college essay coaching

Susie Rinehart

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College Essay Coaching

Young people need a mentor and guidance to tackle the toughest part of the college application: the essays..

Even great young writers don’t know how to talk about themselves. That’s where I come in. My goal is for students to write essays that college admissions readers won’t forget, and that stay true to the student’s authentic voice. The whole process is fun, effective, and transformational.

I work 1-on-1 with only a handful of students each year, including a few on need-based scholarship. 

• Parents get to step back and focus on their relationship with their child
• I meet confidentially, 1-on-1, to brainstorm, structure, and fine-tune their essays
• My students discover who they are, what they value, and how to express themselves

Online Bootcamp: How to Write a Great College Essay

Enrolling now a four-part online course that guides you step-by-step in 20+ videos and one 1-on-1 call with me..

I’ve been an award-winning writer and a teacher of writing for 25+ years. As an English teacher and assistant director of the Mountain School of Milton Academy, I taught High School juniors and seniors the art of the personal essay, and oversaw their college application process. I also worked as the director of Where There Be Dragons, an organization dedicated to meaningful travel programs for teens. I am one of those rare people who LOVES teenagers. As a trained personal coach, I know how to interview them to get their best ideas powerfully told on the page. My system includes multiple tools, honed with experience, that they can use in college and beyond to write clearly and persuasively. The top five schools attended by the students I’ve advised are Brown, Middlebury, Yale, Bowdoin, and Cornell.

The Process

Pre-Meeting. Before we meet, I’ll send you a few questions to help me get to know you. This frees us up to dig in immediately when we connect and begin the 3-step process.

• Brainstorming.  This is a no-judgement space. I do a series of interviews and share my favorite tools for finding the story that makes you distinctive. We have fun diving in and uncovering your developing sense of self.
• Structure. With a topic in hand, how do you write in a compelling, focused way? How will this essay stand out from the rest? We work on creating a “storyboard” for each essay. I’ll challenge you to take risks. I’ll teach you how to take something that seems so ordinary, so mundane, and write it so vividly that it ends up extraordinary.
• Fine-Tuning . Plan to write 3-5 drafts. We work together to find the best hook, to end with a “bang” and to get rid of any prose that weighs down the writing. I’ll help you with grammar and spelling to avoid distracting errors. I’ll also provide that outside perspective: does this person come across as curious, open, likable?

Let’s Get Started!

Ready to Get Started?

If you’re curious about college essay coaching, try a session on me book a free 30-minute phone consult to gain instant momentum, and to see if working together is the right fit..

Schedule a Free Consult

I offer a few paths forward:

Standard package (for up to 5 colleges).

This is the worry-free package. It’s a flat rate. I work by phone or in-person, beginning to end, for all essays. You don’t have to count how many hours we work together. And you can trust that I have your back to brainstorm, generate uncommon ideas, create a structure, provide unlimited editing and revision feedback of the personal statement essay (for either the Common Application or the Coalition Application), plus all supplemental essays/questions for up to 5 colleges. Book a free 30 min consult to get started. $2,549

Personal Statement/Core Essay

This essay is the toughest because colleges are looking for insight into who this applicant really is in 650 words. It requires reflection, perspective, and a unique angle. The open-ended prompts are overwhelming: “share your story” “what makes you unique?” My system breaks the mountain of writing down into small hills and gives support for the three main steps: 1. Brainstorm 2. Structure 3. Fine tune. Book a free 30 min consult to get started. $949

Supplemental Essays (under 500 words)

For Returning Clients Only

These essays are shorter, but they need to be of the same quality as the core essay. Each school asks for 2-3 of these. Done well, these responses can pull an applicant out of the ‘Maybe’ pile and into the ‘Yes’ pile. $315

Review of Finished Essay

A close look at a polished draft from an outside, experienced perspective. This is to catch grammatical errors, flow, and to help find the best hook and the most powerful ending. Book a free 30 min consult to get started. $150/hour

By popular demand, I’ve added services:

Comprehensive college advising package .

