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14 Best College Essay Services for 2024 (40 Services Reviewed)

Research conducted by Emily Kierkegaard , PhD, and expert-reviewed by Kevin Wong, PrepMaven Co-founder

Not sure which college application essay coaching and editing service is the best? We compared the top 40 services, created in-depth reviews for 14 of them, and narrowed it down to the 4 best that will help guide you through the process of writing amazing college application essays.

What is the Best College Essay Service?

• PrepMaven  – best college application essay service overall
• College Essay Mentor  – best for individual consultants
• The College Essay Guy  – best for unlimited essay assistance
• College Vine  – best of the big platforms

The best of the rest:

Individual essay consultants:

• College Essay Editor  – small editing team
• Allison Karpf  – former English teacher helping students
• Your College Vision  – former journalist with more affordable rates
• The College Guru  – good on paper but unresponsive
• Sofia Zapiola – budget-friendly application assistance

Mid-size teams:

• Lotus Learning  – focus on health sciences

Large platforms:

• Study Point  – larger platform with mystery editors
• Ivy Select  – larger platform with mystery editors
• Empowerly  – larger platform with mystery editors
• BeMo  – expensive and aggressive with wrong expertise

Schedule a college essay consultation

Best College Application Essay Services in 2024

#1 – prepmaven.

Our Verdict — Best College Essay Assistance Overall Price: $79–349/hour (minimum $510 package) PrepMaven’s one-on-one college essay assistance is the best option overall. Founded by brothers and Princeton grads Greg and Kevin, almost all of PrepMaven’s essay coaches have Ivy-League experience, primarily from Princeton and Harvard. All essay coaches also undergo a thorough training program in PrepMaven’s methods, developed by professional writers with deep understanding of the college admissions process, for helping students to discover the most compelling stories for their essays. Unlike other services, PrepMaven offers college essay assistance at several different price points. At the most accessible rate, students can work with current Ivy-League undergraduates who specialize in writing and have recently aced the college application process. At higher rates, students can work with coaches who are both Ivy-League grads and professional writers (screenwriters, journalists, editors) with many years of experience helping students to craft compelling essays. Interested students can even work directly with founders Greg and Kevin, who have over 15 years of experience helping students through the entire essay-writing process. PrepMaven’s services combine many of the best features of other good options into one, and it’s hard to beat their experience.

Sign up for PrepMaven’s college essay help now

Any student wanting college essay help, at any point in the process, with a range of budgets.

At a glance:

• Cost: $79–349/hour (minimum $510 package)
• Writing coach qualifications: Princeton graduates and professional writers (or current Princeton students); all trained

What we like:

• Ivy League experience —most of their writing coaches are Princeton grads or current students, with some from Harvard and other Ivies
• Different pricing options to meet different families’ circumstances
• More flexible and greater capacity to take on new students compared to individual consultants

Sign up for PrepMaven’s college essay help

#2 – College Essay Mentor

Our Verdict — Best of the Individual Consultants Price: unknown but high Some college essay consulting services consist of just one expert. Of these individual essay consultants, Chris Hunt at College Essay Mentor is our favorite. He combines writing experience as a journalist for the Economist and the Wall Street Journal with personal experience as a graduate of Dartmouth. However, he only works with a small number of students each year, and students need to apply to work with him — he only accepts students with top grades and test scores who are already strong applicants for top schools. Chris offers the option for one-time written feedback, but this only gives big-picture generalizations. (And written-only feedback is always limited.) In order for help with the essay process, students need to purchase a complete essay package.

Students with top grades and test scores who want to work with a one-person business, who have a sizable budget, and who are ready to get started early.

• Cost: $210 for a one-time written essay feedback (big picture only), then $110 per draft feedback; pricing for essay process packages unknown
• Essay coach qualifications: professional journalist, Dartmouth grad
• Professional writing experience as a journalist
• Extensive experience working with college applicants
• Partners with Debra Felix, former Director of Admissions at Columbia, for full application review

What we don’t like:

• One-on-one work is limited to very high-achieving students, who need to apply with a resume : “I limit my one-on-one work to students who I believe will be strong applicants to elite universities. As a rule, this means having high grades in challenging classes, a test score of ACT 34+ or SAT 1500+, and substantial activities outside of the classroom.”
• Works with a limited number of students (60 per year), so often no availability
• All-or-nothing packages don’t allow students to work with Chris for just a few hours or for part of the essay-writing process
• Secretive about pricing (he’ll only give pricing details once he’s reviewed the student’s resume and agreed to work with them), but we expect the minimum cost of working one-on-one to be several thousand dollars

#3 – The College Essay Guy

Our Verdict — Best for Unlimited Essay Assistance Price: $4900 for application to 3 schools, $8050 for application for 10 schools We’re fans of Ethan Sawyer, the original “college essay guy”— his book, College Essay Essentials , is a great guide to the essay-writing process. Ethan doesn’t work directly with many students these days, but he now has a team of consultants who help students follow his principles. Their assistance is really all-or-nothing — they prefer to work with students from the very beginning of the process, and their minimum package is $4900, which includes assistance with essays for three schools. If students are applying to ten schools (a more realistic number for students aiming at competitive colleges), the fee is a hefty $7400.

Students who want unlimited help through the entire process, who have a sizable budget.

• Cost: $4900 (supplemental essays for 3 schools) – $7400 (supplemental essays for 10 schools)
• Essay coach qualifications: mix of Ivy grads and former teachers, some writers/screenwriters; all trained
• Great free resources about the essay-writing process
• Their Matchlighters Scholars Program gives back to the community by providing admissions consulting for select qualifying students
• All-or-nothing packages have a high minimum fee and don’t work for students who want just a few hours of feedback or help with just part of the process

#4 – College Vine

Our Verdict — Best of the Big Platforms Price: $140–180/hour There are plenty of large platforms with large stables of part-time tutors and coaches available to work with students. Of these big platforms, we think CollegeVine has the best offerings. Compared to other large companies, CollegeVine provides more information about their tutors, and students can pick individual tutors to work with from their roster. However, this model is really just a way of finding individual tutors to hire. Tutors don’t receive any training and don’t share a common approach, so it’s a mixed bag. Their rates are fairly high for part-time tutors who don’t have specific expertise and training in college essay consulting. Because CollegeVine is really just a marketplace where individual tutors can find students, the quality and price will vary widely.

Students who want to work with a big company, or those who want a quick session or two to go over their essays.

• Cost: Typically $140–180/hour
• Essay coach qualifications: no specific qualifications, but a few are Ivy League graduates
• Possible to select individual editors to work with from their roster.
• Easy to schedule ad-hoc sessions with a tutor through the website.
• No training or common approach for tutors
• Editors are part-time , with no option to work with full-time college admissions experts
• Relatively expensive for this level of expertise

College Essay Editing Alternatives (that Didn’t Make the Cut)

Individual essay consultants, #5 – college essay editor.

Our Verdict — Small Editing Team Price: Roughly $5,950 for applications to 10 schools College Essay Editor comprises two graduates of Stanford. This means that they have personal experience applying to highly competitive schools. One member of the team also has a college counseling certification, which is a good background for college essays. Based on their website, they appear to focus on the editing and proofreading phase of the essay-writing process. This can be helpful to students, but we recommend working with a service who can help students to uncover their values and brainstorm really great material that allows them to really shine—and if this doesn’t happen at the beginning of the process, it’s much harder to add in later on.

• Cost: $195/1000 words for proofreading, $495/1000 words for 3 rounds of editing and proofreading, or $595/1000 words for unlimited rounds of editing and proofreading; for the purposes of comparison, complete applications to 10 competitive colleges would be around 9,650 words, or $5950.
• Writing coach qualifications: Stanford graduates, one of whom has college counseling certification
• Editors are graduates of Stanford University , and one is a member of NACAC, the national association of college counselors
• They focus on editing and proofreading only , not on the crucial earlier steps of brainstorming and strategy
• Small team with very limited availability
• All asynchronous editing so you won’t be able to cultivate a real relationship with your essay coach.

#6 – Allison Karpf

Our Verdict — Former English Teacher Helping Students Price: $385/hour or $3850 package for application to one school Another option for students looking to hire an individual consultant is Allison Karpf. Allison is a former high school English teacher and a graduate of UC Berkeley who also holds a Masters of Education from Stanford. Her rates are definitely on the higher side, especially for someone who doesn’t have a professional writing background, but she does have extensive experience working with students to craft their essays.

