The Common App Package: Personal Statement & Application Foundation
Expert support on the most important part of every college application: the Common App and the Personal Statement. The Common App is the foundation that every selective school sees, and the Personal Statement is the only essay all of them read. This package makes sure that foundation is as strong as it can possibly be. We'll begin with a comprehensive intake and narrative discovery session, where I work with you to surface the stories, themes, and angles that make your application distinctive. From there, we go deep on the Personal Statement: topic exploration, brainstorming, drafting, and unlimited revisions until the essay is final. Most students go through 5–8 substantive drafts before landing on the right version, and I work alongside them through every round. Alongside the Personal Statement, I provide full guidance on the rest of the Common App: the activities list (where every character matters), the Additional Information section, resume crafting where needed, and recommendation letter strategy, including who to ask, when to ask, and how to brief recommenders so your letters work in concert with the rest of the application. We'll also talk through ED/EA/RD timing for your top schools so the strategy is locked in before deadlines hit. Before any school submission, I do a final Common App review to catch anything that needs polish. This package does not include school-specific supplemental essays, those are available as add-ons, or you can upgrade to Strategy & Execution or Comprehensive Application Support, in which case the full cost of this package is creditable toward the upgrade if booked within 30 days.
What's included
I take a structured, no-fluff approach to coaching. Our work together combines live 1-on-1 video sessions for strategy and substantive drafting work with asynchronous review of essay drafts, application materials, and direct messaging access for time-sensitive questions. On the Personal Statement specifically, I work iteratively. Most students go through 5–8 substantive drafts. I don't believe in "fixing" essays in two passes, the best Personal Statements come from real exploration, real revision, and the willingness to throw out a draft that isn't working. I'll be direct with feedback, but I'll also be your partner through every round until the essay is genuinely strong. My goal is to make sure that the foundation of your application, the part every school will read, is as strong as the rest of your work demands.
- A polished, finalized Personal Statement that authentically represents your voice and story
- A fully completed Common Application, reviewed and ready for submission across all schools
- A strategic activities list with every entry crafted to land within character limits
- A finalized resume formatted for college applications (where required)
- A clear recommendation letter strategy — who to ask, when, and how to brief them
- A locked-in ED/EA/RD timing strategy for your top schools
Meet your expert
Simi K.
College Admissions Expert | Columbia MBA | 16+ Yrs of Ivy & Top 25 Admits
I work with students aiming for top outcomes: a 1400+ SAT, a 700+ GMAT, or admission to highly selective colleges and MBA programs. Over 16+ years and 3,000+ students across six continents, I've built a practice around one idea: most students don't need more work, they need the right work, structured the right way. My career started at Prep Zone in Singapore, where I helped expand the company into Shanghai before returning to New York and joining some of the city's top test prep and admissions firms, including Veritas Prep, Bespoke Education, and Advantage Testing. I went on to found my own practice, Global Scholars, where I now work with students across six continents. On the testing side, my students average 200+ point gains on the SAT and 100+ on the GMAT. This is driven by pattern recognition, test strategy, and disciplined execution rather than brute-force practice. On the admissions side, my work is about coherence. Smart students often arrive with strong but scattered pieces: academics, extracurriculars, a story they haven't fully figured out. My job is to help them put it all together: a sharp narrative, a strategic school list, and essays that actually sound like them. 95%+ of my students are admitted to at least one of their top-choice schools, including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Columbia, MIT, UChicago, NYU, and UCLA. I graduated from NYU and earned my MBA from Columbia Business School, which gives me a current, first-hand perspective on both undergraduate and MBA admissions. If you want a structured, strategic partner, not generic advice, let's talk.
