Insight from Calvin, Director of Coaching
A college essay coach does a lot of different things. One way I think about the work: A coach is one part writing coach, one part project manager, and one part mentor.
Here’s what each part actually means.
One part writing coach
This is the part most people picture. A coach helps you write a great essay—helping to come up with ideas, outlining, drafting, and revising. But the writing-coach piece goes beyond producing one strong college essay—it’s about learning to be a better writer across the board, a skill that outlasts the application.
One part project manager
Applications are a complex, multi-step process, and a coach holds the long view on it. They can map out all the steps you need to take to get to a strong application before the deadline arrives—so you’re not discovering in November that you have nine essays and three weeks.
When the work gets done relies on a student’s own motivation, dedication, and prioritization. But our coaches are able to pace the work, name what needs to be done (and when), and give students everything they need to feel confident that, if they do what’s asked of them, they’ll have great essays in time for submission.
One part mentor
This is where a coach helps you see yourself in new ways. They help you draw connections between different experiences you’ve had and things you care about, so you can represent yourself in your essays in a nuanced, thoughtful, and less common way.
You show up to this work as an expert in you. You know who you are, what you care about, and what you’ve done.
Your coach shows up as an expert in college essays. So they can take everything you share—the brainstorming, the conversations—and sift through it to see what could make for great essay content, then get you excited about topics, frameworks, and approaches you might not have considered.
Put another way: You put a ton of information about yourself on the page and out into conversation. The coach has the eye to see what’s going to make a great college essay, and helps you get there.
(For more on what makes a great college essay, head here.)
So is it worth it?
That’s a family-by-family call. Some students need help writing. For some, deadlines and overwhelm are the real problem. Others struggle to see what’s interesting about their own life. And some might need support on all three.
If you’re feeling stuck with any of those aspects of the work (or any combination of the three), a CEG coach could be a valuable addition to your process.
Calvin, CEG’s Director of Coaching, is an ardent reader, writer, and all-around communicator with a deep love of stories. He has a dog, Seymour, whom he loves—in fact far more than Seymour loves him.
Top Values: Adaptability | Meaningful Work | Fun
