I’m Olivia, and I love tutoring students in writing their personal essays — be it the Common App essay for undergraduate admissions, supplemental essays, or specialized essays for top masters programs. With a background in theater and English at Yale, I find great joy in searching for great stories; my main role is to help a student find their most authentic essay topic and their best way to explore its substance. I've guided students away from overused ideas, and I've inspired them to dig deeper into a story that will finally make a college admissions officer pause from their huge stack of essays and pay attention.

In the past, 25% of a candidate’s undergraduate admissions application depended on personal and supplemental essays. As a result of the pandemic, many universities have re-conceptualized their admissions processes. With so many schools going test-blind or test-optional, the significance of writing great college essays has risen: they now account for nearly 33% of your total application.*

My experience as a college admissions interviewer for Yale has given me particular insight into what makes an applicant compelling and what doesn't, what seems phony versus what rings true. Additionally, my work as a freelance content writer for ACT and SAT English practice tests has honed my grammar and editing skills; I can assist students with both the creative and technical aspects of essay writing. My undergraduate essay students have been admitted to schools such as Harvard, Brown, Georgetown, Berkeley, USC, UCLA, NYU, Emory, and many others. My masters / PhD tutees have gone on to Harvard Medical School and the University of Alabama Clinical Psychology PhD program.

*Nisha Desai, “How Important Is the College Essay?,” CollegeVine Blog, June 14, 2022, https://blog.collegevine.com/how-important-is-the-college-essay/.