Crafting the college essay that only YOU can write.

I help students create compelling college essays that reflect their unique voices and experiences by tapping into their creativity and treating them like the main character of their own story.

My Approach to College Application Essays

Most students do not learn how to write a college application essay in school. Then, senior year, they are called upon to write what could be the most important essay of their life with very little training. That pressure and lack of preparation can make it challenging for them to put forth their best work. I alleviate that stress and guide them towards their truest expression of themselves. I firmly believe that a student’s own voice is what should come through in their writing, not mine or any other adult’s. My goal is to help teens compose essays that only they could write.

In a recent article on writing standout college application essays, my approach was recognized for helping students brainstorm unique topics and shape their experiences into compelling personal statements that highlight their individuality. I help them mine their own experiences for potential essay topics and shape them into unique and memorable personal statements that will allow admissions committees to view your child as a human being rather than a data set of grades, extracurriculars, and test scores. I do this through a process that I call writing a “character-driven” essay - where the student is the main character of their own story, where they can describe moments of change and self-reflection, demonstrating their growth as a person and their maturity and readiness for a university setting.

Sometimes this work takes the form of brainstorming help, interviewing a student to draw out the specific details necessary to make an essay pop, providing constructive feedback on grammar and composition, or sharing other resources to read/watch and review as examples of what they are trying to accomplish. It also means taking a big-picture view of the application and what the student is trying to get across to schools about who they are and who they hope to become through their college experience.

My Approach to Creative Writing and Homework

For other creative pursuits, I help students learn story structure and craft to bring their vision to life on the page, giving them confidence to trust their instincts and pursue their ideas, and providing them with techniques and tools that will help them in the future, whether it is for school assignments or their own passion projects.

For homework/essay support, I help them learn how to argue and defend their ideas in persuasive or literary analysis essays. I help them to read more critically and find examples within a work of literature to support their thesis statements, and to learn to draw connections and conclusions from what they are reading, increasing their media literacy.

Writing can be very daunting to people, but learning how to express yourself through your words is empowering, and it’s a skill that will help students in multiple areas as they go through life - applying for internships and jobs, communicating in relationships, and beyond. Different students have different needs - we will find what works best for your child.

What Clients are Saying

Some of the schools I have helped students gain acceptance to include Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Duke, GW, Indiana, Washington University in St. Louis, NYU, Emerson, UCLA, UC Irvine, and Trinity.

  • Working with Melissa made a huge difference! While I had ideas about what stories I wanted to tell in my business school applications, she helped me draw out the qualities I was trying to demonstrate from my internship and work experience to show schools what kind of person I am, and what kind of student/classmate I would be. Her edits clarified my initial ideas and showed me in the best possible light as someone who would benefit from a business school education.

    - Zach S., student

    Melissa’s services allowed me to properly articulate my experiences in my UC application essays and got me into UC Irvine. She was particularly helpful in organizing my essays. She helped me understand how to structure the essays in a way that demonstrates good character and focuses my experiences on myself. I personally had Melissa help me transfer after not successfully entering university by myself as a freshman, so the difference in application results is a testament to the value of what she does.

    - Eddie S., student

  • Melissa was fundamental in my college application process. Her writing advice and guidance allowed me to curate an essay that was both personal and strategic. The essay gave insight into my maturity and growth through hardships, while effortless bringing key points full circle throughout. My time spent with Melissa was incredibly helpful and I couldn’t recommend her more to other college applicants writing their college essays!

    - McKayla P., student

  • I cannot recommend Melissa highly enough! Her expertise in crafting compelling essays was invaluable during my application process for Physician Assistant school. From our very first meeting, she was incredibly supportive and attentive, taking the time to understand my background and aspirations.

    Her guidance transformed my initial ideas into a powerful narrative that truly showcased my passion and dedication to the field. She provided insightful feedback and helped me refine my writing, ensuring every word resonated with the admissions committee. Her encouragement kept me motivated, and her genuine belief in my potential boosted my confidence.

    Thanks to her meticulous approach and unwavering support, I submitted an essay that I was truly proud of. I’m thrilled to say that I was accepted into the program! If you’re looking for an adviser who is not only knowledgeable but also deeply committed to your success, look no further. She’s an absolute gem in the college application process!