• Cost:  $385/hour or $3850 unlimited counseling (includes supplemental essays for one college)
• Essay coach qualifications: former high school English teacher; Berkeley grad, Stanford MEd
• Lots of experience helping students improve their college essays
• Very quick to respond to client requests
• No professional writing experience or Ivy-Plus undergraduate experience
• High rates relative to other options
• Limited availability , since she works alone

#7 – Your College Vision

Our Verdict: Former Journalist with More Affordable Rates Price: $180/hour, or packages starting from $3500 Laurie Lande is another individual consultant who helps students through the essay-writing process. She comes recommended by other consultants like Chris from College Essay Mentor . Laurie did not herself attend a highly competitive school, so she doesn’t have that personal experience of going through the selective admissions process, but she does have a professional writing background as a journalist for the Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong.

• Cost: $180/hour or packages starting at $3500
• Essay coach qualifications: journalism background
• Affordable pricing , relative to other options
• Not a graduate of a highly selective school

#8 – The College Guru

Our Verdict — Good on Paper but Unresponsive Price: unknown Yet another individual essay consultant is Geanine Thompson from The College Guru. Geanine attended Dartmouth as an undergraduate and also holds an MBA from Duke. She also has a professional writing background as an assistant book editor at Berkley Publishing Group. Like Greg and Kevin at PrepMaven , she combines experience in the business world and at Wall Street firms with experience in education.

• Cost: unknown
• Essay coach qualifications: former assistant book editor; Dartmouth grad, Duke MBA
• Dartmouth graduate and former book editor
• Not responsive to emails and client requests

#9 – Sofia Zapiola

Our Verdict — A budget-friendly, personal essay editor. Price: $80/hour Yet another individual essay consultant is Sofia Zapiola, who offers a mix of essay editing and college application counseling services.

• Cost: $80/hour
• Essay coach qualifications: M.A. from Harvard; certificate in College Counseling from UC San Diego.
• Individual approach, budget-friendly rates, commitment to working within families’ budgets.
• Very few testimonials, so it’s difficult to evaluate how effective she is.

Mid-size Teams

#10 – lotus learning.

Our Verdict — Expensive for Tutor Background Price: $165/hour Founded by a Harvard grad who is a former teacher and veteran of the publishing industry, Lotus learning offers college essay help in the Boston area. They have a small team of tutors, mostly recent grads from good but not Ivy-Plus colleges, and mostly with focus in health sciences.

• Cost: $165/hour (minimum 8 hours)
• Essay coach qualifications: tutors are recent grads, but not Ivy-Plus schools
• Reasonable pricing with flexible packages
• Essay editors aren’t graduates of Ivy-Plus schools and don’t have professional writing experience

Large platforms

#11 – study point.

Our Verdict — Larger Platform with Mystery Editors Price: Rates Between $60 and $120/hr Study Point is a larger essay editing service. They claim to have several decades of experience helping students to craft their college essays, but they do not give information about who their essay coaches are and what qualifications they might have.

• Cost: $60-120/hr, depending on tutor experience
• Essay coach qualifications: unknown
• Larger company with several decades of experience
• Unclear who the essay coaches are
• Lack of statistics about their results

#12 – Ivy Select

Our Verdict — Larger Platform with Mystery Editors Price: unknown Ivy Select makes a lot of big promises on their website about having the best college essay consultants in the business, but they offer no information on who these consultants are, or on their backgrounds. They also brag that each consultant “only” works 20 students in one application cycle, but in our experience, that’s quite high.

• Long list of impressive (but anonymous) testimonials
• Only work with “top students”
• No information on their website about who the editors are
• Each essay coach works with up to 20 students at one time

#13 – Empowerly

Our Verdict — Larger Platform with Mystery Editors Price: High, from $6000/year Empowerly has over 60 college counselors who each work with an average of 5 students per year, in order to have more time to devote to each student. Their counselors come from “different educational backgrounds,” and while they do not provide specific biographical details we can assume that most of their essay coaches did not attend highly selective schools.

• Cost: typically from $6000/year
• Essay coach qualifications: college counselors
• Counselors work with just a few students per year
• You have to upgrade to “Empowerly Elite” to guarantee a counselor with a more selective educational background
• No professional writing experience

#14 – Prepory

Our Verdict — Expensive but with Good Expertise Price: $325/hr Prepory is a college application and career counseling service that offers a comprehensive program for college applications at any stage of the process (including as early as 9th grade). They make a lot of impressive claims about the expertise of their coaches, but it’s quite difficult to actual find much information about their essay coach qualifications.

• Cost: $325/hr
• They have a comprehensive college application program that begins as early as 9th grade.
• Limited information about essay coaches
• High prices

Top 40 College Essay Services Considered

• College Essay Editor
• The College Essay Guy
• College Vine
• College Essay Mentor
• Study Point
• Allison Karpf
• The College Guru
• Lotus Learning
• Summit Prep
• Sofia Zapiola
• Ivy Global / New Summits
• College Essay Solutions
• Your College Vision
• Essay Edge*
• ServicEscape*
• PapersForge*
• QuickWriter*
• JustEditMyEssay*
• JustDoMyEsssay*
• ExpertWriting*
• SpeedyPaper*
• GradeMiners*

* A number of services will edit essays directly for students, or even write portions of the essay for students. We do not condone this. Admissions officers can tell when essays have been written or edited by adults and this can have severe consequences. We have excluded these services from our reviews.

Why are college application essays important?

Can a great college essay alone get you into Harvard?

No. You’ll need your grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities (as well as letters of recommendation and interview) to be outstanding.

But can a mediocre essay be the reason you didn’t get into Harvard?

Yes. There are thousands of amazingly-qualified students who graduate from high school each year. Great grades and test scores might be a prerequisite for admission to a competitive college, but they alone aren’t enough.

College essays are a key component of a student’s application . When done well, they transform a collection of numbers—GPA, class rank, SAT or ACT scores , number of AP classes taken, AP scores—into a glimpse of a real, individual person.

Essays do many things. Good college essays can highlight extracurricular achievements which otherwise would be overlooked in a sterile list. Strong essays often indicate the student’s future plans —how they plan to leave a mark on their college campus and on the world. They can shine a light on unique challenges that a student may have had to face on their journey.

College admissions officers only have a few minutes to spend on each application. College essays need to be original, interesting, and memorable . They need to grab the attention of the admissions officer and persuade them that this is the student out of hundreds or thousands of other similarly-qualified applicants who should be admitted.

College admissions essays are usually unlike any other kind of writing that students have done before. They’re a combination of memoir and marketing pitch, and they need to be creative but also highly strategic. That’s a tough assignment!

What’s more, students are left to figure this assignment out on their own. A thoughtful and generous high school English teacher may provide guidance or offer to read essays and give feedback, but these teachers are responsible for many students, and they’re (usually) not experts in admissions strategies.

There’s another reason college essays are especially important from 2024 on. After the recent Supreme Court decision, the application essay has become one of the main ways that you can communicate how your racial identity has affected your life.

In fact, the New York Times published an article about how important it can be for students to discuss race in their college application essays!

Why work with a college essay service?

You may want to consider a college essay service if:

• You have no idea where to start in order to write your college application essays
• You feel overwhelmed by all of the different ideas you have and don’t know what would be the most strategic for college admissions—and what topics to definitely avoid for college essays
• You don’t know how to craft a compelling stor y
• You’re not sure how to edit and refine what you’ve written
• You have a hard time keeping yourself on track and want an external structure to hold you accountable
• You’re tired of conflict between students and parents about college essays
• You’re aiming at a competitive college (not just the Ivy League!) and know that you need your essays to be outstanding
• Your grades, test scores, and extracurriculars aren’t exceptional, so you need your essay to make your essay stand out from the pack
• You’re unfamiliar with the US college admissions process (a common situation for international students and first-generation families in the US)

Any of these are strong reasons to consider working with a college essay service!

It’s also worth remembering that a lot of the free advice on college’s website isn’t always very clear. For example, NYU’s admissions Senior Assistant Director of Admissions says that “There is no right or wrong way to answer as long as your answer is genuine to you.”

While that’s true, that doesn’t offer much guidance on how to actually write the essay!

Though many college applicants might not mention it, more and more students are using professional college application consultants. Research at the University of Chicago has shown that over a quarter of high-achieving seniors employed private specialists to help with the college application process.

