Boutique Education: How I Work

My goal is to help essay writers analyze personal experience and transform it into compelling narrative. 

That being said, how does it happen? Below is an outline of what I do (and also what I don't do) to help writers on their quest to produce the best essays they can.

1. Preliminary Call. You've heard about me, usually through a reference. Once you reach out, we will arrange a time to talk and discuss your situation, your needs, my services, your preferred method of communication, and my fees. This conversation is usually 1 hour long, either with a parent or with the writer. There is no charge for this first conversation.

2. Brainstorm. If you have no idea what to write your essay about, we discuss possible topics by having brainstorm sessions about your interests, experiences, activities, hobbies, etc. All brainstorming notes and subsequent writings are saved on shared electronic documents.

3. Structure. Once several topics are selected, we discuss possible structures for the flow and organization of essays. 

4. Writing. The writer will produce a first draft. Once the draft is submitted, the next session can be scheduled.

5. Comments (Written Comments Only). I will make detailed comments and notes via the shared electronic document. My comments could include:

• suggestions for improving overall structure and flow
• suggestions for thematic improvement & impact
• suggestions on how to improve style (e.g. humor, tone)
• ideas for adding or removing or moving elements
• pointing out where phrasing and wording could be stronger
• highlighting grammar errors
• noting inconsistencies and confusing sections 

Note that my comments will suggest the type of thematic, structural, stylistic, or grammatical change that could be made for improvement, but I will never offer written content to be used in the essay itself. I will advise on the essay; the writer must write every word.

6.  Comments (Video/In Person). I will meet with the writer either via video or in person and discuss the above improvements, typing out notes throughout the session. During this session, the writer may begin to work on changes or ask any questions about direction.  

7. Repeat. Until the writer is satisfied with the product, we repeat steps 4, 5, 6. Sometimes, if there is a change of heart about essay topic, we may return to step 2.

Boutique Education Mission & Values

Mission Statement: My goal is to help essay writers analyze personal experience and transform it into compelling narrative. 

Guiding Principles & Values:

• The writers' purpose guides direction; authentic voice guides style
• My jobs are consulting and educating, not writing (I will never write content)
• Perfection and high quality are prioritized over speed 
• Deep relationships are prioritized over many relationships
• Pricing and availability are fair for every student

Measures of Success: Starting 2016, each client will be surveyed for satisfaction after services.

New Year's Resolutions - 2016

2015 has been a roller coaster of a year. A change in jobs, a transcontinental move, a deep dive into my fledgling writing career, and of course, getting engaged. Whew!

2016 holds more of the unexpected, and I'm looking forward to the chance to start afresh, to improve myself and my relationships, to work my butt off, and to approach each day with positivity and love. OK! Enough of my sentimental babble. When it comes to my education consulting work, I have a few specific goals in mind for this year:

1. Standardize my services more and create a Boutique Education charter, of sorts. My services have been very customized up until now, and that's definitely necessary at certain points, but at the same time can create confusion, stress, and most unfortunately, unfairness. So, what are my standards, philosophies, rules as a consultant? It's time I wrote them down, for myself and all my clients to see. 
2. Starting the second half of the year, it's likely I'll be full-time in Asia. My second goal is to learn more about the local education environment and connect with other professionals who are doing similar work. 
3. I never want to stop learning about my field. In 2016, I will be reading four books related to education (not just admissions) and blogging here about my reactions and insights.

Thanks so much for reading along, and I hope this blog will continue to bring you more tips and information about the work that I do. That being said, my next post will tackle goal #1, as I write down my charter and share it with you all. Happy new year!   

Johns Hopkins Essays That Worked

Johns Hopkins provides a set of essays from prior years' applicants that helped gain the students admission to JHU. See the list from their page Essays That Worked, here. As with my analysis of a successful essay that was published as part of a series on the NYTimes, I will here analyze one of JHU's. This essay is less sophisticated, or "crafted" than the NYTimes featured essay, but it is still good in its own right. 

