Common App Personal Statement and Application Workshop

With over 15 years of working with Top 20 college applicants, I am an expert in identifying the areas where everyone needs help: telling their story in way that makes them stand out. When you're up against other Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Yale applicants, there is more to personal statements and supplemental essays than merely being outstanding. Your story has to stop the jaded admissions folks in their tracks and make them say, 'Wow! That's who we're looking for!" That's where I come in. I take a deep dive into getting to you know, your story, what makes you tick and what motivates you. With the help of our curated conversations, custom guides and 90-minute brainstorming sessions, I will help you squeeze out every last ounce of your potential and make it sing on the page. Working in this way is painstaking and time consuming, but my results speak for themselves. Each year, I get 90+% of my clients into at least one of their top 3 dream schools. This also means that I cannot take on many clients (usually 25-28 per application cycle). My clients get admits to the Ivies, UC Berkeley, Stanford, UT, UMich, UNC, MIT, Duke, and many even receive scholarships. With so much personal attention given to each applicant and their multiple applications, it is impossible for me to maintain my high level of success if I take on more than 25-28 clients per year. This means three things: 1.) My schedule fills up quick 2.) I am by no means the cheapest consultant out there (in fact, I am on the more pricey side) 3.) The experience--and results--you have with me (yes, me, Avi...not some junior consultant) will be second to none. It's also worth noting that roughly half of my clients each year are those that had disappointing (and in some cases nightmarish) experiences working with other consultants. The most common complaint I hear from these disgruntled applicants is that the overpriced packages they were pitched didn't match the quality of the service. In short, they didn't feel like the consultant took a vested interest in their success, limiting their face to face time while discouraging them them from applying to top-tier schools. This way, the consultant looks like a big hero when you get admitted to schools you would have likely got admitted to without their "help". My specialty is Top 20 undergraduate universities for high schoolers. In both cases, my job is to get you interviews at, and admitted to, schools that in some cases you have no business getting accepted to, and in other cases getting you scholarship money for your No. 1 school. Otherwise, what's the point, right? If I can't raise the stakes for you, what am I getting paid for? Background: Born and raised in New York City, I take a non-nonsense approach to consulting. We are going to work together for months, sometimes a full year, together, so I like to set the tone for an honest, direct style of communication that leads to winning applications, not inflated egos. To do this successfully, I have to part coach, part mentor, part drill sergeant and part therapist. But mostly your fearless leader in navigating the tricky terrain of college apps. I will hound you for draft deadlines, insist on better revisions and deeper reflection even when you feel it's "good enough". And I will keep you on a structured schedule so you don't feel overwhelmed. Lastly, in certain cases I won't be "nice". If I feel you're capable of better, I'll let you know. If something could work better in an application, I will point it out. I will not spare your feelings, we're here to win this admissions game. I have coached this game for going on 20 years. I am a former Admissions reader at Berkeley and writer for the LA Times. I have a receding hairline and a mean left hook (former boxer). I value honesty over flattery and ambition over modesty. Let's make this happen. Together.