Cover all the bases; Don’t miss a detail. One-on-one coaching every step of the way on all aspects of the college application process. Reserves your spot in my calendar (get first pick of coveted meeting times). Saves you money and includes the packages listed below. Book a free 30 min consult to see if this package is right for you. $5549

Find Your Path: Major/Career Coaching 

For any student who wants clarity on who they are, what they want to do, and where they want to go. One-on-one coaching on finding a college major and potential career path based on 25 years experience guiding high school students on their values, interests, and strengths. Book a free 30 min consult to see if this is the right package for you. $549

Make the Match: Build a Custom College List 

Identify the best-fit schools and d iscover programs you may never have heard of before. Strategize for family budget considerations. Build a custom, balanced list that emphasizes fit, plus complete the common app profile and learn how to m ake the most of college visits. This can be done as a 2-day intensive to use momentum to motivate through overwhelm. Book a free 30 min consult to see if this package is right for you. $1849

On Track & On Time Complete Application Support

Don’t miss a deadline!  Soup-to-nuts application support for all colleges on your list. Strategize for scholarships . Develop supplemental essays that stand out (this package includes brainstorm & design of supp. essays but not editing or fine tuning). T rack all school requirements and Honors’ program needs. Learn best practices for communication with coaches and department heads. Grow self-advocacy skills for on-campus accommodation or support services, if needed. Book a free 30 min consult to see if this package is right for you. $2549

Tips for Navigating Uncertainty  

Sign up here for FREE resources. NO Spam. No spam. As my gift to you, I’m sending over my “7 Steps to Overcome Perfectionism.”

• A Short Guide to Being a Friend in a Crisis
• 6 Steps to Reclaim Your Voice
• How to Thrive in a Crisis
• 7 Steps to Overcoming Perfectionism

There’s No One Like You. We’ll Help You Prove It.

Our 1-on-1 essay coaching will make your application impossible to ignore. 98% of Prompt students get into one or more of their top-choice colleges.

• Get started
• See how it works

Prompt is the highest rated and most recommended essay coaching company.

• Half of Prompt students are applying to one or more Ivy or Ivy-equivalent colleges.
• Half of Prompt students are applying to every other college - selective privates, competitive publics and everywhere else.
• Gifted writers and struggling writers.
• Highly motivated and unmotivated.
• Go-getters and procrastinators.
• English learners. International. LGBTQ+. Learning disabilities.
• Athletes. Musicians. Thespians. Makers. Debaters.

Let’s make your admission essay impossible to ignore.

Your essays – what you say and how you say it – will set you apart from the tens of thousands of academically similar applicants, increasing your admissions chances by 10x. See the data.

We have the perfect Writing Coach for your student.

We hire the top 2% of coaches.

• Our coaches go through a rigorous training and evaluation process. Only 2% make it through to become coaches – i.e., it's far more difficult to become a Prompt Coach than to get accepted at any college.
• Our coaches are Prompt employees, each spending 100s of hours coaching students on college applications and essays every year.
• Every coach is trained on and follows the Prompt coaching method, proven to get your student accepted at their top choice colleges.
• Our coaches operate as a team. They often communicate with each other to further improve their coaching skills and discuss specific essays.
• Every coach has completed their undergraduate degree, and many have master's degrees, such as a Master of Fine Arts. Many attended top programs, such as Ivy and Ivy-equivalent colleges.
• Our coaches have varying backgrounds, such as playwrights, freelance writers, journalists, authors, educators, and researchers.
• We match your student to a coach by considering how your student's college list, personality, and ambitions match with the coach's interests, background, and personality.

People ask, "What's the biggest value Prompt provides?" Compelling content. Clear writing. Accountability.

1. developing your personal brand..

We help you tie your most compelling content into a cohesive narrative that relates to the 5 Traits Colleges Look For in Applicants: drive, intellectual curiosity, initiative, contribution, and diversity of experiences.

2. Identifying what to write about for every part of the application.

We help you brainstorm compelling content, match content to each part of each application (essays, activities lists, additional information, portfolios), and outline your writing for each part.

3. Making your ideas concise and compelling.

We help you identify how to shorten your writing (usually by 40-60%). Word count is at a premium. And being concise will help you fit in more content, providing a clearer picture of why you are extraordinary.

4. Making your writing clear.

We help you structure your essays and write in ways that admissions officers will easily understand. Admissions officers only spend an average of 8 minutes per application. So being clear and easy to read is critical.

5. Holding you accountable.

Procrastination is the #1 cause of not being accepted. Over 90% of students scramble to complete their essays, submitting their applications within 48 hours of the deadline. Prompt holds you accountable to the timeline you agreed upon.

We make completing your essays simple and low-stress.

• You agree on a timeline with your Student Success Manager, who keeps you on track to finish early.
• You work with your Writing Coach, who provides expert support through video calls and written feedback as you plan, write, revise, and complete every part of your essays.
• You submit your applications early and with confidence.

Here’s what Prompt looks like for a typical student.

Together, we'll make your story shine.

