Personal Statement and Supplemental Essays - Start to Finish
Embarking on your college application journey can be both exciting and daunting, especially when it comes to crafting personal statements and supplemental essays that truly reflect who you are. That's where I come in. With a rich background in creative writing and academic coaching, I’m here to guide you through every step of the process, ensuring your application stands out in the best possible way. This comprehensive plan is designed to help you develop, refine, and perfect your personal statement and supplemental essays from start to finish. Drawing on my experience as a Creative Writing and Personal Statement Coach at Oriel Admissions and my academic background from institutions like Harvard and NYU, I bring a unique blend of creativity and strategy to the table. Here’s how we’ll work together: **Initial Consultation & Strategy Session**: We’ll kick off with a deep dive into your experiences, aspirations, and the unique qualities you bring to the table. Together, we’ll outline a strategic plan that aligns with your application goals and highlights your strengths. **Story Development & Brainstorming**: I’ll help you uncover the stories that best represent your journey and aspirations. We’ll explore different angles and narratives to ensure your essays are both authentic and compelling. **Drafting & Writing Support**: Whether you’re starting from scratch or refining an existing draft, I’ll provide guidance on structure, tone, and content. My goal is to help you articulate your thoughts clearly and creatively, ensuring your voice shines through. **Editing & Feedback**: Through multiple rounds of edits, I’ll offer detailed feedback to enhance clarity, coherence, and impact. We’ll focus on making sure every word serves a purpose and contributes to a cohesive narrative. **Supplemental Essay Strategy**: For each supplemental essay, we’ll tailor your responses to align with the specific values and expectations of each college. I’ll help you maintain consistency across your application while highlighting different facets of your personality and achievements. Throughout our collaboration, I’m committed to being your partner in this journey—providing support, encouragement, and expert advice. My aim is to help you craft essays that not only meet the requirements but also leave a lasting impression on admissions committees. Let’s work together to transform your ideas into powerful narratives that capture the essence of who you are and what you aspire to achieve. Your story deserves to be told, and I’m here to help you tell it with confidence and clarity.
What's included
-I communicate quickly and effectively, am very accessible to meet virtually at all stages of the process, and provide quick turnarounds on feedback -I am process- as well as product-oriented, which allows us to explore deeply how you want to present yourself to admissions committees, and means we pivot as needed -We collaborate to define milestones, goals, and deadlines together every step of the way -We have fun!
- Compelling personal statement that authentically reflects your journey and aspirations.
- Tailored supplemental essays that resonate with each college's values and expectations.
- Personalized essay strategy that aligns with your unique experiences and application goals.
- Detailed feedback and editing to enhance clarity, coherence, and impact across drafts.
- Creative storytelling techniques to ensure your voice shines through in every essay.
- Consistent narrative development to highlight diverse facets of your personality and achievements.
Meet your expert
Chris N.
Harvard, Berkeley, & NYU Grad | Personal Statement Expert
Update (7/21/26): Just this last application season, I had several students accepted to Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Brown, with most admitted to two or more of these universities. Others include Duke, USC, Carnegie Mellon, Pomona, Occidental, the University of Rochester, Williams, Barnard of Columbia University, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Irvine, UCSD, Georgetown, Wesleyan, Macalester, University of Richmond, Reed, Whitman, Virginia Tech, and NYU. Additionally, four received the Gates Scholarship, one earned Jack Kent Cooke, and another earned a Coca-Cola scholarship. I earned my Master of Theological Studies in Religion, Literature, and Culture from Harvard, Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from NYU, and Bachelor of Arts in English from UC Berkeley. I also studied philosophy and law abroad at Oxford. I have a decade of experience teaching and coaching writing at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels, and most recently served as a Writing Instructor at the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA), hosted at Princeton and Yale Universities. Last year, among the many admissions offers LEDA students received, 37/100 earned spots at Yale. Previously, I taught writing at NYU, and I currently teach Generative AI and Responsible AI at the University of Maryland Global Campus, qualified by my experience as a Content Engineer and Reviewer at Google. My unique background and trajectory prove that I know how to reflect on my experience to consider my next steps, and I will help you do the same.
