Essay Art in August: For New Clients

Getting Started on Your College Essays in August

“The first week of August hangs at the very top of the summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too…” –Natalie Babbitt, from Tuck Everlasting

For me, the beginning of August has not been curiously silent, but has ushered in a flurry of requests for information about how to begin working on college essay applications.

Thanks for your interest in working with me! I hope you’ll take a tour of my website, which answers many questions, but here are a few suggestions that might be especially useful to you right at the start.

If you’ve read my thoughts on the process and acquainted yourself with my services and would like to begin, you will need to fill out my questionnaire. The questionnaire serves a double function: introducing us quickly so I can get to know you and your interests, and helping me identify great topic ideas for your college application essays. We can make an appointment to discuss topic ideas as soon as you send me your questionnaire.

If you already have a draft and would like me to help you revise it (or if you’d like my thoughts on its suitability for Common Application Essay purposes), we can set up an appointment to talk about that, too.

Just let me know.

I have been making appointments with students all summer; I am going to be out of town from the 14^th to the 24^th, but will be increasingly available in the weeks after that, and fully available the week of September 7^th. When requesting appointments, please let me know your full availability, along with your blackout dates. (In the case of particularly complex schedules, sometimes a phone call works better than email.)

I am very much looking forward to hearing from you and helping you tell your stories!