Prompt Satisfaction Guarantee

1-on-1 essay coaching, what you get with our 1-on-1 coaching.

• Your own support team: Student Success Manager and Writing Coach
• Access to Prompt’s platform to simplify the process
• A personalized timeline to fit your schedule
• Coaching on every written part of your applications
• Get as many video calls and reviews as you need to feel confident

Coaching options based on your needs

Common app bootcamp.

Group sessions for the Common App.

• Two 90-minute sessions for planning and writing your Common App Essay or personal statement.
• Two rounds of written feedback on your drafts.

Not sure which coaching option to select?

What our 10,000s of students and parents have to say.

Prove no one is like you.

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• Free Resources

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

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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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Julie Frank

College application essay coach

Hi, I’m Julie Frank, college application essay coach and author of CRUSHING THE COMMON APP ESSAY: A Foolproof Guide to Getting into Your Top College (SparkNotes, 2018).

With warmth, humor, and rigor, I guide students as they brainstorm ideas, craft a story, and reveal the unique value they will bring to their college campus, resulting in an authentic, meaningful, moving essay written in the student’s own voice.

Students I’ve coached have been accepted at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Penn, Columbia, Brown, MIT, Georgetown, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Amherst, Northwestern, Vassar, Michigan, NYU, and 100 more colleges and universities.

If you would like to attend my free, virtual, 45-minute crash course on How to Write the Common App Essay, please email me to receive a list of available dates and times.

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Jane Parris

Transforming students 
into vibrant, fearless writers.

College Essay Coaching

In test-optional college admissions, your essays are more powerful than ever.

I coach students to craft memorable essays that capture attention .

Table of Contents

The new power of college essays

Why work with a college essay coach, what exactly does “college essay” mean, what are your qualifications, what is your essay coaching process like, can you help me brainstorm and choose topics, can you edit my writing, what if i’m a weak writer can you help me with the actual writing, can you help me write a college essay that will get me into harvard, princeton, duke, etc, when should i start writing my essays, activities list, and supplements.

As more and more high-achieving students compete for the same number of places at selective colleges, essays command greater importance every year. Faced with thousands of qualified applicants with high GPAs and advanced coursework, college admissions must look beyond your academic transcript to decide which students to accept.

Back in 2011, The New York Times op-ed “The Almighty Essay” reported that the college essay outweighed a student’s GPA as a decisive factor among the most selective schools. Today, with test scores optional at the majority of colleges and universities, your essays are an even more persuasive piece of your application .

That might sound like more pressure, but it’s actually a fantastic advantage . With the right guidance, you can craft essays that capture your most vibrant qualities — defining you as someone your admissions reader wants to personally welcome to campus.

You already have the stories to do that! Read on below for how an essay coach helps you choose, develop, and layer those stories throughout your application .

“On top of all my offers, I was awarded a combined total of $348,000 in merit-based scholarships! There is no doubt in my mind that my essay helped me get into these schools, and I could not be happier with the opportunity and choice it has provided me with. Thank you, Jane!”

Avery Grinnell College, class of 2023

Most high school students today are at a disadvantage. They’ve learned to write argumentative and analytical papers, but they have very little or no experience writing personal narrative .

A college essay is not an academic paper. There’s no trusty 5-paragraph formula. And it isn’t just any personal essay. Only a handful of students are lucky enough to have an English teacher who assigns a practice college essay. And most college counselors simply do not have time to provide the detailed feedback students need to craft standout essays , line by line, draft by draft.

With the guidance of a college essay coach, students learn to select compelling, uncommon essay topics . They compose a unique personal statement that captures who they are . They develop a vibrant activities list that conveys personality, values, quirks, and impact. And they write exceptional supplemental essays that make them distinctive, memorable applicants for each school.

The written sections of the application are extremely powerful in helping students earn the attention and recognition they’ve worked so hard for. A college essay coach ensures that all those essays (long and short) enhance the student’s applications overall.

“Jane is adept at helping young people discover and compose unique personal stories that stand out on the college admissions desk. Her work with our students has been tremendous.”

Sylvia Rozwadowska-Shah President, Cogito World Education

The term “college essay” is frequently used to mean “personal statement” — the main essay required by virtually all colleges and universities.

Actually, “college essay” now means ALL types of writing for college applications. That includes (deep breath!) supplemental essays, short responses, the COVID section, Additional Information section, scholarship and honors program essays, and especially the Activities and Honors sections of the Common Application and Coalition Application.

