Which Package is For You?
Essay Coaching has designed our coaching packages to create a clear path to final drafts while making the writing process less stressful.
Our students’ completed essays are always an amazing improvement over the original drafts—more compelling, unique, and memorable. Along the way, they’ll learn writing skills that will help them succeed in college and beyond.
Why Choose an 8-session Package?
- It takes an average of five sessions to help a student write their strongest application essay.
- That leaves at least three sessions available to start work on supplemental essays. Students apply to an average of eight colleges, which could mean five to 10 supplemental essays.
- Take advantage of the fact that 2025 common application essay prompts and most supplemental essay prompts are available.
- Strong common application essays and supplemental essays have different structures and writing techniques. In the Common Application essay, we help students spotlight their own strengths: “I am right for you.” In supplemental essays, students highlight how a college fits them. This can include how a college’s professors, classes and programs fit their goals, interests, and learning styles: “You are right for me.”
Why Choose an 5-session Package?
- Use one or two sessions to start work on supplemental essays. Students apply to an average of eight colleges, which could mean five to 10 supplemental essays.
- Take advantage of the fact that 2025 common application essay prompts and most supplemental essay prompts are available.
- It takes an average of five sessions to help a student write their strongest application essay.
- Strong common application essays and supplemental essays have different structures and writing techniques. In the Common Application essay, we help students spotlight their own strengths: “I am right for you.” In supplemental essays, students highlight how a college fits them. This can include how a college’s professors, classes and programs fit their goals, interests, and learning styles: “You are right for me.”
Why Choose an 3-session Package?
- This package is for students applying to graduate school year-round.
- This package is offered in September through December for high school students with existing essay drafts. Students start at session two in our process.
Package Details
Prior to session one:
Before we meet, students use the Idea Generator questionnaire to relax and recall experiences in the comfort of their own home. Students also complete a jumpstart contact form to help us stay in touch. They also receive a 14-page handout with writing tips and six sample essays and our book, Solving the College Admissions Puzzle.
Session one:
Students learn what colleges are looking for in the college essay and get all their questions answered. We review helpful handouts with sample essays, and teach essay writing tips.
Most importantly, we spend time interviewing the student and discussing their questionnaire as a way of getting to know him/her.
Together with the student, we brainstorm unique and strong ideas to uniquely showcase a students strong experiences, goals, and background.
This first appointment is perfect for a student who needs help selecting an essay topic. We’ve heard hundreds of college essays ideas. Which is your strongest idea and why? We explain.
Together we create their best topic ideas for the Common App essay prompts. At the end of each session, we outline goals for the next session and confirm the calendar date of our next meeting.
Writing a strong college application essay is rarely taught in school, but is thoroughly covered in the first Essay Coaching appointment. All questions are welcomed and answered! Students walk out relieved, knowledgeable, with essay samples, and usually with a strong idea for their own essay.
If an Essay Coaching student walks in with a draft, they will walk out with helpful feedback generated through a game and a discussion. Students wondering is this essay good enough? find this first appointment stress-relieving and helpful.
After session one:
Students write! They can type on a phone, ipad or computer, handwrite in a book, or dictate speech-to-text into a phone.
Session two:
At the second session, the student will bring essay drafts and ideas. They also may write during the session. Usually we will simultaneously view their draft on a Google Doc. We discuss how to expand ideas into an essay and may outline the essay. We also play an Essay Coaching original game to evaluate the writing as a college admissions officer would. This helps students clarify where and how to make edits. (The other three to six sessions are spent editing the essay together and starting to brainstorm and draft additional essays.)
After session two:
After session two: For college-specific supplemental essays, we encourage students to do their research. Students need to ask themselves what they know about the school, its courses, professors, classes, and their intended major, if they have one. They can do this by reading websites, talking with students, faculty, alumni or college counselors. Students will continue to edit their essay drafts based on our session insights. Their essay goal is to show how they are a strong student for a particular school. They will also show how that school fits their own interests and learning styles.
Sessions three to eight:
During sessions three to eight we will review college-specific essay drafts and continue to polish the common application essay. We specialize in helping students tackle two common questions: how to sound impressive without bragging, and how to reduce their essays to the maximum allowable word count.
Questions we ask at Essay Coaching before delivering one-on-one feedback
- What did I learn about this student from reading this essay?
- Was I interested and/or impressed with what I learned? Did I learn about qualities that might help this student to enjoy, participate in and graduate from college?
- Could I follow this essay, especially the timeline? Did any parts of the story confuse me?
- Was there anything mentioned that I was curious to hear more about?
- Does the essay seem as impressive as the student I read about in the questionnaire or met on a zoom?
- When I try to envision the student and his/her story, what images from the essay do I see, what phrases do I remember?
- Were there any obvious grammatical errors?
- Were there any sentences or paragraphs that were not needed or should be moved?
Remember: Application essays show what you care about, and what you’ve done about it. Colleges read these essays to envision you graduating from their college.
Interested in how colleges evaluate your application? Read “PaperCut-The U-M Picks Its Freshman Class,” Debbie Merion’s feature essay.