, and experiences to evoke an emotional response. Showing vulnerability demonstrates humility and maturity. However, don’t exaggerate to gain sympathy.

Use appropriate style and tone

Make sure your essay has the right style and tone by following these guidelines:

• Use a conversational yet respectful tone: less formal than academic writing, but more formal than texting your friends.
• Prioritize using “I” statements to highlight your perspective.
• Write within your vocabulary range to maintain an authentic voice.
• Write concisely, and use the active voice to keep a fast pace.
• Follow grammar rules (unless you have valid stylistic reasons for breaking them).

You should end your college essay with a deep insight or creative ending to leave the reader with a strong final impression. Your college admissions essay should avoid the following:

• Summarizing what you already wrote
• Stating your hope of being accepted to the school
• Mentioning character traits that should have been illustrated in the essay, such as “I’m a hard worker”

Here are two strategies to craft a strong conclusion.

Option 1: Full circle, sandwich structure

The full circle, or sandwich, structure concludes the essay with an image, idea, or story mentioned in the introduction. This strategy gives the reader a strong sense of closure.

In the example below, the essay concludes by returning to the “museum” metaphor that the writer opened with.

Option 2: Revealing your insight

You can use the conclusion to show the insight you gained as a result of the experiences you’ve described. Revealing your main message at the end creates suspense and keeps the takeaway at the forefront of your reader’s mind.

Revise your essay before submitting it to check its content, style, and grammar. Get feedback from no more than two or three people.

It’s normal to go through several rounds of revision, but take breaks between each editing stage.

Also check out our college essay examples to see what does and doesn’t work in an essay and the kinds of changes you can make to improve yours.

Respect the word count

Most schools specify a word count for each essay , and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit.

Remain under the specified word count limit to show you can write concisely and follow directions. However, don’t write too little, which may imply that you are unwilling or unable to write a thoughtful and developed essay.

Check your content, style, and grammar

• First, check big-picture issues of message, flow, and clarity.
• Then, check for style and tone issues.
• Finally, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors.

Get feedback

Get feedback from 2–3 people who know you well, have good writing skills, and are familiar with college essays.

• Teachers and guidance counselors can help you check your content, language, and tone.
• Friends and family can check for authenticity.
• An essay coach or editor has specialized knowledge of college admissions essays and can give objective expert feedback.

The checklist below helps you make sure your essay ticks all the boxes.

College admissions essay checklist

I’ve organized my essay prompts and created an essay writing schedule.

I’ve done a comprehensive brainstorm for essay topics.

I’ve selected a topic that’s meaningful to me and reveals something different from the rest of my application.

I’ve created an outline to guide my structure.

I’ve crafted an introduction containing vivid imagery or an intriguing hook that grabs the reader’s attention.

I’ve written my essay in a way that shows instead of telling.

I’ve shown positive traits and values in my essay.

I’ve demonstrated self-reflection and insight in my essay.

I’ve used appropriate style and tone .

I’ve concluded with an insight or a creative ending.

I’ve revised my essay , checking my overall message, flow, clarity, and grammar.

I’ve respected the word count , remaining within 10% of the upper word limit.

Congratulations!

It looks like your essay ticks all the boxes. A second pair of eyes can help you take it to the next level – Scribbr's essay coaches can help.

Colleges want to be able to differentiate students who seem similar on paper. In the college application essay , they’re looking for a way to understand each applicant’s unique personality and experiences.

Your college essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s weight. It may be the deciding factor in whether you’re accepted, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurricular track records.

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

• A unique, personally meaningful topic
• A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
• Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
• Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
• Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
• A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

While timelines will differ depending on the student, plan on spending at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing the first draft of your college admissions essay , and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Don’t forget to save enough time for breaks between each writing and editing stage.

You should already begin thinking about your essay the summer before your senior year so that you have plenty of time to try out different topics and get feedback on what works.

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit to write a developed and thoughtful essay.

You should aim to stay under the specified word count limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, don’t write too little, as it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a detailed and insightful narrative about yourself.

If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

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Student Learning Development

View the contact page for more contact and location information

Academic Writing Centre

The Academic Writing Centre in Trinity College Dublin is run by Student Learning Development. Student Learning Development offers a variety of writing services for undergraduate & postgraduate students to help them develop their academic writing skills.

Students of all levels and abilities, even the very high achievers, often need support and/or advice to achieve their best; SLD can give that support.

Writing Centre Appointments

The Academic Writing Centre offers individual, 30 minute, consultations for Undergraduate and Postgraduate students. Students are invited to attend for support with writing strategies in areas such as essay/thesis/dissertation/reflective writing, structuring, critical thinking & writing and referencing/plagiarism.

Click here for more information on accessing an individual appointment in the writing centre.

PG Shut Up & Write Café

The Shut Up and Write Café allows Postgraduates from all disciplines to get together to write for 1.5 hours within a structured framework and also enjoy a cup of coffee. These groups are facilitated by a member of the SLD team.

Click here for more information on the PG Writing Café .

Tips Talks Workshops

"Tips Talks" is a series of 30 minute webinars in specific areas of Academic Writing. Topics include analysing titles and structuring essays, building arguments, critical thinking as well as some on sentences, paragraphs, proofreading your own work and more.

Click here for more information on our Tips Talks workshop series.

Writing Skills Workshops

We run a wide range of FREE workshops for Undergraduates and Postgraduates. Workshops are based on proven strategies to help students improve their performance. Topics include essay writing, thesis writing, literature reviewing and many more.

Click for our workshop schedule and links to join.

Online Writing Resources

The SLD Blackboard module, 'Academic Skills for Successful Learning', has been developed to provide resources 24/7. The module contains recorded workshops, audio and video files, downloadable documents as well as interactive websites and useful links on topics such as Essay Writing, Critical Thinking, Thesis Writing, Exam Skills, Literature Reviewing and much more.

Click here for information on joining and accessing the SLD Blackboard module.

Postgraduate Tutors

The Writing Centre periodically recruits Doctoral students from Trinity College Dublin to facilitate appointments in our Writing Clinic. 

If you are interested in applying for a position, please  click here  for full details.

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