It also(!) includes the Personal Insight (PIQ) essays on the UC application, the UCAS personal statement for UK schools, and even letters of continued interest (LOCI) for deferrals and waitlists.

Each piece of written content is an opportunity to vividly define yourself to college admissions officers. Each piece calls for a little something different. An essay coach makes these fine distinctions clear and achievable.

I’m a seasoned essay coach with over 12 years of experience. From 2010 to 2018, I taught classes on writing the college essay in Phillips Exeter Academy’s pre-college program. I’ve reviewed admissions folders not only at Exeter but for several consulting agencies, and I’ve coached private clients since 2008.

As your coach, I am a passionate advocate for you every step of the way. I invest in learning who you are as a person, student, and applicant. I help you discover how to highlight your unique strengths and personality – to get you noticed by every school on your list! Finally, I use my insider’s knowledge of the admissions process to help you stay calm, informed, and optimistic throughout the process.

My process is simple and flexible. We meet virtually, and we work together via shared Google documents. I ask questions, listen intently, and read your work closely. I give  clear feedback to guide you through each stage of writing – on your main essay, and on every other essay you have to write. I also check in weekly, by email and text, keeping you focused, on track, and excited.

Every student is unique, so my coaching will be a little different for everyone. I will guide you through brainstorming and topic selection, rough drafts and revisions, to polishing your final drafts for submission.

Absolutely! Brainstorming and topic selection is a critically important stage of the process. Most students tend to rush this stage, stressing about early deadlines. I help you to relax and choose wisely . To help you generate a list of compelling, uncommon topics, I select special prompts and techniques that will work best for you.

Finally, I guarantee I will NOT let you settle for an ordinary, so-so essay. We’ll work together until we find the topics that strengthen your applications.

Yes! The word “edit” can be slippery, though. I give you detailed feedback and guidance on each line, each draft. I suggest where you can clarify an idea, add detail or context. I point out clichés, contradictions, bumpy grammar, and missing words. I help you trim unnecessary words, and make sure you submit clean, glorious, error-free essays.

However, I do not “correct” or rewrite your sentences for you. I don’t write opening lines, or closing lines, or any lines in between. Your finished essays will be shining, distinctive statements of who you are – written by you , not me.

Every year, I have students who tell me “I’m not a good writer” or even “I’m a terrible writer”—and they produce beautiful essays that get noticed .

Some essay advisors edit your writing aggressively. They change your actual words, rewrite your paragraphs, and polish away your unique voice. That is a HUGE mistake. Admissions officers can spot a “professional job” – and they don’t like it. If they suspect that Mom or Dad or somebody else wrote your essay, it puts your application at serious risk. Every piece of writing in a successful application sounds like YOU, the authentic voice of a thoughtful high school senior — not a professional adult writer.

Nope! I cannot guarantee you will be accepted into your dream school. No honest person who works in the field of college admissions can, should, or will give you that guarantee. (If anyone makes you promises like that, you should immediately cease contact. Seriously.)

I DO guarantee that:

I will help you find those elusive, one-of-a-kind, killer essay topics.

I will give feedback that is both enthusiastic and honest, even if it means you need to take a step back and rethink your approach.

I will keep you on track and optimistic. You can do this!

We will polish your essays until we both feel satisfied and eager to put them out into the world!

Year after year, my students are accepted into top-ranked colleges and universities because every part of their applications was a strong, vibrant reflection of who they are and what they can do in life. My students deserve the acceptances they get mostly because they’ve worked hard, but I’m very proud to have helped them present themselves in the smartest, most distinctive ways possible on their applications. I look forward to doing the same for you!

Many students reach out to me in June or July to start brainstorming topics for their main essay. I advise students to begin writing in August, and have a first or second draft of their personal statement completed in September. I suggest you also begin supplemental and additional essays around then, along with your activities list.

If you’re a little behind that timeline, don’t panic! Every year, I help students get back on track.

And if you’re ahead in the process – like, you’ve already written a draft, or already submitted an early application – that’s awesome! I work with students at all stages of their application writing.

You can book a free consultation at any time of the year. I’m always glad to answer questions, help you plan a schedule, and share advice.

I just got my acceptances to UCLA, Boston University, and George Washington! Your guidance on my essays definitely played into those outcomes. Thank you so much!

Let's connect! Schedule a free call with me today.

I love meeting new students and their families. A 60-minute consultation is completely free and confidential – and there's no commitment. Let's find out if I'm the right teacher and coach for you.

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Effective. Personalized. Comprehensive.