I'm going to focus on the essay How to Become an Adult. The numbers beneath paragraphs refer to movements of thought (not necessarily sentence by sentence). It's pretty detailed, so I encourage you to open up the essay in another tab and follow along line by line as I go through what is working and how. Of course, experiment with this essay's structure and themes if you need help with your own. 

Paragraph A: Introduction of Subject, using hook, shock, and humor

1. This essay opens with a fact that reflects the essay's title, but then moves quickly to confidently express the author's opinion - always a good move in a personal essay, and one that transforms a boring fact into a statement that says something about the writer.
2. The next section shocks the reader - this college applicant is already a parent! Extending the function of the hook.
3. The writer does not drag on the joke too long - that might even be alarming. In fact, the writer quickly acknowledges the truth that "children" are plants, and does so in a humorous way.
4. The paragraph has a bit of a stiff close, wrapping up the intro, but it gets the job done. 

Paragraph B: Background Context and Introduction of Conflict and Personal Shortcoming

1. The first three sentences function as background. Note that the author explicitly mentions that she is a teenager, assuaging any lingering doubts (or slow to realize readers) that she is not a non-traditional applicant with kids.  
2. Introduction of a conflict.
3. Analysis of conflict and what the writer's own actions reveal about herself.

Paragraph C: Resolution & Additional Benefits from Resolution

1. Writer's initiative in solving the problem, while continuing the metaphor of parenting thereby emphasizing and reiterating the essay's theme.
2. Other initiatives to solving the problem.
3. Additional benefits to solving the problem.

Paragraph D: Growth and Relevance to Life at Large

1. Note the writer opens this paragraph with the phrase "true reward," signaling a shift from the specific situation's effects and towards a more personal, academic direction.
2. This paragraph is essentially a list of additional "life lessons" gained from being parent to plants.
3. The essay ends by expounding on the writer's love of learning, obviously appropriate for a college essay. 

Ultimately this essay works mainly because of the uniqueness of the subject matter and the humorous somewhat shocking way the author introduces it to the reader. This essay is not about a national award, a leadership role, or even a fancy extracurricular. In fact, it is a private, personal experience (indeed, there is no way to "prove" she even had these plants!). Yet it works because, well, who writes about carnivorous plants? And how many essays written by teens start out with the topic of parenting? It's cleverly done, charmingly written, and circles back in the end to academics and learning.

The Lie About College Diversity

Bruni wrote an article in the Times the other day about the true problem with college diversity. He writes that diversity is not just about creating racially and socioeconomically diverse student bodies, but about how to integrate students after matriculation. The issue, as he sees it, is that students self segregate naturally. 

It would be great if colleges provided opportunities for greater communication and integration, as he suggests. But in my experience, self-segregation happens on a level outside of the university's control. Friendships are formed around fun and play; some students play with a lot of money, and some must play with less. Students segregate on the basis of what they can afford: those who can fly on a jet to Europe during spring break will do so and solidify their friendships. Those who cannot will not, and will solidify their friendships in other ways. Those who shop at luxury stores between classes will do so together. Those who cannot, or who do not care about such things, will not.    

Friend groups form on the basis of value more than race. Value can easily come from one's race and ethnic background, which is why it's so easy to join a cultural organization on campus and feel a sense of unity. But value can also come from class, and often times it does so more and more, the higher one's socioeconomic class. A very wealthy black or asian student may share more values with a similarly wealthy white student, rather than with a poor student of the same race.

During my college career, there were few extracurricular groups that fully sponsored fun for its members. My a cappella group was one that did provide financing for students with need to go on international tours (one reason why I donate specifically to the group every year). Another similar a cappella group at Harvard also fully sponsors all of its singers to go on an annual summer worldwide tour. These groups are funded privately, and have a rich history, which is part of the reason why its members, all brought together through a shared value, their love of music and performance, have the unique opportunity to socialize equally.  

This is all to say that Bruni is right in pointing out an issue, a lack of diversity within the university, but wrong about the cause or solution. Programming, discussion groups, or student centers may help slightly, but diversity of interaction between 18 year olds on the same campus is ultimately a class issue - an issue that starts for many students and their families long before the university comes into the picture, and which oftentimes the university can do little to solve.