- Personal Essay Workshop for rising seniors

- Private admissions coaching w/ former Harvard admissions interviewer

Click here for links to useful college-admissions resources.

My students have been admitted to top colleges:

Harvard (early action '05, '06; '09)
• First Niles West HS student in 6 years to be accepted by Harvard (Dec. '05)
• First Libertyville HS student in 4 years to be accepted by Harvard (Dec. '06)
Yale
Princeton
Stanford

Duke
University of Pennsylvania
Williams
Amherst (2 students: '07, '08)
Georgetown (early action, Dec. '10)

Dartmouth
Cornell (2 students in '06, 1 student in '11)
Swarthmore
University of Chicago (early action, Dec. '07)
Northwestern (3 students: '05, '06, '07)
Washington University in St. Louis
UIC-GPPA (pre-med) (2 students: '06, '08)
UIC-GPPA (pre-dental)
Pomona (early decision, Dec. '07)
Vanderbilt
Emory
Carnegie Mellon
Notre Dame
University of Southern California (USC) (2 students: '07, '08; one student earned a full 4-year merit scholarship -- USC Presidential Scholarship and National Merit Scholarship)
Boston College (4 students in '07, including 1 early action; 1 student, early action '10; 1 student '11)
New York University (NYU)
Colorado College (2 students, both early action '10)
William and Mary ('11)

University of Rochester (2 students: '07 and '08 (early decision, with merit scholarship))
University of Michigan (honors program)
University of Wisconsin (Madison): 2 students in '08, 1 student in '06
Holy Cross

The figures above reflect my students' acceptances from 2005 onward, including most 2009 and 2010 acceptances.  Note that I coach a very small number of students (between 4 and 9 seniors each year).

Personal Essay Workshop

- Only offered during the summer

- Priority given to rising seniors, but also open to rising juniors

- This course may be offered in the summer of 2011

This intensive workshop will give students an opportunity to work on college application essays -- the most difficult part of college applications, but also one of the most important.  Students will work on the long and short essays in the Common Application, as well as additional essays of their choice for specific colleges.  Each student will receive detailed written feedback on all assignments, as well as individual coaching on which essay topics will work best for him or her in the context of college applications.  Students will analyze and critique personal essays by well-known authors and develop their writing skills throughout the course.

Private admissions coaching

- Generally limited to students who have taken or will take the Personal Essay Workshop, or students who have worked with me in previous courses; I will select a few students to coach each year.

Essays

• Brainstorming and topic selection
• Essay development (structure, focus)
• Editing and polishing

Interviews

• Mock interviews with detailed feedback
• Review of commonly asked questions
• How to highlight your strengths in an interview

Strategy

• Early decision or early action
• Assessment of strengths and weaknesses in your application
• Which colleges to apply to
• How many colleges to apply to
• Which teachers should write your recommendations
• Which test scores to submit; when to take the SAT, ACT, and 3 SAT Subject Tests; which SAT Subject Tests to take

Application review & critique

• How best to highlight talents in your extracurricular résumé
• General editing and proofreading

Strategic planning for Ivy League admission (pre-college planning)

• For students in grades 7-10
• How best to develop talent (which extracurricular activities to focus on; academic subjects in which a student should take advanced courses)
• Selecting high schools, courses, and summer programs