In fact, according to NPR , some companies are even offering college admissions counseling to their top employees as an incentive–that’s just how important professional help can be in the current landscape of college admissions.

It’s important to note that a good college essay service will not write your college application essays for you . This is unethical and illegal. That’s not just coming from us: take it from a school like Princeton, whose website insists on the importance of writing your own application essays.

A good college essay service will guide you through each step of the process , teaching you how to self-reflect and write well while sharing insider insight about admissions strategy .

What makes a good college essay service?

We strongly believe that students need to write their own college essays , and we do not condone plagiarism or “buying” a college essay.

However, writing college application essays requires a completely new set of skills that is rarely taught in high school!

Writing a personal essay is much more creative than simply writing a good paper for English class. It requires a compelling narrative and a great deal of writing craft . A good essay service will teach how to do this kind of writing.

There are many college essay services that will provide only written feedback to students, usually in the form of comments added to an essay draft. (Remember, it’s important that students write their own essays, so avoid any college essay service that will make edits directly to an essay document .)

Written comments can be an effective component of good essay coaching. However, writing college essays is a deeply personal process , and it’s incredibly difficult to guide a student through the process of self-reflection, brainstorming, and planning purely through written comments.

In addition, a great college essay coach will teach students how to do this entire process of brainstorming, planning, outlining, writing, and revising . It’s difficult to learn why an essay coach is advising certain changes through written comments alone.

For these reasons, look for a college essay service with live, one-on-one services , not just written feedback. These days, it’s easy to work with the best college essay consultants in the country over Zoom!

Students need to reflect on their goals, their passions, and what drives them to be the person they are. This requires a great deal of self-awareness and self-analysis . An experienced college essay coach can help draw these ideas out of students through tested introspection techniques and brainstorming exercises .

On top of all of that, students need to be cognizant of which traits and accomplishments will be most appealing to colleges , and which stories will be cliche and boring. Personal statements and supplementary essays need to fit together to tell a cohesive story, and they need to work together with the rest of the student’s application (extracurriculars, grades, and other accomplishments).

In other words, there’s a great deal of strategy here! An experienced college essay service can help students decide how to present themselves in the best possible light .

Furthermore, most students don’t know how to edit effectively . A really top-notch college essay service will also teach students how to edit their own writing —how to reorder sections for better flow, cut unnecessary words to meet a word count, eliminate passive verbs, and make their writing vivid and exciting. Our students are routinely amazed by how transformative this step can be, and how much they learn by doing it together with the essay coach.

Finally, the best college essay services can also help students to make a writing plan and keep them on track , so that parents don’t have to be involved directly.

Ready to work on your college essays? Schedule a free 15- to 30-minute consultation with Jessica or one of our founders.

Best overall: PrepMaven’s tutors offer the highest quality at the best price. With three tiers of tutors, they make it easy to work with an Ivy League undergraduate for as little as $79/hr. Or, families can work with education professionals or Ivy League graduates from $150/hr. PrepMaven’s track record means that you can be sure every hour is being spent productively, so that you can expect real results from the work.

Best for individual consultants: College Essay Mentor. In theory, College Essay Mentor would offer an unparalleled level of individual attention and guidance: his website boasts of some very impressive results. You might find it hard to actually schedule with him, however, since he’s very selective about his clients.

Best for unlimited essay assistance: The College Essay Guy might not offer that personalized attention you get from live, face to face essay coaching, but they do offer unlimited essay editing for up to 10 schools (if you’re comfortable paying a hefty package price).

Best of the big platforms: College Vine will always be a bit of a gamble. Because it’s a tutor marketplace, your results (and costs) will really depend on how lucky you get with your consultant. From our research, however, many of their essay coaches look to have solid track records.

Ready to work on college essays with one of our experienced writing coaches? Schedule a free test prep consultation with Jessica (Director of Tutoring) or one of our founders to see what would be the best fit for your family.

It’s always best to start early and not wait until the last minute to write your college essays! Remember that essays can be used to earn scholarships as well as college admission, so a few months of writing now can pay off with up to $300,000 in tuition saved later. 

We work with students at all stages of the writing process, from I-have-no-idea-what-to-write to final edits. To start working with an Ivy-League writing coach today, set up a quick free consultation with our team.

Schedule a free college essay consultation

Top College Essay Posts

• 14 Best College Essay Services for 2023 (40 Services Reviewed)
• Qualities of a Successful College Essay
• 11 College Essays That Worked
• How to Answer the UC Personal Insight Questions
• How Colleges Read your College Applications (A 4-Step Process)
• How to Write the Princeton Supplemental Essays
• The Diamond Strategy: How We Help Students Write College Essays that Get Them Into Princeton (And Other Ivy League Schools)
• What is the College Essay? Your Complete Guide for 202 4
• College Essay Brainstorming: Where to Start
• How to Write the Harvard Supplemental Essays
• How to Format Your College Essay

Emily graduated  summa cum laude  from Princeton University and holds an MA from the University of Notre Dame. She was a National Merit Scholar and has won numerous academic prizes and fellowships. A veteran of the publishing industry, she has helped professors at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton revise their books and articles. Over the last decade, Emily has successfully mentored hundreds of students in all aspects of the college admissions process, including the SAT, ACT, and college application essay. 

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College Essay & Application Consulting

Ivy experience provides application essay consulting for students applying to any school..

We are your essential ally and coach throughout the entire college application process: helping applicants brainstorm essay ideas and stay on deadline throughout their revisions, and supporting families in preparing final drafts for submission to universities.

Throughout this stressful time, we are a mediator, ensuring that applicants take ownership over their own essays while welcoming and incorporating input from parents.

We are also a support system for families—providing guidance on navigating acceptances, deferrals, waitlists, and rejections.

Our Process

We have over a decade of experience helping students craft their admissions essays..

Step One (ideally winter of junior year)

Schedule a FREE* initial consultation to discuss the college list, outline a game plan for working together on essays and applications, and answer any other relevant questions to ensure that we are the right fit.

*prices increase for students who sign up after August 1 of senior year.

Step Two (ideally spring of junior year)

Brainstorm essay ideas, discuss material for Why College essays from college visits, and, in some cases, start drafting!

Step Three (ideally summer before senior year)

We keep students on deadline for all drafts and applications, provide critical feedback on every essay draft, and ultimately support students in preparing their applications and final essay drafts for submission to universities. 

Step Four (ideally fall of senior year)

We motivate and encourage students to complete all of their essays and applications before the beginning of their senior year. Some applicants may work into the fall, as well.

We do not just strengthen essays; we empower students to strengthen their relationship with writing as a whole. Customizing our coaching to each individual, we guide applicants through each stage of the brainstorming, revision, and proofreading process—helping them gain confidence in their abilities and grow as thinkers, writers, and future professionals. 

In working together to create the most impactful college application essays possible, we coach students through sharpening their critical thinking and analytical skills, building time management and organizational habits, deepening their self-reflection, and elevating their written and verbal communication methods—always ensuring that each applicant expresses their unique and authentic voice in every essay . All of this prepares students for the demands of college-level writing and also for writing in all future applications and endeavors.

Deadlines Track deadlines to keep students organized throughout all essay drafts, so that everything is complete well before the application deadlines.

Communication Communicate through emails, texts, calls, and video chats to provide constructive feedback on drafts—ensuring that everyone is on the same page.

Guidance Provide guidance and feedback on applications, résumés, and admissions interviews.

Flexibility Remain flexible as college lists evolve. Prices are a flat consulting fee based on the number of essays (not the number of schools), so there is no limit to drafts or time spent communicating while working together.

How Ivy Experience Helps

Parents call us about coaching their students on college application essays for a variety of reasons:.

• Goals of submitting the highest quality essays and applications that best package the student
• Concerns that students will wait until right before the deadline
• Too many arguments at home
• Students not knowing what to write about

What our students and parents have to say

No one will argue that the college process is difficult and time consuming—but the team at Ivy Experience REALLY supported us through it. They created a timeline to complete all the essays, and every revision that I saw made me say "wow, they really helped tighten the message" and "wow, that essay seems so concise." After tens of essays, they maintained their attention and consistently turned out excellent advice. In the end, my son got in early decision to the school of his choice. I will be using Ivy Experience for my two other children in due time! Morria P. - Parent

We used Ivy Experience with both of my children and it was wonderful. The tutoring service helped on the standard testing and brought both of their scores up. We also used Ivy Experience for the application and essay writing. We could not have gotten through this process without them. Karan and Eric were instrumental with working on the essays and setting reasonable and firm deadlines. They gave encouragement when needed but also gave constructive criticism which was crucial. I would highly recommend their service to any prospective junior/senior. Eric is very easy and great to work with, he is always available for questions or advice. His TED talk is very informative and definitely worth watching before any student starts the college journey. Diane A. - Parent

Eric was great. He brought out the best in our daughter, encouraged her to both think different and work very hard. His level guidance and advice far exceeded our expectations and took the stress out of our daughter's application process. Cannot recommend him enough. Any child would highly benefit from his help. Jim R. - Parent

Preparing for college standard admission tests and applications should not be a one size fits all program. Ivy Experience provided a flexible approach in preparing my daughter for all the myriad of tasks and points to be considered and addressed. Ivy Experience tailored their services to what my daughter needed and how she responded best. Kathy T. - Parent

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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.