    - Jillian R., student

  • 10+ Years of Experience

    Dedicated to helping students achieve their academic and personal goals

  • Community Advocate

    Passionate about empowering young voices and fostering educational equity

  • 200+ Students Served

    Guiding each one to express their unique story and achieve their college dreams

What I Offer

I am available for one-on-one Zoom sessions across the country, and for in-person sessions in Manhattan. I have worked with children anywhere from elementary school to high school age. I can work privately with students, or we can do small group sessions.

We can work on projects such as:

  • College/prep school application essays

  • Filling out the Common App

  • Homework assignments

  • Persuasive/literary essay writing skills

  • Creative writing - for school, for contests, for pleasure

  • General writing coaching and improvement

We can work for one hour to polish a draft, or for as many hours as it takes to get an essay or a story into shape. We can determine a set number of hours for a project and expand if necessary. We can also do ongoing coaching where we work on homework or creative writing and continue to build skills like organization, grammar, voice, tone, self-editing, and more.

Ultimately, it’s up to you and your child’s needs. Please feel free to book a consultation to discuss further.

About Me

I am an award-winning writer with an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, as well as an undergraduate degree in Radio/TV/Film and History from Northwestern University. I have over a decade of college admissions experience: mentoring teens during their college applications process through nonprofit Minds Matter NYC, reviewing applications under consideration for undergraduate admissions as a reader for NYU, and working as a college admissions consultant.

Concurrent with and beyond my time at VCFA, I worked as a writing instructor for Writopia, an NYC-based nonprofit that teaches creative and essay writing to children and teens, and taught Hebrew school at several Manhattan synagogues. My extensive teaching experience, my masters degree specifically aimed at writing for children & young adults, and my admissions work both inside and outside universities make me uniquely suited to help teens with their college essays, and to work with children of all ages on their creative and essay writing skills.

Get in Touch!

I’d love to chat with you about how I can help with your college essays. Book a free 1:1 consultation, and we’ll go over your goals and see how my coaching can support you.

FAQ

  • It depends on the goal. For essay generation, early sessions can feel like an interview, drawing out details and anecdotes that might be useful for topics and brainstorming. Later it will involve helping shape writing into a coherent narrative, whether it is an essay or a creative work. Finally, one the story is clear, we can focus on grammar and polishing writing to complete a draft.

  • I have worked as an admissions consultant, and there are many companies that offer full-service guidance on the application. They will help you choose an essay topic and outline it, and they will have professional editors edit them, as well as advise you on where to apply, what schools are targets/reaches/safeties for your child, and they may even tell you what classes and extracurriculars to take and what major to apply to for best chances of admission. I have that experience and can offer some guidance on those topics, but I don’t love that work.

    To be quite honest, my interests and my strengths lie in the essays themselves, and I have not been super impressed with the professional editors at these companies. I spent a lot of time, paid and unpaid, re-editing essays I felt were done shoddily. I would rather spend more time making students’ essays shine and providing a quality service at which I know that I excel than provide a halfway decent service that I don’t enjoy. Those companies are there for families who need them. I love helping students find their voices and figure out how to say what they’re trying to say, about themselves and about the world they live in, and the essays I work with students on reflect that love of the written word.

  • Nothing’s stopping you, but it’s cheating, and your child’s essay will suffer for it. It’s also likely that admissions committees will be able to tell that AI was used, especially if you don’t spend a significant amount of time personalizing what AI spits out - which could end up being more work than writing your own essay in the first place. Artificial Intelligence is built on theft of writers’ labor, and can only approximate humanity. It may churn out a generic essay, but it will have no life in it. The secret sauce in these essays is your child’s personal, one-of-a-kind life experience. Authenticity and individualization are what makes essays memorable. I am so proud that I got into Northwestern and Vermont College of Fine Arts with essays I wrote. Why would you take that accomplishment away from your child, or let them take it away from themselves?

  • Commensurate with my experience, I charge $300 an hour for college application essay work. For younger students, creative writing, and homework assignments, I charge $150 an hour. For small groups, we can discuss pricing that makes sense for all involved.