Writing the Common Application and supplemental essays can be an intimidating and overwhelming process. But, odd as it may sound, it can also be fun. My first step is to insure the student feels they are in a supportive environment. We then talk about the student - their life experiences, aspirations, achievements, people who have inspired them, times of adversity, obstacles overcome. These discussions help to illuminate the student’s main interests, preferences and passions.
From there, we are ready to begin the application essay, a critical part of the admissions process. Through brainstorming, encouragement and editorial feedback, we work together to find and communicate the applicant’s voice. The final product is an essay that showcases the applicant’s strengths, talents, and individuality.
Additional College Application Support Includes
“I highly recommend Dara Berger as an excellent College Admission Essay Coach. Dara assisted our daughter, Adele with crafting her college application essay and was an invaluable resource during this six month process. The hardest part of the college admission essay process is knowing how to get started and Dara put my daughter on the right path. She was stumped as to what subject to write about, had some thoughts but no clear idea which topics would help reveal who she was or what was important to her. Using skilled and insightful questions, Dara helped Adele identify subjects to determine her best material for the essay. She helped her take very rough written ideas, through multiple drafts which resulted in a final polished essay (skills that served her well in college. Dara is friendly, warm, collaborative, and was a master at motivating in order for work to be completed in a timely fashion to meet deadlines. She was encouraging and carefully helped Adele discover her own strengths. She did not write her essay — it all came from Adele, inspired by Dara’s calm and thoughtful support.”
“I loved working with Dara! She was incredibly helpful in teaching me how to write and edit a research paper and college application essays. She pushed me to come to my own conclusions on how to improve the essays instead of just editing the paper and giving it back to me. She is always very patient, and although we scrapped my common app essay five times, she never made me feel stupid. On top of her amazing teaching skills, she is so caring and loving. I came over after being in a small car accident, and I was very shaken up. She comforted me and showed compassion before we got to work. I will always remember working with Dara, and would love to work with her again in the future.”
“As a first-generation college student, applying to college was an overwhelming, unfamiliar experience. I was fortunate to have met Dara who not only willingly reviewed what seemed like an endless amount of applications, but she helped calm and guide me along the way. Thanks to Dara I was able to get into Santa Clara University, which was a school that she had brought to my attention. I am grateful that I went there and to this day stay in touch with Dara as she has made a huge impact on my life. I recommended her to my sister and, unsurprisingly, my sister also had a great experience. Thank you, Dara, for going the extra mile and helping out my family and me. You are much appreciated!”