The Writing Nook is an experienced application writing business that provides professional assistance with all your college, professional, and graduate writing needs. From scholarships to resumes, let us help you bring your words to life!

Our Services

We offer personalized coaching, comprehensive resources, and asynchronous consulting to propel your writing to the next level. Choose what works best for you!

Speed & Quality

Flexibility & Care

Better Storytelling

1-on-1 Coaching

Tailored 1-on-1 coaching to help you bring your ideas to life. In these sessions, we'll brainstorm, discuss strategy, and improve your writing quality. 

On-Demand Essay Editing

If you only need edits or comments on your draft, this is the service for you. All reviews are returned in less than one week.

Books and More

If you're looking for additional resources to help you become a better writer or understand the college application process, check out our books and more!

Courses and Guides

Coming Soon!

New Book Release!

This book is a writing tool that can be used at any stage during your application process. The activities aim to get you in the habit of getting your thoughts out of your head, on paper, and refined. So, if you are applying to college in one year or have 100 days to submit your medical school application, open the book and get started!

All-In-One Workbook

Write at your own pace

Explore your ideas

What Our Clients Say

"Thank you so much for all your help! When I started working with you, I used all this excessive language thinking it made my writing sound deep but you helped me see the value in clear, creative writing that 'shows and doesn’t tell'". Thank you!!

- Student accepted to multiple Ivy League universities

"I was just accepted off the waitlist and will be attending next year. I wanted to let you know because you are amazing and you and your assistance helped me so much."

- Student accepted to their top choice public university

- Student accepted to selective public university

"I just wanted to thank you for all of your help through the application process. I am attending my top choice school this fall for Biomedical Engineering and you were a big part in that happening. I’m appreciative of all of your help and advice and I am grateful that I had you to help me out with all my essays".

We're excited to introduce The Writing Nook! We are passionate about empowering others to find their writing voice and want to offer our services to help others reach their higher education goals. Our services include one-on-one writing sessions, guided workbooks, and editing services to help with the final touches. We believe everyone has a unique story to tell, and we're here to help bring those stories to life. We're committed to providing a supportive and encouraging environment where everyone can feel free to express themselves through writing.

We look forward to helping our clients find joy in writing while bringing them one step closer to the school or profession of their dreams. Reach out today and let's get started!

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Julie Gerstenblatt

College Essay Coaching

Confused about where to start  feeling stuck don't panic  email me what i do.

Writing your college essay can be a daunting task. These 650 words or less – your personal statement to colleges – will be one of the most important pieces of writing you’ve done in your life up until this point. Um, feeling nervous? Under pressure? You betcha. You don’t have to face a blank page alone. I am here to coach you through it. ​

​Helping students write their college essay is one of my absolute favorite things to do.  I'm serious!  I was an English teacher for many years, and I'm also a published author and essayist, so I have experience as both a writer and as an educator. I believe this makes me uniquely qualified to coach students in the art and craft of essay writing. 

As your personal writing coach and tutor, I can help you with as much or as little as you need. My services include packages and individual hourly sessions that focus on: ​

Brainstorming possible topics from your life experiences

Mining stories that best illustrate who you are

Helping you narrow down Common Application and/or Coalition essay questions to find the best fit for you

Drafting that first draft

Revising at all stages, from rough first draft, to solid second draft, to deeper third draft to the final polished piece

Editing existing essays and helping you identify what works and strengthen what does not

Enjoying the writing process (I’m not kidding)

Growing your skills as a writer, so that you can take what you’ve learned and apply it to future essay writing

Helping you craft great short essays for specific school prompts

Julie’s help was instrumental in relieving the stress and insecurity that the college application process can bring

MOTHER OF BARRINGTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT

College Essay Writing Tips

Start Early

Good writing takes time. Start working on your college essay during the summer before your senior year, if you can.

Read It Out Loud

Listening to yourself reading your essay aloud will help you understand what is clear and what is confusing.

Forget About It

After working on a draft, put it away for a while. Come back to it with fresh eyes a few days (or a week) later; once you have some distance you’ll be a better judge of your work.

Don't Be Boring

Don’t start with the end in mind, write to find out what you actually have to say. Let your writing surprise and inspire you.

Get Feedback

A trusted friend, sibling, or parent can help you figure out what you want to say and help you be authentic because they know you so well.

Cut, Cut, Cut

You only have 650 words for the Common App essay. Make them say just what you want. You may “love” the words, but you need to be ruthless as an editor.

Tune in to this podcast for more insights about me, tips, and tricks of the trade!

