College Essay Coach & Admissions Consultant in Greenwich, CT
Get one-on-one help with your college essays and applications. We work with students virtually via Zoom, allowing us to serve students around the US & world.
Strong stats get a Greenwich student read. The essay gets them chosen.
Greenwich High School sends a big, strong cohort to selective colleges every year, and the privates — Brunswick, Greenwich Academy, Greenwich Country Day — add plenty more. The catch most families feel but can’t name: selective colleges read regionally. A Greenwich student’s application is weighed against classmates and against the rest of Fairfield County’s powerhouse schools, not against the national field. A 4.0 and a varsity letter are common in that pool — they get your student read, not chosen.
The essay is where a Greenwich applicant stops being a strong profile and becomes a specific person an admissions officer remembers. That’s the part we do.
As seen in
How College Essay Guy guides Greenwich families
College Essay Coaching
The college essay is one of the few places in the application where a student gets to tell their story. Our coaches help students figure out what is actually worth writing about and build an essay around it that is specific, honest, and memorable.
- Common App personal statement
- Supplemental essays for every school on the list
- Brainstorming and topic selection strategy
- "Why Us?" essays, activity descriptions, and short answers
- UC Personal Insight Questions
- Internal team review of every essay
College Admissions Counseling
Good essay coaching doesn't happen in isolation. Strong essays need to be supported by a strong academic profile, compelling extracurriculars, a strong college admissions plan, and positioning a student's strengths across the application. This is what our team of veteran college counselors do.
- Customized college list development
- Academic planning and course selection
- Major exploration and selection strategy
- Extracurricular and summer planning
- Early Decision and Early Action strategy
- Standardized test planning and prep
“Ethan and the College Essay Guy team were amazing in every sense of the word. Their constant back-and-forth on what works and doesn’t work in each of my essays taught me how to become a better writer.
— Kajal, admitted to Yale University
What sets College Essay Guy apart
The most trusted name in college admissions
For 20 years, counselors, parents, and students have come to College Essay Guy first. Ethan Sawyer's books are taught in classrooms, his frameworks are used by independent and school-based counselors around the world, and millions of students have learned to write their personal statements through our free resources. Even many selective colleges have used CEG resources to train their college admissions staff on how to read applications.
Comprehensive admissions guidance
While essays are important, they aren't the most important thing in a sound college admissions plan. Our team of veteran college counselors average 20+ years of experience each and help students think through the entire process: building a balanced college list, planning a challenging course load, shaping a meaningful activities list, navigating financial aid, and telling your story.
A values-based approach
We find that digging deep and starting with self-discovery is the best recipe to creating compelling college applications. Before we touch a college list or an essay draft, our team helps students identify what they actually care about, what they're good at, and what they want the next four years to look like. Applications built on that foundation lead to not just better choices during high school, but more compelling applications and essays.
Consultation and match
Start with a free call, then get paired with a coach chosen for your student's goals and personality.
Brainstorm and discovery
Your student works through our signature brainstorming exercises, so every session starts with real material.
Draft with expert coaching
Round after round of feedback shapes each essay until the writing is specific, honest, and clearly theirs.
Multi-coach review
A second coach reviews the work for range and depth, so more than one expert weighs in before anything is final.
Final review before submission
Your coach does a last pass on essays, activities, and the full application before your student hits submit.
Serving students across Greenwich
We work with students and families in every part of Greenwich and the surrounding area, including:
- Old Greenwich
- Cos Cob
- Riverside
- Belle Haven
- Glenville
- Byram
- Greenwich backcountry
Because all coaching is online, we also work with students throughout Fairfield County and the tri-state area. Explore our college essay coaching and admissions counseling, view pricing, or browse all the areas we serve. Nearby, we also serve Darien, New Canaan, and Westport, and families across New York City.
We hate to brag…
But we know parents are often curious about the numbers.
Schools We Serve
We work with families attending top high schools in and around Greenwich
We've worked with students from public, private, and charter high schools across Greenwich and Fairfield County.
- Greenwich High School
- Brunswick School
- Greenwich Academy
- Greenwich Country Day School
- Convent of the Sacred Heart
- King School (Stamford)
...and other schools across Greenwich and Fairfield County. All our coaching is 100% online, so we can work with students throughout the US and world.
Colleges our Greenwich students apply to
Greenwich lists skew heavily toward the Ivy League, the NESCAC, and the Northeast’s top schools. We help with the full range.
Ivy League & Most Selective
Greenwich lists skew heavily toward the Ivy League and the Northeast's most selective schools, where the essay carries real weight.
NESCAC & Top Liberal Arts
The NESCAC and the region's elite liberal arts colleges are a core part of most Greenwich lists.
Other Top Targets
Beyond the Ivies and NESCAC, Greenwich students round out their lists with these selective schools — plus UConn in-state.
Let's connect.
Schedule an initial consultation.
We'll learn about your college admissions goals and share more about how we can help.
Here's what happens
on the call.
- Talk through where your student is in the process — grade, timeline, and what's feeling hardest right now
- Hear how CEG's coaching approach works and what makes it different from typical essay help
- Get a clear picture of package options so you can make an informed decision — no pressure
- Ask anything — about our coaches, our process, our free resources, or all of the above
Whether you sign up or not, you'll leave with more clarity than you came in with.
“College Essay Guy reduced our family’s stress, increased my daughter’s confidence, and kept her on schedule while helping her create fantastic essays that reflected her personality and goals — priceless!
— Sarah K., Parent
Frequently Asked Questions
Is coaching online or in-person?
All coaching happens online over video calls. We’ve worked this way from the beginning, so the process is smooth, and parents say they love the flexibility to reschedule and avoid wasting time in traffic. Plus, being virtual allows us to have a broader range of counselors and coaches to pair you with, rather than limit your choices to those in your zip code.
Students just need a quiet spot and a reliable connection.
When should we start?
The earlier the better, though the right answer depends on your student’s year and goals. Rising seniors just looking for support on their essays and applications benefit most from starting in the spring or summer before senior year.
Students who want help with building a broader strategy and extracurricular positioning start as early as 9th or 10th grade to allow time for exploring academic and extracurricular interests.
What's included in coaching?
It depends on the package. Most students work with a coach on their personal statement and a set of supplemental essays. Full college admissions consulting packages including everything else: school list strategy, timeline planning, extracurricular profile building, and more. Schedule a call to learn more about the options.
How do I know if College Essay Guy is a good fit for my student?
The best way is to book a free consultation and talk through your student’s situation. We will ask about their schools of interest, timeline, and what they have already figured out. If we are the right fit, we will tell you how we would work together. If we are not, we will say that too.
Students considering a college admissions planning package and working with our college counselor will have a chance to schedule a Get to Know You call.
Do you work with students who already have strong applications?
Yes. Often the students who get the most from essay coaching are the ones who look great on paper but have not yet translated that into a compelling application in their essays, activities list, and Additional Info section. Essays are where the differentiation happens, especially at highly selective schools where most applicants are already academically qualified.
Do you meet with Greenwich students in person?
All coaching is online via Zoom. That means your student works with the coach best matched to their story and goals — not just whoever’s local — on a schedule that fits around Greenwich High or their private school’s calendar.