About Alex

Hi, I'm Alex MacArthur—a journalist and researcher from Newton, Massachusetts. I come to tutoring from a slightly different background than most. I went to a hypercompetitive, top-ranked public high school, and I came from a fairly traditional background where it wasn't easy to stand out. But I always had high ambitions to go to a great school. So I taught myself how. I went to the library and read everything I could find about college admissions and essay writing. I sought out and spoke with dozens of students at Ivy League schools. I learned the process obsessively, from the inside out—until it came time to apply. It worked. I was admitted to Princeton and nearly every other school I applied to regular decision, in applicant pools where I was among roughly the top 5% accepted. What I learned along the way is that the best applications don't try to fit a mold. I love learning about people, and I take a holistic approach to this work: my goal is to draw out what makes a student genuinely unique, not to reshape them into something they're not. I've worked with all kinds of students—pro bono through EduMate NTC with kids from under-resourced backgrounds, as well as through my own tutoring practice. I prefer to take on just a few students at a time and work with them intensively. I specialize in admissions to top schools and can help with every part of the process. I love this work because storytelling is what I do best. I'm a working journalist and a peer-reviewed academic, currently on a full scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge. Outside of all that, I'm a jazz drummer and a rower, and I love cooking and eating.