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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Write an Essay Admissions Will Remember

Increase your chances of acceptance with a standout college application essay. Receive comprehensive edits and feedback from top-rated Ivy League consultants in as little as 24 hours. 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Our Students Have Been Accepted To...

We'll help you avoid boring clichés and ensure your story stands out to admissions officers.

More than spell check. Receive direct and honest advice to help your college essay shine.

Our consultants come from the nation's top universities, such as Harvard and MIT.

More Than Just Grammar Edits

We'll help you craft an acceptance-worthy essay.

The college essay is one of the most critical parts of your application. It goes beyond your grades and test scores to give schools a sense of your personality and potential—qualities that numbers alone cannot show. A compelling piece that exudes intellectual vitality, vulnerability, and humor can tip the admissions odds in your favor. We'll review your college essay to ensure it's one that admissions officers won't forget.

I Replace adverbs with strong verbs when possible. love really like throwing out the garbage. Most teens dread the exhausting, two-minute trek to the curb, but I find solace "Solace in" is more idiomatic. in on my daily dumpster walk. Every night at 10 PM Every day , I hear my mother lock the entrance, cueing entrance. She cues me to empty out the garbage cans on the main floor. As I lug carry pounds of many losing lotto tickets, candy wrappers, and crushed coffee cups Use stronger imagery to paint a picture of your duties. drinks on my back, I take took a sigh of relief knowing that we’ve survived This is wordy. managed to make it through yet another night shift See extended comment. at the family business.

I’ve worked The tone here is a bit formal compared to the rest of your writing. laboured at the family business since I was being ten years old. Of course, Focus on what you did, not on what you didn't do. I wasn’t a fifth-grade student ringing up customers or reciting the day’s winning lotto numbers like my parents were. I spent Here, the simple past works best. The modal verb is unnecessary. I would've spent most of my time either restocking or eating from the candy aisle—to my parents’ parent's pride and disappointment, respectively. Not until my freshman year did they give me permission to man the cash register, which had mesmerized me for years.

OVERALL COMMENTS:

Hi John! This essay does a great job showcasing not only your knack for software development, but also how your family’s business allowed you to mature a bit quicker than others. However, I'd consider reconstructing the first two paragraphs. The opening of your essay leads me to believe that you'll go on to discuss your experiences at the family business, but from the third paragraph on, you mostly focus on software development. By the end of the essay, the introduction feels distant and irrelevant.

We'll check for errors like dangling modifiers, comma splices, and ambiguous pronouns.

We'll ensure that you stick to the point with word choice that is realistic yet engaging.

We'll ensure your writing is easy to read, compelling, and reflects your authentic voice.

We'll suggest ways to optimize the structure of your essay to best reflect your narrative.

We'll point out areas your essay falls short and suggest ways to improve your writing.

We'll provide a 2–3 paragraph evaluation of the overall strength of your essay.

“If there was an option for 6 stars out of 5, I would give this service 10.”

Next Admit stuck with me as I sent essay after essay for review with such a small amount of turnaround time and I could never be more grateful for all the work they do. The feedback is both fair and kind, and I felt better trusting consultants that had just gone through the whole college admissions ordeal and gotten in rather than consultants who hadn’t been through the process in decades.

Find the Right Solution

Two affordable services, college essay review, college app review, your essay’s in good hands, work with your dream team.

Having gone through a rigorous vetting process, our consultants know how to craft a winning application. Many have professional writing experience and have graduated from the nation's most esteemed institutions.

At Harvard, Hana is involved with the Institute of Politics, Model Congress, and Women in Business. In high school, Hana spent her time getting involved in education policy work, winning a seat on her Board of Education.

• Scholastic Writing Gold Key
• Director at Harvard IOP

At Harvard, Julia served as the President of the Undergraduate Women in Law Association and provides mentorship to students as a Peer Concentration Advisor. In high school, Julia spent much of her time engaging in community service.

• Harvard Crimson Writer
• Rhodes Scholarship Finalist

At Princeton, Mikaylah is a Visiting Scholar at the Nation's Service Initiative Fellow, where she is obtaining her master's degree in Public Affairs and specializing in Domestic Politics. She is a former Visiting Scholar at the U.S. Department of State.

• Writer at U.S. Department of State
• Visiting Scholar at the USIP

Don’t Just Hear It From Us

94% of our clients have been accepted to 1+ of their top 6 schools..

Justine was amazing. Her feedback and detailed comments were very helpful. She not only pointed out what could be better, but she also provided solutions and tips to make my writing better. I'm glad she edited two of my essays, and I wish she had reviewed them all. She was outstanding and made my experience with Next Admit worth it.

Ordered Essay Review

Very constructive and in-depth feedback! I really appreciate the positive comments alongside the corrections; it gives me confidence knowing that I can write a "decent" essay by myself. Thank you so much Natalia for polishing up my essay and for relieving my anxiety during this application cycle.

Lauren gave very insightful advice on how to improve the communication of my ideas and tweak the structure of my essay to focus on depth rather than breadth. Her comments were extremely detailed and thorough as well. She also returned her feedback on my essay a few days before the one-week deadline which was great!

We'll take the stress out of the writing process...

Understand what to improve.

Our consultants will provide you with detailed, line-by-line feedback to help improve your essay. Learn where your essay falls flat and how to take it to the next level.

Stand out among the crowd

We'll help you craft a unique, compelling piece that stands out to admissions officers. Having read thousands of essays, our team can help you identify and eliminate clichés.

Let your authentic voice shine

We'll keep your original voice and ideas intact. Our detailed feedback will enhance your story and align with your voice, not detract from it.

Work with Ivy League consultants

We've assembled a team of consultants from the nation's top universities. Many have professional writing experience and studied the humanities in college.

Ask clarifying questions

If you have any questions about your edits, feel free to message your consultant through the Next Admit Portal. We're always happy to clarify our feedback.

Receive feedback quickly

Our team can provide detailed feedback in as little as 24 hours. Our team is working around the clock to help make sure that you press submit just in time.

...for every type of essay.

The Common App Essay

This is the centerpiece of your application. We'll ensure your story and voice stand out to admissions officers.

Supplemental Essays

Supplemental essays are important for establishing fit. We'll help you craft intentional and memorable responses.

The UC Essays

The UC PIQs can be tricky to navigate. We'll help you write clear and straightforward responses that stand out.

How It Works

Streamlined editing process, submit essay.

Consultant Match

Track essay, receive edits, the next admit portal, everything's in one place, work closely with your consultant.

Your consultant is here for you from start to finish. Our built-in messaging system allows you to ask your consultant follow-up questions and provide clarifying details. We understand that crafting the perfect application is a dynamic journey, and our system allows for seamless communication.

Track Your Orders to the Minute

Our system tells you when you'll get your essay back by. You'll never have to worry about fuzzy deadlines or what stage your order is in. We provide full transparency and are dedicated to providing high-quality and timely edits. We're here to make sure you can press submit just in time.

Don’t Take It From Us

See what our students say.

Lauren was really helpful in giving detailed feedback! I was really surprised to see how she went through each and every one of my sentences and gave me direct feedback on how to expand my ideas. I feel really confident about submitting my application now thanks to her comments!

I absolutely loved the feedback I received! I had actually worked with another college essay service for my personal statement, and they didn't provide me nearly as much feedback. The suggestions were thorough, and I gained a great understanding of how my essay is perceived.

Fred did a great job of putting himself into the shoes of an admissions officer and offering constructive criticism. He not only pointed out flaws, but also provided great suggestions for fixing them. Thanks for such a comprehensive edit.

