College Admissions Essay Development and Editing
Cathy Petrick
petrickcathy@gmail.com
(415) 902-2643
Welcome
Whether you're just getting started or you're ready for proofreading, I will make your work easier and more enjoyable. And most importantly, you will love your completed essay.
About Cathy
I’ve worked as a cook, a national park ranger, a French teacher, an English teacher, a cross country coach, and a writing tutor.
I taught high school English for eight years in public and independent schools. I have worked as a college admissions essay coach for two years. I hold a single-subject teaching credential in English and an MFA in Writing. My expertise includes essay-writing, screenwriting, and true stories told live in venues like The Moth.
I have a special affinity for high school juniors and seniors, and I am highly experienced working with students with learning differences and with students who are neurodivergent. As I have moved from classroom teaching to independent essay coaching, I have come to appreciate the role of the coach as something distinct from the role of the teacher. A coach functions sometimes as a therapist, helping students to identify their emotional challenges and to manage their thoughts in order to improve their performance. My time spent as a cross country coach and as a leader of student trips abroad has allowed me to work with teenagers who are under unusual pressure and to see them triumph.
My Approach
Services
I tailor my services to meet your needs, since some students want a lot of help and some want very little. My services cover every aspect of the college admissions writing process, from brainstorming to drafting to revising to editing to proofreading. I’m eager to meet you wherever you are in the process and see you through to the moment you hit “submit.”
Areas of Focus
Common App essay
Honors program essays
Supplemental essays
U.C. Personal Insight Questions
Scholarship essays
One-on-One Guidance
We will work together using whatever mode of communication works best for you: in person, Zoom, email, or text (usually some combination of the above). Once you have completed your first draft, most of our work will be done asynchronously through an exchange of revisions and editing notes.
Summer Workshop
For rising seniors wanting to get a jump on the process in a relaxed, summer camp–like environment. We will read model essays by writers like E.B. White, Zadie Smith, and David Sedaris, and we will engage in timed writing exercises using autobiographical prompts from the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto. Students will create a master admissions essay.
If you’re not having fun you’re doing it wrong.
A personal essay is probably not something you’ve learned to write in school. I’m eager to help you discover this exciting literary genre and get you fired up about writing your own personal essay.
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
petrickcathy@gmail.com
Phone
(415) 902-2643