Services and Process
Competition in college admissions has increased dramatically in recent years, and I have seen stress levels ratchet up accordingly. One of my goals is to help manage stress for both students and their families. I do this by creating a reasonable, sequential flow chart, providing materials to help with organization, and keeping kids on task. Additionally, I maintain consistent communication with parents in order to keep them in the loop.
College Guidance
I am a strong advocate for identifying “good fit” schools. Crafting college lists is the fun part of the process—like window shopping—but it’s also a necessary step towards helping kids develop their own criteria. Together, we build a multi-tiered school list, discuss extracurriculars, leadership opportunities, and community service, and ultimately work towards maximizing the odds that they will be accepted into their top-choice schools.
College Essays
I fell into the work of writing coach quite by accident in 2005, when my AP English students began requesting help with their college applications. Now, sixteen years and hundreds of essays later, I have honed a process that yields the desired results.
My task as a writing coach is to guide students towards the material that will showcase their strengths. This is, to be sure, more instinct and art than science. While Columbia University’s admissions office professes that, above all, they are looking for the applicant who will make a “great roommate” (read: all-around fine human), Williams College advertises that the successful applicant will clearly articulate what matters to him or her and why (read: inspired human). Both are highly competitive institutions, and the largesse of these statements belies the fact that test scores and grades still count hugely, and since most people applying to either institution have solid scores and high GPA’s already, originality and authenticity in the essay can be decisive. This is true of most top-tier institutions. Ultimately, the best essay topics are the ones the students want to write about and that could only be written by them, in their unique voices, and with their own, original ways of looking at the world.
For the Common App, 650 words need to do the work of representing and promoting the applicant through a compelling narrative. This is no small task, so, to this end, I ask for:
Regular communication early on—essays of this kind have a necessary maturation period.
Dialogue and receptivity to questions: this is how the “why” level of the essay will come into focus and the language will get more mileage. In the end, I want students to know that what is on the page is theirs, and this takes time.
Concentrated effort: Revision is where most of the real thinking happens, and I am a strong advocate of the writing process.
A final run through: To optimize effort and ensure uniform quality, I ask to also read and comment on the supplementary essays before they are sent off.
Test Prep
The most successful test tutors will claim they customize their programs for each student, and I am no different. The crux of standardized testing is that if students take the test the same way, they will receive the same scores. The most important component of my work on the reading and writing sections is to teach kids to think rhetorically and to cement the basic grammar rules. The payback, beyond higher test scores, is that these are skills that will help them in college and beyond. I keep a record of every problem and every type of problem they miss, and then we shore up their gaps and streamline their decision-making process. I tutor the reading and writing sections only, but I work with a number of excellent tutors who are strong in math. We conference with each other frequently to discuss logistics, progress, and learning styles. I have found real value in splitting English and math: students get the benefit of experts in two fields, and I believe they’re less likely to burn out during prep.