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College Essay Coaching

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Our team of college essay experts is available to help with every aspect of the essay process, from brainstorming to final drafts, from the Common Application to essays for as many schools as you desire.

All one-on-one essay coaching sessions will be held remotely via Zoom. Mindfish essay coaches also spend time reading and commenting on drafts between meetings with students. This asynchronous work, like the one-on-one meetings themselves, is deducted from the total number of hours in our essay coaching packages as we go.

• Essay Coaching Package * Essay Review & Planning Meeting: $199 ($100 credited to future essay program) Personal Statement + 2 Supplemental Essays (up to 8 hours coaching): $1199 All Essays for Up to 5 Schools (up 20 hours coaching): $2699
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Description

College application essay coaching, perfect your college application essays with the help of mindfish’s experienced writing coaches..

• Identify a unique, compelling topic to write about
• Sharpen and focus the essay’s central theme or idea
• Create an effective organization and structure
• Get more in-touch with their authentic voice and writing style
• Incorporate striking descriptive or narrative elements
• Avoid common essay flaws, clichés and traps

What is Mindfish’s essay coaching process like?

Supportive, highly individualized, and efficient. If students already have a draft, we can start by reviewing their draft. If they need help generating topic ideas, we can start there instead. From deciding on the central idea or theme, we work through multiple drafts from the big picture to the finer details, considering narrative, organization, voice, detail, syntax, diction, and more. The end product is a fully-developed, one-of-a-kind essay that tells the student’s story with skill and authenticity .  It’s vital that students have authorship and ownership over their own writing, so we do not ever write essays for students. Instead, a writing coach works as a mix of a tutor and an editor, reflecting what he or she reads in the student’s work, asking questions, offering guidance, and helping students approach their writing from new perspectives.

What essay coaching packages are available?

We offer a number of essay coaching packages at different levels of student support:

• $199 for one-hour review/consult meeting ($100 credited to future essay coaching program)
• $1199 Personal Statement + 2 Supplemental Essays (Up to 8 hours of essay coaching focused on Common App or Coalition App)
• $2699 “All Essays for Up to Five Schools”  (up to 20 hours or essay coaching)

Essay coaching packages include both one-on-one Zoom meetings between tutor and student and an ongoing, asynchronous dialogue between sessions. Between meetings, Mindfish essay coaches will spend time reading essay drafts and sharing feedback via Google docs. Live Zoom meetings and time spent on drafts between meetings are both counted towards the total number of hours in our essay programs.

“Personal Statement + 2 Supplemental Essays” package

“All Essays for Up to 5 Schools” package

Interested? Have further questions?

Please contact us by email at [email protected] or by phone at 720-204-1041 to learn more.

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College Essay Coaches

We empower students to achieve more than they imagine possible., we reduce the anxiety families feel  throughout the college application process..

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The Common Application

Personal statements, supplemental essays, interview preparation, resumés.

Welcome to College Essay Coaches

Whether you are a student or a parent, you have found a supportive space to guide you and your family through the complete college essay writing process from the 650 word personal statement, to supplemental essays, and beyond.

Our success stories include students who are accepted—and thrive—at universities across the U.S. including UC Berkeley, University of Michigan, Emory, Northeastern, NYU, Villanova and many more.

Our key is that we reduce stress so that the entire family feels nurtured while students are free to express themselves and discover their own voice. Yes, our students have an impressive roster of acceptances, but even more significant to us at College Essay Coaches, is that our students find their confidence and take pride in their work.

We customize the college process for each applicant. At our initial, one-on-one intake meeting, we brainstorm ideas by providing writing prompts to determine what is important to each student.

What do you think about the world around you? What inspires you? What makes you laugh? Cry?

We distill the most poignant and meaningful moments in our students' lives that result in impactful and powerful essays — in their own words.

From there, we design individualized plans to get essays completed before deadline. We create a sense of freedom and ease around writing.  One caveat: Expect to laugh a lot!

Click Here For A Complete List Of Services

Why Choose Us

Our founder, Renee Rosen, with a formidable background in documentary filmmaking, media and international development, knows how to craft a story. Through the proven College Essay Coaching process, Renee draws the most meaningful and salient stories out of college applicants.

Renee holds a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University, and an additional Masters degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution from NYU, where she studied identity politics and dispute resolution. This unique combination of studies and practical application have prepared Renee perfectly for the investigative process into telling each student's story... and establishing a peaceful and conflict-free environment throughout the process.

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Stories of Success

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How To Get Started

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Students complete the essay process feeling truly accomplished.  Their greatest takeaway is what seemed improbable, and daresay impossible, is not only achievable but can be inspiring and fun.

