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Former CMU Admissions, Author, Essay Wizard, Oxford Grad
Jackie S.

5.0 (109 ratings)

188 hours tutoring

Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee
Hourly Rate: $250
Contact Jackie

About Jackie

Bio

Fifteen years of college admissions experience, nationally-recognized author, hundreds of successful student essays.

My first job out of college was working as an Assistant Director of Admissions at Carnegie Mellon University where I read over 2,000 undergraduate applications. Those two years laid the foundation for my curiosity about the elusive "good fit" between prospective students and their intended degrees. Then, as I began my graduate school journey to a fully-funded Masters of...

Fifteen years of college admissions experience, nationally-recognized author, hundreds of successful student essays.

My first job out of college was working as an Assistant Director of Admissions at Carnegie Mellon University where I read over 2,000 undergraduate applications. Those two years laid the foundation for my curiosity about the elusive "good fit" between prospective students and their intended degrees. Then, as I began my graduate school journey to a fully-funded Masters of Fine Arts program with a less than 1% acceptance rate, I helped others through the even more complex and fragmented world of graduate school applications. My essays, fiction, and poetry can be found in popular and literary magazines and as a Notable Essay in the Best American Essays 2018 book.

My students have received undergraduate acceptances from the Ivies, Stanford, Vanderbilt, MIT, Duke, Carnegie Mellon, Barnard, UCs, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Swarthmore, Babson, Northwestern, U of Michigan, UT Austin, and more. Graduate applicants to Masters & PhD programs have received acceptances from academic PhDs, research masters, BS/MDs, MDs, law schools, and more.

I most recently was a Fulbright grantee in Hungary. I earned my second masters degree MSc in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology from the University of Oxford. My MFA in Creative Writing is from Boise State University, and I earned my BA in Creative Writing and History from Carnegie Mellon University. I taught college English and Creative Writing courses at Boise State University, a community college, and several K-12 camp settings.

My AI Policies:
I am morally and environmentally against the use of generative AI. I believe skipping steps in developing one's ideas stunts the enormous life-changing potential that going through an admissions process can bring. Putting life goals into words is more than a box to check. Please don’t contact me if you plan to use generative AI in your writing process.

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Education

Carnegie Mellon Iniversity
Writing, History
University of Oxford
Masters
Boise State University
Masters

Policies

  • Hourly Rate: $250
  • Rate details: College application work for high school students or graduate school applicants is $250/hour. Subject tutoring (as in homework for history class) is $150/hour.
  • Lesson cancellation: 12 hours notice required

  • Background check passed on 9/10/2018

  • Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee

Schedule

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Approved Subjects

Career Development

Career Development

I worked as an Assistant Director of Admissions for an elite, private university for two years. For the past four years, I have provided consulting services to adults on their "next step," especially in terms of graduate college. For me, education and career have a strong bond, but there is not always just one straightforward path. Being able to brainstorm, and see all of the paths that can lead to one goal– be it a specific job title, a location, or even a specific company.
College Counseling

College Counseling

I worked as Assistant Director of Admissions at an elite, private college for two years. Since 2012, I have provided private consulting on the admission process, the personal essays, and major/school selection to students all over the world.
Creative Writing

Creative Writing

I have a 3 year fully-funded MFA in Creative Writing from Boise State University. I have published short stories, creative nonfiction, and poetry in literary journals. My lyric essay was listed as a Best American Essays 2018 notable essay.
Essay Writing

Essay Writing

I have two masters degrees, a MFA in Creative Writing and an MSc in History of Science, Medicine, and Technology. My essays have been published in literary journals in the United States and popular magazines. I previously taught first-year college English and research writing, which are essay-based courses.
Fiction Writing

Fiction Writing

I have published short stories in literary journals in the United States. I also earned a fully-funded MFA in Creative Writing for Fiction from Boise State University. At Boise State, I taught two Introduction to Fiction writing courses where students created their own short stories and learned revision strategies.
Social Studies

Social Studies

I have a BA in Social and Cultural History. My degree enforced taking a wide range of regional and era-specific courses. My capstone course was on the special topic of Oral History, where I studied and critiqued the methods or oral versus written history, and how cultural communication and archiving styles has lead to different narratives within our history books. The research and critical skills I learned have helped me guide K-12 students toward a larger appreciation, and love, of social studies/history.
Thesis Writing

