Piecemeal College Admissions Help

Around this time each and every year, parents of seniors write in to us asking if we can help their child strictly with their Personal Statement. They’re not sure if they’ve written a strong essay. Heck, they’re not even sure if the topic is a non-starter. And while these parents are quite confident we can help their child craft an outstanding Personal Statement, they’re often surprised to read our response: an offer of a Senior Application Review in which we offer advice during the course of an hour on every component of the Common Application and as many supplements as time permits during that session. Of course, many mistakes won’t be fixable at this late date but some mistakes are indeed fixable — and we point those out during this evaluation.

A Great Personal Statement in Itself Will Not Serve a College Applicant

But these parents — who are not our clients — who wrote in requesting help with the Personal Statement are often unsatisfied by our response, as though we didn’t take the time to read what they wrote. They’ll often respond something along the lines of: “That’s not what we want. We only want help with the Personal Statement. What do you charge for that service?” The answer, unsurprisingly to our existing clients and to the folks who loyally read our college admissions blog is: “Zero. We don’t offer that service because such assistance would be a disservice to your child. If they have a great Personal Statement and lousy supplemental essays, that great Personal Statement will do the student no good. If they have all great essays and lousy activities or if they answer the seemingly innocuous questions on the Common Application and the supplements wrong, those amazing essays will not serve the student one bit.”

We Don’t Offer Piecemeal College Admissions Help and If Anyone Does, Run!

At Ivy Coach, we do not offer piecemeal help on college applications. And if anyone should offer you piecemeal help, we encourage you to run, run fast, and run for the nearest hills. Because they won’t be able to answer this question for you: “What good is a great Personal Statement if all the other essays aren’t just as good?” And, yes, every essay in college admissions is equally as important. So when people say the term “college essay,” it drives us bonkers because there isn’t one college essay. There are in fact lots and lots of college essays, essays we don’t help with on a piecemeal basis. We will not put our stamp on only parts of applications — not now, not ever.

If you’re interested in a Senior Application Review, fill out our free consult form and indicate Senior Application Review at the bottom. And if you want help with that “college essay,” please reread this post before writing in. Oy vey!