Mahad thoroughly edited my essay, and his extensive comment inspired me to completely revamp my essay to make it more unique. I really appreciate his help, and would definitely recommend him.

As usual, these essay edits are incredibly thorough, understandable, and beneficial. I am able to fix mistakes that I would otherwise overlook. Thank you so, so much for the detailed insight and advice!

Super valuable feedback. The edits were very helpful and provided me insight into the parts of my essay that had potential for improvement. I definitely feel much more confident in my essay and more ready to submit my application!

...and hundreds more five-star reviews!

Frequently asked questions.

The college essay is one of the most important parts of your application. Put your best foot forward by having one of our consultants polish your piece, ensuring it reflects your story in the best light possible while maintaining your true voice.

No, but we are here to help you put your best foot forward. Since the admissions process is holistic and unpredictable, a strong essay alone is not enough to guarantee acceptance. However, our consultants will help you feel confident in your writing and tell an engaging story, all while keeping your voice intact.

Yes. We will not share your essay with any third parties or publish it online. Your essay will remain secure in our system.

Because of high order volume, you cannot choose a specific consultant for your essay review. However, our algorithm will match your essay to the optimal consultant based on availability and the schools you're applying to.

No. We will not write your essay for you. We will, however, provide advice to help you write the best essay you can.

After you receive your essay review, you can order a second revision through the Next Admit Portal for 10% off.

Yes. If, for example, you order a three-day review on Friday, you will receive your edits on Monday.

If you are not satisfied with your revisions, please contact us at [email protected]. We will handle all cases on an individual basis.

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

We're here to help you put your best foot forward. If you're unhappy for any reason, contact us so we make it right.

Ready to craft the perfect essay?

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Admissions Consulting

Our approach.

Preparing and planning for college admissions is an increasingly daunting task. Every passing year the application process gets more competitive and frustrating for students, parents, and instructors alike. But in that relentless pursuit of acceptance, we oftentimes neglect the crucial skills that are necessary for long-term success far beyond college. While admittance into top ranked universities is our institutional goal, we have catered our college counseling curriculum to develop learning and life skills that ensure the student’s success in school and beyond. 

At Mavin, we put an emphasis on personal development and goal building. By partaking in our carefully crafted program students will gain a better understanding of what they value and what they want to achieve in life, effectively tying their long-term goals to their academic interests and personal strengths. By challenging them to critically question their intentions, they will be better equipped with the skills and knowledge to overcome monumental obstacles that will present themselves at top ranked schools. Better yet, they will begin to view college as a stepping stone, not a destination.

With this holistic approach dedicated to the long term success of our students, we believe we can make a huge difference in not only a child’s admissions journey, but their college and career journeys as well. With a personally customized curriculum we will ensure that is a reality with your child and push them to be a great student and an even better citizen, ready for long-term success. 

Why Should You Opt for College Planning Consultants?

Choosing an academic field to best suit your interest can prove a challenging task. Most prospective college students are at a loss where to begin and chose a major due to lack of guidance. It is where a good college planning consultant comes in to help and support you with valuable guidelines and direction. They are there to help the students get a better sense of themselves, especially how they should know their potentialities to focus and mark a place.

Are you one of those looking for a college planning consultant in Monrovia and still failing to understand how to move ahead further? Perhaps a prestigious and highly experienced college admissions essay consultant, Temple City, or a college application consultant Arcadia can be your right mentor?

Look no further and approach the experts who can guide you as a torchbearer to help you shine in your future career prospects. We are the answer to your prayers and ready to guide you on all stages. You can also find us while searching for college consultants near me La Canada to receive total assistance.

Mavin Learning’s Role in College Planning Consultancy

Our college planning services can make all the difference required for your acceptance to your dream university or college where you are seeking your enrolment. It is how we will help you:

• Create winning college applications considering the competition;
• Navigate the entire application process to conduct a comprehensive student profile review;
• Develop a strong and convincing college application essay;
• Early decision making and action strategies to get a head start;
• Coaching on the interview techniques;
• Understanding the entire procedure so that you are fully informed and prepared while applying.

Mavin Learning’s Role in Private High School Application

Similarly, application to private schools might often prove arduous. There are tests, forms, and formalities you need to fulfill. Each school is different but most look for similar criteria. Our Private High School Application, Duarte, ensures that you are up to date with all the requirements and have high acceptance chances. We help you by offering the following:

• Keeping you up to date with the latest admission requirements;
• Letting you know what to expect and how to apply;
• Full guidance in the application procedures;
• Presenting your best side;
• Preparing you for the tests, essays, or interviews.

Successful Acceptances Guaranteed

We at Mavin Learning dedicate to helping the students maximize their best academic opportunities. Whether you require help with your college or high school applications, we are here to ensure your success. Reach out to us today and get started on your applications.

Best College Admissions Consultancy

Being accepted into the top college of your choice comes down to how well you market yourself as an applicant. And, are you prepared for the next level of a journey to success. There is a multitude of students with stellar test scores and grades. So, you must know what is required to stand out from this enormously highly qualified crowd to be accepted by a top university for your enrolment.

Our admissions consulting San Marino comes from experience in admissions and works with college applicants to craft admissions essays and personal statements that correctly address their unique backgrounds and interests that match their requirements. Our college application counseling in San Marino also focuses on how you will contribute to the college you are willing to apply for your enrollment.

How Do We Help You?

The college counseling consultants, the Sierra Madre, advise you on how to best prepare the college application following what each college desires to see in their enrolling. Most importantly, our college application consulting services, the Sierra Madre, ensure that all student essays, letters of recommendation letters, statements of purpose, and interviews support the only requirements.

You can start your journey with our college application consulting in Pasadena and let our mentors implement a personalized process to help guide you in the entire application process to your dream university. Your search for the College application help near me Pasadena is easily accessible and always there to help you craft the best applications that suit your needs.

Our trained admission consultants are well-versed in the intricacies of different colleges’ admission procedures, and they can also help you get where you need to be. They will even guide you on writing all sorts of scholarship essays.

Contact Us Today

If you are looking to find a reputed university that is the right fit for you or need help applying to the college of your choice, we will guide you through the entire admission procedure. We aim to support you to achieve favorable results. A consultant’s job is to help reduce the students’ anxiety and their parents during the admission procedures.

We also have School Admission Consultants Arcadia for those who require support in applying to good schools. Our education consultants will help you prepare yourself in every way possible. You will certainly have nothing to stress about anymore as we bring complete solutions to achieve the ladder of success.

Our Process

All prospective clients receive an initial complimentary, 60-minute consultation. While we prefer to see you in person, we can meet online or by phone to accommodate your needs. We’ll take the time to listen to your needs, and show you how we can help you reach your dreams. Schedule a free consultation today!

After your academic consultation, we assign our students with a qualified student counselor that will best serve their needs. Each student will have a designated student counselor and a program coordinator that will guide them throughout the college planning process.

Our Mavin counselors will be there to guide students through their college planning process, providing advice on self-exploration, choosing the right courses, and exploring academic and extracurricular interests. Instead of just recommending activities that will impress colleges, we help our students discover their inner motivation and unlock their potential.

Mavin counselors will guide our students through the whole application process, from selecting the best-fit schools best, devising an application strategy, to filling out the application forms and writing exceptional admission essays.

Our team will conduct a mock committee review of students’ applications before they hit the “submit” button to make sure they are immaculate. We will also guide students in submitting supplemental materials and required documents, help with wait-lists and deferrals, and help the families make the final decision as the offers come in!

What's Included In Our Services

• College Planning
• Career Pathfinder & Aptitude Test
• Exploring Interests
• Academic Planning
• Test Planning
• Activities Planning & Coaching
• Writing Coaching
• Academic Life Coaching
• College Exploration

College Application

• Student Profile Building
• College List Building
• Admission Strategies
• Comprehensive Essay Coaching
• Resume Coaching
• Application Guidance & Review
• Interview Coaching
• Waitlist/Deferral Appeal

College Financial Planning

• Funding Strategies
• FAFSA Guidance
• CSS Profile Guidance
• Scholarship Search
• Scholarship Application Guidance
• Scholarship Essay Coaching
• Financial Aid Awards Review

What Our Clients Are Saying

Real success stories that changes lives.

Mr. Rose & the Mavin team were instrumental in both my success in high school and my development as a young adult. Mr. Rose provided me with great mentorship, and helped me to become a top student.

My son got 800 on math and 760 on English. Thanks so much to Dr. Sippl!