Get college essay feedback from top writing coaches in 48 hours

Essays are more than words. they're thinking. they're content. starting now helps you identify content gaps, while there’s still time to fill them., prompt is the world's most respected and fastest-growing college essay coaching and feedback company. sign up for coaching or use our free resources., strong essays increase your chances of acceptance up to 10 times as compared with others with a similar academic profile..

Essay coaching options

We offer all-inclusive packages, individual reviews, and free resources.

• Multiple video coaching calls
• Multiple reviews of each draft
• Personal Writing Coach
• Help on every essay (e.g., Common App Essay, supplements)
• Personalized timing and nudges to ensure you finish early
• Get a detailed review of any personal statement (e.g., Common App) or school supplement
• One of our Coaches will help you improve your essay's content, structure, and clarity

More than proofreading

A Prompt coach can help you plan your essay and provide written feedback.

• Plan your writing with video calls
• Receive detailed feedback, nearly an hour of a coach's time per review
• Ensure your writing is compelling, engaging, and well-structured

What families think about Prompt

Prompt is the largest and fastest-growing college essay coaching company in the world. work with us., how many essays do you need to write.

Select the types of schools you're applying to, and we'll give you an estimate based on our work with tens of thousands of families.

Who are our Writing Coaches?

An exclusive team of playwrights, journalists, educators, and authors! All of our Coaches have an undergrad degree and the majority have an advanced degree from a competitive university.

Our acceptance rate is less than 2%. You are more than twice as likely to be accepted to your top school than to join our writing team.

Coaches go through our proprietary training and evaluation process based on our collective experience reviewing more than 100,000 essays.

The Journey to Great Essays

Like a good ad, people remember how a story makes them feel , beyond what is said. This big idea differentiates the student and connects with the reader. Writing is a life skill that can be fun!

- Founded in 2004

College Planning Steps

Imagine a blank piece of paper... filling in the story begins by defining the characters and making them memorable

The essay process involves:

Planning high school classes and summer programs

Preparing for the ACT writing section and standardized test prep

Creating the resume of activities, community service, and work

Practicing for interviews with admissions and alumni representatives

Developing the college list and application strategies 

Photograph Credit to Paul Boisvert for The Chronicle of Higher Education, April, 2007

Why Have an Essay Coach for Prep School, College, and Grad School? My Four-Step Methodology:

One-on-one guidance and a fresh, professional perspective to help organize the student's thoughts in a structural framework to write college essays, prepare for the ACT essay and standardized tests, and practice admissions/alumni interview prep.

Step 1: Piece of Paper

The blank sheet of paper with a question asks you to write something interesting about yourself.

How do you feel about getting started to write your college essay? Is this an opportunity to reflect your creativity and shine, or a dreaded chore? The truth is, the essay represents your last chance to significantly improve your chances of getting into your first-choice school.

Step 3: The Outline

Developing the outline for your essay helps your organize your ideas to tell a story. The outline is a fast and easy way to get your thoughts on paper. It is important for you to feel that you are starting to make immediate progress towards writing your essay.

In fact, I refer to the outline as "talking points" that intersect talking and writing.

Step 2: The Big Idea

When you go to a restaurant and the menu has too many choices, do you become overwhelmed and tend to order exactly what you selected before (“I’ll have the usual”), or do you pause and think about something that captures your attention and try something new? Similarly, when selecting a topic to write about, think of it as your chance to illustrate a BIG idea.

Step 4: The Essay

Writing your essay helps you give personality and meaning to your BIG idea, which answers the essay question. However, your BIG idea can not stand alone without a structure that supports the main purpose. All supporting elements should be persuasive and focused in illustrating your thoughts.

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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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Become college-ready with virtual coaching

• Tuesday, April 16, 2024
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Liz Yaddof, Virtual College Coaching coordinator

College applications. Financial aid deadlines. Changing rules and information. It can definitely be overwhelming at times for any Iowa student looking to prepare for college. But with Virtual College Coaching , students and families can receive fast, easy assistance for their tough questions about college readiness and stay on track for important timelines and next steps.

Virtual College Coaching is an innovative practice that provides Iowa students and parents with text messaging and one-on-one assistance with important college preparation topics, such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), scholarships, upcoming deadlines, among others.

Department of Education team member, Liz Yaddof, who is the Virtual College Coaching coordinator in the Bureau of Iowa College Aid, shares how the program helps students prepare for postsecondary success.