Thesis Writing

In my own education, I have written two thesis. One was for creative writing, and one was for the field of history at the length of an academic article. As a Writing Center tutor at two institutions, I have worked with students on their undergraduate and graduate-level thesis.
Writing

Writing

I have two years experience as Assistant Director of Admissions at Carnegie Mellon University and six years of Private tutoring/coaching undergraduate and graduate school applications.
English
Literature
Reading
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Ratings and Reviews

Rating

5.0 (109 ratings)
5 star
(107)
4 star
(2)
3 star
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2 star
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1 star
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Reviews

Fantastic, patient, and eloquent

Jackie is an amazing tutor and writer. She helped me for a little over a year on my grad school applications and personal statements. I had originally planned on applying to 12 STEM programs, but I only had to apply to 4 because I was accepted to all of them. I have zero doubts that my personal statement was a huge driving force in my application. Jackie is so approachable and is always willing to work around your schedule and your needs. It was such a pleasure getting to work with her! I would truly recommend her to anyone.

Anne, 14 lessons with Jackie

Fantastic, patient, and eloquent

Jackie is an amazing tutor and writer. She helped me for a little over a year on my grad school applications and personal statements. I had originally planned on applying to 12 STEM programs, but I only had to apply to 4 because I was accepted to all of them. I have zero doubts that my personal statement was a huge driving force in my application. Jackie is so approachable and is always willing to work around your schedule and your needs. It was such a pleasure getting to work with her! I would truly recommend her to anyone.

Anne, 14 lessons with Jackie

Excellent College Essay Help!

Jackie is a wordsmith, the kind I have not encountered before. She helped me take my college essays to the next level. Her commitment towards my work inspired me to work even harder. She always kept a positive attitude and helped me find a solution to whichever challenge that presented itself. I totally recommend Jackie because she will help you find your voice the same way she helped me find mine.

Jack, 1 lesson with Jackie

Excellent Tutor

Best tutor I've seen. So efficient. Flexible time to accommodate the needs. Mind-blowing editing skills. I would recommend her to anyone who needs help with college application essay or professional writings. - Addy

Suchir, 26 lessons with Jackie

The Best of the best

Jackie helped our daughter on numerous occasions with college applications and helpful suggestions on essay writing to gain access to her top choice universities. Jackie is always accommodated our daughters schedule and was wonderful with very prompt responses terrific communication so glad we found her and plan on using her many more times in the future! Thanks Wyzant, Jackie is the BEST!!

Laura, 4 lessons with Jackie

Great coach for college essay

She is extremely helpful in helping me brainstorm more deep and creative ideas for my next draft, and she also gives me lots of great advice in taking my essay to the next level. She cares about the opinions and concerns of students, and I am excited to work with her more!

Mary, 6 lessons with Jackie

Knowledgeable and critical reviewer

Jackie reviewed my essay for college. Her feedback was extremely helpful and helped steer my essay in the right direction. She worked with me to piece together the theme and form a cohesive essay.

Snehal, 4 lessons with Jackie

Awesome college essay tutor!

My daughter has been working with Jackie over the past couple of weeks to revise and rewrite her main college essay and supplemental essays. Jackie has been a god send as my daughter didn't want to share her essays with me and she didn't have a lot of support from her school to work on them. Jackie knows exactly what the colleges are looking for and also is a great writer and editor so I know when they are done working together, my daughter's essays will be polished, concise, clear and ready to submit. Thank you Jackie!

Karen, 9 lessons with Jackie

Absolutely Amazing!

Jackie is an amazing college application essay editor! In only the first two lessons, my essays improved so much more than I originally thought possible. She was able to edit and send back my essays within 24 hours of me sending them to her and she is extremely flexible which is perfect if you have a busy schedule. It was really easy to tell from the beginning that she has had lots of experience and she has given and continues to give the best advice and suggestions. Jackie is also very organized and approachable and will tailor her work based on your needs. I highly recommend hiring her as your editor for any essays!

Michelle, 8 lessons with Jackie

Organize and approachable

Jackie is a patient and organized tutor. We hired her to help make sense of my college age son's classes and expectations. We had some life events that put him at a little disadvantage and his self esteem took a big hit. We needed someone besides us as parents to help him see he could manage his load and do the work. She was the answer.

Terri, 2 lessons with Jackie
Hourly Rate: $250
Contact Jackie