I just got 1500 on my SAT, which is a big improvement. Thank you guys so much. Justin is an extraordinary teacher.

Mr. and Mrs. Rose are not just any college counselors. They are life mentors to students and a team who genuinely want to help others with the college application process. I loved how they were super detailed about the application process.

My wife and I interviewed other tutoring centers and found them either too focused on just Asian students or had an arrogant attitude. On the other hand, we have been with Mavin for the last year or so and find this to be a very well-run and professional tutoring center.

I will be attending New York University, Tandon School of Engineering in fall, 2018. Despite having been learning English for four long years, I still can’t use words to describe my gratitude toward Mavin tutors and the Rose couple. 

Mavin was an extremely important resource for the college application process. Their counselors paid great attention to detail and personalized their service well. In particular, they were able to highlight the strengths of my application.

-UC Berkeley Admit

About 3 years ago, I was one of you who had nightmares of being rejected by colleges. Aaron and Caroline were right there with me throughout the whole process and made me believe that I’m actually better than I thought.

-Syracuse Admit

Mavin Learning has helped me a lot during the college applications process. I met Aaron and he was able to turn a jumble of thoughts into a wonderful essay that depicted my experience and growth in a well-organized manner.

-UCLA Admit

The college counseling here at Mavin Center has truly met and exceeded my expectations. Mr. Rose and his wife, Caroline, do a superb job in introducing and familiarizing the college application process – taking it baby steps by first before delving into the complications.

Our Service Packages

Standard planning.

• Monthly Counseling sessions with our experienced counselors to set goals and chart a path towards success.
• Free Access to Mavin’s monthly seminars and activities.
• Ideal for self-motivated students.

Premium Planning

• Bi-Weekly   Counseling sessions, plus  Bi-Weekly Writing Coaching  sessions
• Access to Mavin’s monthly events.
• Ideal for students who need more guidance

Standard Application

• Full-Service Application Guidance
• Apply Up to 7 Schools
• Includes Mock Committee Review
• Ideal for students who need comprehensive help

All-Inclusive

• Apply Up to 15 Schools
• Free Access to Mavin Classes
• Covers All College Prep Needs
• Ideal for international students

Where Our Clients Have Been Accepted

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Testimonials, what are families saying about collegevine.

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“Sophie clearly went above and beyond, taking the time to absorb and reflect upon an essay that was complex in form.”

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What kind of services do advisors on CollegeVine offer?

Advisors on CollegeVine offer a wide range of services focused on helping students and families navigate the college admissions process. You can get help with building a school list, planning out college visits, crafting a resume, improving your extracurriculars, writing essays, preparing for interviews, creating a plan to pay for college, and so much more! To learn more about the services each advisor offers, visit their profile.

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Essay Services

Deluxe essay editing.

Ideal for those looking to have the essays professionally reviewed. This service includes a single review and set of edits for 1000 words of essay(s).

You will receive a critique that will provide you with a paragraph by paragraph list of recommendations to help you create a powerful new essay.

$ 275.00 Purchase Now

Premier Essay Editing

Ideal for multiple reviews of your essays. Submit up to 2,000 words for multiple reviews.

We will critique and revise your essay(s) and deliver it to you within three business days upon receipt. We will provide you with up to two additional revision of your essay(s) of the course of ten business days from the start of your project.

$ 525.00 Purchase Now

Premier Essay Consulting

A great value to provide guidance and editing.

Our Premier Essay Consulting Service pulls the entire writing process into one stellar package. With this comprehensive service, we will work with you to discuss your essay topics and help you refine your concepts to create a targeted and compelling essay for each college application. Our team of former admission professionals will work with you in a one hour essay planning consultation as you work together to craft your essay(s). This service will revise and edit up to 2,000 words with multiple revisions taking you from concept to essay completion.

$ 750.00 Purchase Now

Ultimate Essay Consulting

Our complete essay solution.

Our most extensive package is ideal for students applying to schools with supplemental essays in addition to the common application and/or colleges that require various short answers and other unique responses beyond the common application questions. This complete service provides two hours of essay consulting with a former college admissions officer and support for up to 2,500 words giving you the ultimate college essay planning experience.

$ 1,300.00 Purchase Now

Ultimate Essay Consulting: Senior Level Coach

Work with our senior level coaches.

We’ll pair a senior coach with you in our most extensive package. Ideal for students applying to schools with supplemental essays in addition to the common application and/or colleges that require various short answers and other unique responses beyond your main essay. This ultimate service provides two hours of essay consulting with a former admissions officer and support for up to 2,500 words giving you the ultimate college essay planning experience.

$ 1,450.00 Purchase Now

To help you create contextually relevant essay that will add value to your application.

• Writing and Style  – Does the topic answer the essay question? Does the writer demonstrate mastery of varied sentence structure, of language, of the active voice, and of other techniques in the essay? Does the essay show and convey the author’s intent, qualities, and thoughts without explicitly stating them? In addition, our editors address grammar and style elements to ensure that the essay is of the highest quality.
• Content and Substance  – Is the essay interesting or compelling? Will the essay add value to the application? Admissions officers want to learn more about the candidate’s personal qualities and thought processes. Our editors address content and substance in the essay from an admissions perspective.

ESSAY EDITING OR ESSAY CONSULTING?

These programs include:.

• Essay Editing is the right choice for you if you have an essay(s) written and ready for editing, critique and commentary.
• If you are looking for assistance with getting the writing process started and essay topic development then Essay Consulting is the best choice for you.
• Order the service on-line or by phone at 1-888-835-4620.
• Simply use our on-line wizard to enter the essay question(s) and to upload your essay(s).
• We’ll critique and revise your essay(s) and deliver it to you within 3 business days.

Need more information? Complete the information request form, or call 1.888.835.4620

College Essay Mentor

Admissions essay help from a published author.

Transform the Admissions Process

As a college essay consultant who specializes in helping self-motivated students gain admission to Ivy Plus universities, I want to transform the admissions experience. It is common for students to feel uncertain about college essays, which represent the last, best chance to differentiate themselves from other outstanding applicants. In a sequence of one-on-one meetings, I help students explore their personal values, identify meaningful themes, and write essays that will intrigue and impress admissions officers. As a personal guide for every draft of every essay, I create and manage a process that minimizes stress and maximizes success.

Get Exceptional Results

Students, parents and I share a goal: acceptances to top universities. Every year dozens of College Essay Mentor students defy low admissions rates and get accepted to the Ivy League, Stanford, MIT and other top schools. Credit belongs largely to my students' academic accomplishments and endeavors beyond the classroom. My contribution is to understand what "works" in the college admission context, to identify ideas that will make an impact and to elicit insights. I then to teach students how to craft essays that create compelling, personal portraits.

Total acceptances for College Essay Mentor students, 2020-2023

One-on-One Essay Packages

The hallmark of College Essay Mentor is providing guidance that is tailored to each student's the talents and goals. To provide full benefit of his knowledge and experience, Christopher Hunt works one-on-one with every one of his students, for every meeting, for every essay. His essay packages all include the personal essay, school-specific supplement essays, the activities list, and other counseling services.

College Essay Mentor Has Been Seen In

College Essay Help

Writing college essays is challenging., expert guidance can help..

KD College Prep’s team of experienced college counselors and essay editors helps students better understand what college admissions officers look for in an applicant. Students learn how to craft compelling personal statements and supplemental essays, which can help improve admissions odds.

Complete the survey to schedule a free consultation with a member of our team.

PERSONALIZED LEARNING OPTIONS FOR BUSY STUDENTS

Flexible scheduling.

Choose meeting times that work for you and adjust as needed

Convenient Learning Options

Choose from Live-Online or In-Person Activities

Expert Guidance

Learn from our experienced team of college counselors, essay editors, and advisors

Advisor Support 6 Days Per Week

Full-time staff available to assist you with your program

COLLEGE COUNSELING PROGRAMS

Apply now™ advantage for 11th grade.

Program includes access to 16 live-online sessions that cover key aspects of the college application process like:

• Understanding the college admissions process
• Finalizing your college list
• Paying for college
• Completing applications
• Brainstorming and writing your personal statement
• Comparing financial aid packages and more
• Preparing for quality interviews
• And much more!

The APPLY NOW! Advantage Program provides 11th graders with in-depth, live-online courses that guide students and parents through the entire college application process.

The program includes access to 16 small-group classes. These sessions go over topics such as finalizing a college list, navigating financial aid and scholarship options, writing personal statements, and so much more.