With significant changes to the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, students and families may have a lot of questions about applying for financial aid. How can Virtual College Coaching help and who is eligible to sign up for coaching assistance?

Virtual College Coaching is a great resource for students and families as they navigate their way through the college-going process. The main component of Virtual College Coaching is a texting campaign that provides individualized messages for Iowa high school students in grades 9-12, college students and parents. Through Virtual College Coaching, we can send out alerts on FAFSA, upcoming scholarships, important deadlines, next steps and how we can help with the process.

We know that the rollout of the updated FAFSA application has brought in more questions, and we’re here to help guide students and families with the process. Data show that completing the FAFSA is one of the key indicators of enrollment at the postsecondary level, so it remains a top priority for our college coaches to assist in this process.  

Through Virtual College Coaching, our text messages and alerts are tailored for each of our audiences. Students will receive alerts based on their grade level, and parents will receive messages that are slightly different from what students receive. Through this customization, we can ensure that students and their families are receiving important and relevant information on financial aid for college.

As you mentioned, Virtual College Coaching isn’t just for high school students. How does it assist students attending college and other postsecondary programs?

Yes! Iowa college students can also benefit from the Virtual College Coaching and can receive assistance throughout their entire college career. Anyone can sign up to receive assistance, but many participants are recipients of the Last Dollar Scholarship program.

Along with help with completing the FAFSA and scholarship applications, they receive helpful tips on how to navigate college in general, what student resources are available on their campuses and where to find things like mental health counseling or tutoring assistance.

Virtual College Coaching was launched in 2019 and has seen growth each year. How many Iowa students are participating in the program?

Currently, we have 365 Iowa high school students signed up for the texting program. Approximately 16,500 college students are participating in Virtual College Coaching. Additionally, a movement to include middle school students is also starting to slowly grow through our GEAR UP Iowa program.

Our goal is to help set up Iowa students for success at the postsecondary level. With timely text messages and assistance, we can ensure students are staying on top of important information.

Sometimes, a student or parent may need one-on-one assistance when applying for financial aid. How does Virtual College Coaching address specific, individualized questions?

Our texting program isn’t run by AI or a bot, and it isn’t just about the Department sending out blanket messages. Students and families can also text in their specific questions on FAFSA, scholarships and deadlines, among other things, to prepare for college. We have three virtual college coaches who are monitoring incoming messages and aim to respond to students and parents within 24-48 hours.

Additionally, our coaches are available for virtual appointments to assist with questions about college. Students and families who have questions on the college-going process, including applying for college and financial aid, are welcome to set up an appointment with a college coach. The coaches can assist students statewide and typically have some night and weekend availability to fit the needs of working families.

Our coaches also attend several FAFSA completion events at schools across the state and provide in-person assistance during those events.

How can students and families sign up for Virtual College Coaching?

It’s easy to sign up for Virtual College Coaching! Visit the Department’s website and answer a few questions to sign up. We would love to see even more students and families join in our texting and virtual coaching program.

Is Autocratic Style Coaching Affect College Athletes In America?

The importance of athletics in college is illustrated by prominent NFL coach Vince Lombardi, who once said, “A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall”. As shown by this quote, college athletics is a significant part of colleges across America and helps fund schools. Morones and Heidt, certified accountants, report that colleges made $13.6 billion in 2022 from NCAA athletics. The NCAA, or National Collegiate Athletic Association, is the organization that organizes athletics on the collegiate level. Colleges are increasingly dependent on their athletic outcomes, as Tina Pamintuan, a professional in public media, finds that a win from one season could generate as much as three million dollars in revenue for colleges. This potential profit highlights the …show more content…

Trine University finds that as NCAA athletics becomes more prominent, more coaches are adopting the autocratic style of coaching. The autocratic coaching style is a ‘my way or the highway’ coaching style, where players often have no input in decisions (Trine University). An increase in autocratic style coaching and economic gain from college athletics brings rise to the question: To what extent does autocratic style coaching affect NCAA athletes in America? An analysis through the social, psychological, and historical lenses shows that autocratic style coaching negatively impacts the social and athletic lives of NCAA athletes in America. Through a social lens, it can be seen that autocratic style coaching negatively influences important social factors of NCAA athletes, such as their academic and athletic performances. Academically, it is seen that the autocratic style of coaching typically creates a stressful and rigid environment for athletes. Nuttawuth Muenjohn and contributing authors describe in their book Leadership that autocratic leadership can be very restrictive in the demanding schedules it leads

More about Is Autocratic Style Coaching Affect College Athletes In America?