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This package is designed for applicants who want to write compelling, authentic essays that elevate their Master’s program applications. Whether you're just starting to brainstorm or refining final drafts, this package provides expert guidance to help your story stand out. You’ll partner with a Leland coach to clarify your narrative, highlight your strengths, and shape essays that resonate with admissions committees. Common coaching activities in this package include, but are not limited to: - Kickoff & Planning: Discuss your background, goals, and experiences to lay the groundwork for essays that align with your personal and professional journey. - Application Strategy: Identify key strengths and differentiators to emphasize across your materials, creating a cohesive and standout application. - Essay Brainstorming: Explore themes and storylines with your coach to uncover authentic, impactful narratives. - Essay Development: Write and shape essays that clearly convey your fit for the program and reflect your unique voice and aspirations. - Essay Refinement: Receive detailed feedback and edits to polish your essays for clarity, cohesion, and confidence at submission. This package is ideal for applicants who want to craft essays that are powerful, purposeful, and fully aligned with their goals.
Compelling essays that are differentiated, personalized, and thoughtful — tailored to each school you decide to apply to
A deeper understanding of who you are, what impact you plan to have on the world, and why different programs should care
An outline and several drafts of essays that get you closer to the final polished version that will stand out to admissions teams
Coaching delivered via live sessions and .
Services included:
Editing
Essays
Schedule a call with a Leland team member who can help you explore your options.
Schedule a call
Get help with Letters of Recommendation, Essays, and .

Joined January 2026
Harvard MPA | Journalist | Author. Crafting winning admissions narratives.
Ryan Prior is an award-winning journalist telling stories at the front lines of science and democracy. Over the past 12 years, he has written hundreds of stories for CNN, Psychology Today, The Guardian, The Nation, STAT, USA Today, and The Daily Beast. He has produced work across documentary film, nonprofits, book publishing, and think tanks. His reporting spans pandemic response, science policy, geopolitical conflict, and national security. His recent experience includes field reporting in Ukraine, along with study trips to Israel/Palestine, the Balkans, and Western Europe through Harvard Kennedy School and RIAS. Ryan believes the best journalism connects the dots between high-level decisions and lived experiences of people on the ground — making the strategic personal, and the personal strategic. His writing combines the rigor of data-driven reporting, the intimacy of narrative memoir, and the pragmatism of a policy brief. It’s a rare, yet essential blend in today’s climate of misinformation and polarization. He is the author of The Long Haul: How Long Covid Survivors Are Revolutionizing Healthcare (MIT Press/Penguin Random House), which explores the global impact of the pandemic and the chronic illness crisis that followed. The book has been called “a book we need right now” by Senator Tim Kaine and “an important contribution” by the Secretary General of the World Health Organization. It has also been featured in Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Democracy Now, Psychology Today, Science, and The Lancet.
5h+ of coaching