APPLY NOW! Advantage students also receive access to two Pinnacle Sessions which provide families with personalized, one-on-one guidance from a member of the college counseling team.

Additional College Counseling Programs

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Do college application essays still matter.

When reviewing college applications, admissions officers see a lot of statistics—test scores, GPA, class rank, etc. Admissions officers can infer a lot of things about you from these items, but these stats don’t effectively show who you are as a person. For this reason, essays are an important component of your application. Compelling essays showcase your writing skills, creativity, and reveal things about you that may show admissions staff that you’re a good fit for a specific college.

Who can help me with writing my essay?

A college essay tutor or editor can help students build a compelling essay that aligns with their college admissions goals. At KD, our college counseling team helps in a variety of ways: brainstorming topics, finding their voice, shaping a story, correcting grammar and spelling mistakes, rewriting for other colleges, and much more.

How many words does my essay need to be?

Word count for personal statements and supplemental essays can vary from college to college. However, several U.S. colleges will accept the Common App®, which recommends 400-600 words for the personal statement (sometimes called the general college application essay). Supplemental essays are typically shorter but can vary by college. When applying, follow directions as closely as possible for each application to maximize your admissions odds.

What format do college application essays use?

Your college application essays will not follow the same formal structure that is expected with high school research papers or persuasive essays. In other words, you won’t need to come up with a thesis and support it with evidence. Instead, personal statements typically tell a story in a creative way. Students don’t often encounter this type of creative writing with their high school assignments, which is why many students find it quite challenging.

KD’s college counseling team is well-versed in teaching students how to craft compelling college admissions essays, and we’ve helped hundreds of students use the essays to strengthen their applications.

What do I write in a personal statement?

A student’s personal statement should tell a story that only he or she can tell. In other words, it needs to reveal something unique about the student’s experience that connects to the chosen essay prompt. With that being said, it’s typically a challenge to do this in a unique way, and there are certain topics that students should avoid.

Read more about choosing a college essay topic , and if you need additional help, consider signing up for a college counseling program .

How do I make my essay stand out?

Our advice is don’t play it safe. Be real. Be yourself. Finding your own unique voice and using that to tell a story about yourself is typically the best move when it comes to writing a good personal statement. Of course, that is easier said than done. Working with a college essay tutor can help guide you in the right direction. Most admissions essays sound like thousands of other admissions essays, and our experienced college counseling team staff can tell you which topics are generic and which align best with your application.

For more advice, read about these steps for how to write a powerful college essay .

How much do college essay consultants charge?

The cost of working with a college essay consultant or editor varies depending on a student’s needs. Families can choose to pay by the hour for one-on-one help or purchase a program that guides students through the entire college application process. For a more accurate description of pricing, explore KD’s college counseling program options or sign up for a free consultation to discuss specific needs with a member of our college counseling team.

When should I start writing my college essays?

Many students start working on their application essays during summer or fall of senior year, but some students begin as early as spring semester of 11th grade. However, there are many factors that may prevent a student from starting at that time, such as extracurricular involvement, a challenging course load, admissions testing, etc. But remember, college applications are time-consuming, and it takes a lot of work to build one that stands out.

To find out when is the best time to start, families can schedule a free consultation to discuss individual admissions goals with our team.

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“My wife and I wanted to thank you profusely for working with (our daughter). She picked Texas A&M, and we are all delighted with the decision. We have visited the college a couple of times and feel it was the right... Read more...

Arun K. – Daughter, Class of 2023

“(I wanted) help with writing essays and getting into my dream colleges. (I was most concerned with) keeping up with everything I have to do and meeting all the deadlines. The constant and honest feedback about my essays regardless is what I really appreciated. There was a time that writing essays just clicked, and it was much easier after that.”

“(I wanted) help with writing essays and getting into my dream colleges. (I was most concerned with) keeping up with everything I have to do and meeting all the deadlines. The constant and honest feedback about my essays regardless is what... Read more...

Neha C. – Class of 2022

“ My feedback can only be positive, given how much you helped me get ahead with my application process. I really appreciated how much work both of you put into helping me write the best essay possible, especially reviewing my essays twice to polish them completely. In addition, I have noticed that writing my resume has released a lot of stress off my shoulder when it comes to making sure I have all the things necessary to apply to schools. ”

“ My feedback can only be positive, given how much you helped me get ahead with my application process. I really appreciated how much work both of you put into... Read more...

Claudia A. – Class of 2020

“I shifted toward taking practice tests and going to workshops because I felt those were the best ways to apply the concepts (I was) learning in class. I started applying the tips and tricks that the teachers were showing me in class. In conjunction, those two things helped me raise my score a lot because I was not a math kid before KD or high school. The repetition and being able to practice in a non-stressful environment and simulating that testing experience is something that was very beneficial for me... “The college counseling team was super patient and honest about the work I was submitting. I know for a lot of kids, it’s hard to articulate who you are through 250-300 words. It was definitely... Read more...

“I shifted toward taking practice tests and going to workshops because I felt those were the best ways to apply the concepts (I was) learning in class. I started applying the tips and tricks that the teachers were showing me in... Read more...

Blaine W. – Class of 2021

“Both of my sons have been guided by KD College Prep counselor Steve Peifer on their journey to finding the right college for them, and we could not have had a better experience and outcome. My oldest son is now a rising junior at the University of Miami, and my youngest son is an incoming freshman at Vanderbilt University. Steve’s help in navigating the complicated college landscape and finding the BEST FIT for my two sons is what has made this resource invaluable. “What made the biggest difference for my two sons was the depth and breadth of knowledge Steve has of the many universities and colleges in the U.S. First, by getting to know my kids on a one-on-one basis, he was able to... Read more...

“Both of my sons have been guided by KD College Prep counselor Steve Peifer on their journey to finding the right college for them, and we could not have had a better experience and outcome. My oldest son is now a... Read more...

Julio M. – Parent

“Coming into this whole process, I had absolutely no idea what anything was, and your help was invaluable—your encouraging words, strategic advice, and wholesome stories and jokes really got me through a stressful time! I'm still on the waitlist at Harvard and other schools, but I've really started to immerse into the Emory culture, especially their debate team. Not having to pay for college and still attend a private institution is really a dream come true, and it wouldn't be possible if it were not for you.”

“Coming into this whole process, I had absolutely no idea what anything was, and your help was invaluable—your encouraging words, strategic advice, and wholesome stories and jokes really got me through a stressful time! I'm still on the waitlist at Harvard... Read more...

Shreyas R. – Class of 2020

“The most beneficial guidance I received during my College Counseling experience was being taught that it's completely ok to not know what I want to do with the rest of my life at 17/18 years old. Steve told me that a good school will help me find my path. Also, Steve's knowledge about what colleges were wanting to see in potential admissions candidates was a huge help... “There was not one specific beneficial moment or turning point in my time working with Steve, there were many. He encouraged me during the entire application process and brought to my attention many colleges I wouldn't have considered or heard about without his help.”

“The most beneficial guidance I received during my College Counseling experience was being taught that it's completely ok to not know what I want to do with the rest of my life at 17/18 years old. Steve told me that a... Read more...

Jake W. – Class of 2020

"My initial goals when I first started working with the KD Counseling crew was to compile a list of colleges that I would be somewhat interested in attending and fit my career goals. I think that this step I was by far the most concerned about. I didn’t know how exactly I should go about choosing which places to apply to and if I were to be accepted, if they would fit me. The team did a wonderful job considering my likes and dislikes and helped me compile a list of colleges that suited my tastes and would further my academic career. "After this integral first step, my focus turned towards time management and writing quality essays that would stand out to colleges. I got... Read more...

"My initial goals when I first started working with the KD Counseling crew was to compile a list of colleges that I would be somewhat interested in attending and fit my career goals. I think that this step I was by... Read more...

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After investing in eight rewarding years in serving middle and high school students and their families, I have decided to retire and close Laura George Consulting (LGC) in April 2024 in order to focus more fully on my family and on new professional projects. It has been an honor for my team and me to work with hundreds of amazing students over the years and to play a role in supporting them along their journeys to their best-fit colleges. Thank you for this opportunity of a lifetime.

A number of wonderfully accomplished and knowledgeable LGC "alumni" will be continuing to offer tutoring and/or college consulting and essay coaching services going forward. I encourage you to reach out to these fantastic professionals to explore how they can continue to support, advise, and instruct your student(s) and your family as you navigate the journey to college. 

