- Initial call or meeting with student and parents. During this free consultation, we’ll discuss expectations (what you can expect from me and what I expect of the student and parents); timeline; and goals.
- Brainstorming. After the student has completed a series of brainstorming exercises, we’ll work together to uncover themes and patterns that will lead to a topic and outline for the personal statement essay. This typically takes 1-2 sessions.
- Drafting. We’ll talk through an outline and the student will begin producing drafts and we’ll get together to talk through what’s working and what’s not. The number of sessions and drafts is uniquely dependent on the student (not, their writing ability per se but, rather, how much time and thought they put into the effort).
- Refining. Once the student is confident in the story they’re telling, we typically move to working online, sending drafts back and forth via Google docs. This tends to be a faster process than drafting, but, again, the amount of time will vary based on the student’s attention to the work.
“Lisa provided essay coaching to both of our children through their undergraduate college applications and they were both accepted by their top choices. I really appreciated Lisa’s way of helping them structure the approach to the essays, which helped streamline the process and increased their confidence. I highly recommend Lisa’s services.”
—Ellen