Admissions

Essays That Matter

For the Common or Coalition Application Essay, no one pedagogical approach fits all. Some students need to be walked through the entire process step-by-step: from brainstorming and mapping to drafting and For the Common App Essay (nearly 900 member schools) or the Coalition for College Essay (151 member schools), no one pedagogical approach fits all. Some students need to be walked through the entire process step-by-step: from brainstorming and mapping to drafting and refining to inputting and uploading content onto the application itself. Other students only need a diverse collection of templates and an experienced proofreader. A handful of students simply need to fully understand the assignment and to be pushed in the best direction.

At College TestPlan, we typically start our comprehensive Essays That Matter package with a 90-minute meeting during which we overview the writing assignment and emphasize the need to “control the argument” and to “direct the takeaways.” We also address what college admissions officers typically embrace and what they regularly shun. We discuss what to do and—more importantly—what not to do. At College TestPlan, all students will critically read at least two dozen Application Essays (some strong, some not so strong).

After that initial meeting, students will read through the supplemental After that initial meeting, students will read through the supplemental materials provided and then brainstorm their “takeaways”—the characteristics, values, likes, dislikes, passions, talents, idiosyncrasies—they wish to showcase. Students will then brainstorm potential “vehicles” (experiences they’ve had, places they’ve been, people they’ve met, successes they’ve achieved, losses they’ve endured) that showcase these prioritized takeaways. Once done, we typically sit down together again to select and to map out a vehicle or two.

From that point, we will go back and forth writing, editing, and refining via Google Docs. For most students, the most challenging part of the process is deciding upon their takeaways and then selecting the best vehicle to showcase those takeaways. Once those difficult decisions are made, however, the pieces typically write themselves—with the proper guidance, of course.

We will then do a final proof of the Common or Coalition Application Essay—and often the application itself— prior to submission.

In the end, we are often looking at two 90-minute meetings. Everything else will be conducted online via Google Docs, emails, and text messages.

The UnCommon App

Although all applications look the same, not all applications “read” the same. After our initial meeting, I will ensure that the application itself (profile, family, education, testing, activities) “reads” in a way that casts the applicant in the best light. And I will do so in no more than seven days.

I will then work with the applicant on the completion of up to three Writing Supplements.

Additional Writing Supplements can be included upon request.

Additional Services

• College Consulting
• College Selection
• Mock Interviews