With gratitude,

LGC's Independent Educational Consultant, Kate Pedigo , will continue to provide high school/college consulting and application/essay services through her new company:

www.Growing 2 College.com

Services include:

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College Search & Selection

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To learn more, request a  Free 20-Min Consultation  

For more information about how to contact former LGC tutors, please click below:

How to Find the Best MBA Essay Consultant

Looking for an MBA essay consultant? MBA consultants can be excellent professional tools to help you get into very competitive MBA programs, such as the Kellogg Business School . MBA essay consultants guide students on how to write MBA admissions essay, how to craft an essay that stands out and provides personalized, one-on-one feedback. Aside from your GMAT scores and your MBA resume , the MBA essay is the most important part of your application, so creating the best one possible is very important. Students often ask if hiring an MBA essay consultant is worth the investment, and while it may not be for everyone, it can be the right move for many students who need an extra hand with their MBA application. In this blog, we’ll look at what MBA essay consultants do, why the MBA essay is so important, how to write an MBA essay and a guide on finding the right MBA essay consultant for you.

>> Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free strategy call here . <<

Article Contents 6 min read

What mba essay consultants do.

MBA essay consultants offer students professional help in applying for MBA programs, providing guidance and feedback on writing excellent admissions essays or MBA personal statements. Similar to college essay advisors , MBA essay advisors provide student assistance with the written sections of your graduate school application and focus specifically on MBA programs. You can find MBA essay consultants who specialize in essay help, or you can hire an MBA admission consulting service.

Plenty of students hire professional assistance when applying to college or grad school. But many wonder if hiring an admissions consultant or MBA essay consultant is worth it. If you want to know how to get into grad school or a prestigious and highly competitive program like an MBA, a grad school admissions consultant or MBA essay consultant can make the difference.

Want to learn how to write a stellar essay for Harvard MBA?

MBA programs are notoriously competitive, especially at the top business schools. Almost all will require you to submit an MBA admissions essay or other writing samples like a diversity secondary essay as part of the application. And the admissions essay is heavily taken into consideration for admissions decisions. Want to know how to get into Harvard Business School or the Wharton School of Business ? You’ll need an excellent MBA admissions essay, high GMAT scores and an overall strong application to stand out among thousands of applicants. In fact, admissions experts agree that the MBA essay is the second-most important part of your application, after your GMAT score.

How your MBA application is weighted

MBA essays are crucially important to getting that acceptance letter, so hiring an MBA essay can be well worth the time and money. Especially if you want to get into your top-choice school or avoid having to go through a long and grueling admissions process alone.

If you already know how to write a college essay , you’ll be familiar with the short essay format. An MBA essay is almost identical. Keep it short, with one paragraph for the introduction, a maximum of 3 paragraphs for the body and one final concluding paragraph. For an MBA essay, don’t exceed more than 2 pages. Aim to keep things concise, to the point and highly polished. MBA programs want to see that you can be detail-oriented, highly focused and persuasive in your writing. The MBA essay is your chance to demonstrate these skills. And luckily, an MBA essay consultant can guide you on writing one.

An MBA essay consultant provides professional help for students in three key areas:

An excellent MBA essay consultant will be able to teach you not just how to write a winning essay, they\u2019ll know how to turn a good essay into a great essay by trimming the fat and home in on the key details that really grab the attention of admissions committees. To set yourself apart from thousands of other applicants, your essay should be memorable and insightful on top of being well-structured with good flow. Read some Harvard MBA personal statement samples for an idea of how detailed your essay should be and what sort of content an MBA essay contains. MBA essay consultants can work with you to brainstorm what life experiences or personal traits have contributed to your motivation to study business. "}]">

Where do you look to find an MBA essay consultant? It’s different than looking for a tutor or writing coach. MBA essay consultants are highly specialized professionals, and they provide laser-focused advice and guidance on getting into MBA programs. They don’t show you how to write a short essay, they will coach you on writing specifically for MBA graduate programs.

A quick internet search will turn up hundreds of results for professional MBA essay consultants. But there are other options if you want great recommendations and to narrow the search a bit. It’s likely you have a set budget and short timeline to work with, so it’s in your best interest to hire an essay consultant early and quickly. Application deadlines approach fast, and you need time to write a killer essay on top of preparing the rest of your application. International students can also speak to their international student advisor to see if they offer essay writing help or have any recommendations.

Anyone considering hiring an MBA essay consultant or similar professional service wonders if college advisors are worth the cost and investment. Or they want to know how to sort through the hundreds of available consulting services to determine the best fit for them. With so many excellent services and hundreds of five-star reviews, how do you choose the best MBA essay consultant? How do you get excellent service on a budget?

These are important questions. And a quick internet search will reveal dozens of options. How do you sort through these to find the best choice for you? In general, look for a consultant that provides one-on-one coaching and personalized feedback, rather than just a formula to follow or a standardized guidebook. An MBA essay is meant to be highly personal and genuine, so look for those personalized services to match. Below is our quick guide on finding the right MBA essay consultant for you.

1. Think About Cost

Cost is a huge factor for plenty of students. An MBA is already a big expense, and there may be a tight budget for the application and admissions process. If you’re fortunate to have a scholarship or funding for your degree, there may be money specifically for consulting services. If so, definitely take advantage and use this part of the budget to hire a good MBA consultant service. Depending on the level of service you’re looking at, MBA consultants can cost anywhere from a few hundred for basic services to over $10,000 for comprehensive, multiple-school applications. For a basic MBA essay tutoring experience, expect to spend on the lower end of this estimate.

Reading reviews can be a quick way to determine the level of satisfaction an essay consultant provides MBA students. But there are dozens of five-star-rated consultants. How do you know which one is the best for you? Don’t rely on reviews alone to make your own evaluation. Check out a consultant’s services, prices and advertised expertise. Are they a former MBA student? Admissions expert? Communications specialist? Try to find an MBA essay consultant who knows their stuff and understands how MBA admissions work. To put it in perspective, don’t ask MBA students how they wrote a winning essay. Ask someone who has successfully coached MBA students just like you. To bake an amazing cake yourself, ask an experienced baker for their secrets.

Preparing for your MBA interview? Check out our tips:

3. Evaluate Your Options

Many MBA consultants offer free initial meetings for students to gauge their services. Take advantage of these initial consultations and ask plenty of questions! How many years of experience do they have? What’s their professional background? What’s their success rate? Their strategy for teaching students? What does their consultation process look like and how long does it take? Make sure the service you eventually choose matches your expectations and needs. Think of the initial consultation as a job interview where you are the interviewer. Grill them on their professional services and how they operate. Top consulting services will be able to answer all your questions without issue.

An MBA essay consultant can be your secret to success when applying to prestigious MBA programs. MBA essay consulting may not be the best choice for everyone, but it can be an excellent experience for students who want to improve their writing and communication skills or created a well-rounded MBA application to start their graduate degree off right. If you decide to invest in an MBA essay consultant, it’s best to start looking now and get started on your MBA essay writing early.

MBA essay consultants coach students on writing winning admission essays for MBA programs. MBA program admissions are well-known to be highly competitive and a well-crafted essay counts for a large part of your overall application.

An MBA essay consultant isn’t necessary for everyone, but they can make a huge difference for students who struggle with writing, international students or applicants who need to add an edge to their application.

MBA consultants charge anywhere from a few hundred for more basic services to over $10,000 for all-inclusive, comprehensive packages. Prices can add up quickly, but for simple MBA essay consulting, prices can be more reasonable.

MBA essay consultants help guide students on writing excellent MBA admissions essays, including planning structuring and editing your essay. They can also provide feedback on your writing and help you to brainstorm the personal anecdotes you’ll include in the essay.

Hire an MBA essay consultant if you want to offset weaknesses in other parts of your application or you generally struggle with writing. It’s also best to hire an MBA essay as early as possible, so you have the time you need to draft, write and revise your essay before the application deadline.

The internet offers plenty of MBA consultants with varying services. You can also ask your professors, university faculty or your college advisor for recommendations.

Finding the best MBA essay consultant can be tricky, but you want to evaluate your options based on price, services offered and the professional background of the consultants. Take advantage of free initial consultations and be sure to ask plenty of questions before you sign on.

Yes, there are services that offer to write your MBA admissions essay for you, but this is not a good idea. Admissions committees want to hear your genuine voice in your essay, and it will be clear to them during the admissions interview if you are not the same person who wrote your admissions essay.

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