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College Application Essay Specialist/MA in Writing
Marianne B.

5.0 (1,921 ratings)

7,095 hours tutoring

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About Marianne

Bio

Featured by Wyzant as one of its "Best College Essays Tutoring Online," I provide individualized coaching for students applying to highly selective colleges and universities that admission readers genuinely value: thoughtful stories that allows them to see how a student thinks and what important meaning they make from their experiences. With 20 years in selective college admissions, engagement with college admission professionals through NACAC, and teaching writing at the high school,...

Featured by Wyzant as one of its "Best College Essays Tutoring Online," I provide individualized coaching for students applying to highly selective colleges and universities that admission readers genuinely value: thoughtful stories that allows them to see how a student thinks and what important meaning they make from their experiences. With 20 years in selective college admissions, engagement with college admission professionals through NACAC, and teaching writing at the high school, college, and master's level, I successfully help students craft essays with emotional insight and a distinctive perspective. In other words, what makes “you” you.

My background, including a master’s in Teaching Writing with a focus on college-level academic and personal narrative writing, along with years of teaching AP English, informs how I work with students to produce successful college essays. In our scaffolded sessions, we'll identify the experiences that can be transformed into stories with depth, then move into refining the ways those stories can be shaped into clear, purposeful essays.

This same attention to attaching meaning to experiences extends across all written parts of the application, including supplementals, scholarship essays, activity list descriptions, and waitlist letters in addition to transfer essays.

Throughout the process, students often tell me that they feel in control and calm as they work through some of the most important writing of their lives. To help achieve that, I provide a framework that keeps students motivated and on track by structuring each stage of the writing process based on each student's needs. And by providing detailed session reports and written feedback, I keep momentum between sessions, ensuring that students and parents always know what the next step is as their essays develop from early ideas to polished essays that encourage readers to click “Admit.”

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Education

Illinois Wesleyan University: English Major/Education Minor
BA in English
DePaul University: Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse/ Educating Adults
MEd
St. Bonaventure University: H.S. Counseling
Graduate Coursework

Policies

  • Hourly Rate: $215
  • Rate details: LATE CANCELLATIONS: Charged for 30 minutes. NO SHOWS: Charged for full session
  • Lesson cancellation: 3 hours notice required

  • Background check passed on 8/3/2020

  • Your first lesson is backed by our Good Fit Guarantee

Schedule

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Approved Subjects

College Counseling

College Counseling

My 13 years in selective college admissions and engagement with NACAC, the National Association of College Admission Counselors means I have the experience of knowing what it’s like to be an admission professional and be unimpressed with an essay. That knowledge is my motivation for my work with students-- from across the US and worldwide-- to produce essays that gain undergrad, graduate, and transfer admission to their dream schools, including the top schools in the US. The knowledge that it's not just about great grades and scores helps me steer my students to speak directly to the admission officer, the one reader who needs to see a distinctive person who will intellectually and personally enhance their unique campus environment. These insights inform every interaction with my students, whether it's crafting successful personal statements, supplemental and scholarship essays, or activities lists, or even wait-list letters. My MA in teaching personal narrative writing continues to inform my work and will help you access your unique stories, strengthen your voice, and boost your confidence. And as we move through each step of the essay writing process, you'll find yourself engaged with the essential elements of college application essay writing: Understanding the nuances of each prompt to generate your unique story ideas. Deciding, through self-reflection prewriting activities, the characteristics and traits that you want to highlight to singularly position yourself as a candidate who stands out amongst your cohort. Discussing your best stories (ones that are neither cliche nor predictable) that reveal those exceptional characteristics, adding credibility to your entire application. Polishing each essay so that the admission committee will not only find it valuable and informative but also memorable. You'll also find yourself staying on track, motivated, and organized because we'll be storing our documents, including my detailed session reports that review what we accomplished and advise you on
English

English

Nearly every year, my AP Lit & AP Lang students beat the national pass rates in AP English Exams by 48%. I've been specially trained to teach AP Lit and AP Lang courses as a high school English teacher, and as a tutor, I develop individual lessons for each student, helping them through their coursework and offering additional official AP materials to guide practice writing exercises. I provide valuable and actionable feedback that moves their writing from the high school level to the level that AP Lit & Lang essay assessors expect-- the college level. My work as a writing tutor at a major university involved being embedded into college courses, from all disciplines, to present writing-based lessons and work individually with students on all genres of writing. I take the same systematic, organized approach to my AP tutoring, creating a plan for each student to identify and strengthen their weaknesses in all phases of their writing, from idea generation to the final proofread and polish.
Essay Writing

Essay Writing

As a top-rated academic writing and AP English specialist, I help students earn 5s on the AP Lit and Lang exams. My master's is specifically focused on teaching essay writing at the college level, and my work with students centers on the AP curriculum, which is the kind of intensive critical thinking, rhetorical analysis, and advanced writing that aligns most with my expertise. Using targeted official College Board materials, actionable feedback that they can immediately apply to their work, students begin to see how writing actually works: shaping ideas into effective arguments, revising sentences and paragraphs for clarity, and writing with a clear intention and purpose.
Fiction Writing

Fiction Writing

I have extensive experience as a professional and college admission interview preparation expert, supported by formal training at a university career planning and development center. I have worked with individuals applying for a wide range of professional roles, helping them communicate their strengths clearly, confidently, and authentically in interviews. I also prepare students for college admission interviews at institutions where interviews are part of the evaluation process, focusing on thoughtful self-presentation, strong responses, and meaningful engagement. My coaching is strategic, personalized, and grounded in a deep understanding of what interviewers are looking for.
Literature

Literature

Nearly every year, my students beat the national pass rates in AP® English Literature by 48%. My experiences as both a high school AP Literature English teacher and a college-level tutor has equipped me with effective strategies that can help you develop the following skills with any work of prose or poetry: a more active and interrogative mode of reading, a higher-level response to the work, and an an interesting, complex claim that is defensible with evidence from the text. Our collaboration will also expand your ability to draw conclusions, synthesize ideas, and form an understanding of the work, including the genre and literary movement. With AP Lit, I work by teaching strategies for writing the FRQ responses such as literary argument, analysis & interpretation, and criticism. Together, we dig deeper so you can confidently comment on the eternal questions that literature asks us to grapple with.
Personal Statements

Personal Statements

I’ve worked with students from across the US and worldwide to gain undergrad, graduate, and transfer admission to their dream schools, including the top schools in the US. These results come from my 13 years in selective college admissions and my engagement with NACAC, the National Association of College Admission Counselors. It's not just about great grades and scores; the admission committee wants to see a distinctive person who will intellectually and personally engage with their unique campus environment. This specialized insight informs my approach to guiding each student in crafting successful personal statements, supplemental and scholarship essays, activities lists, and wait-list letters. My Master's degree-level expertise in teaching personal narrative writing informs my ability to help students access their unique voice, thus bolstering their self agency by engaging in each step of the application essay process: Understanding the nuances of each prompt to generate a unique idea. Deciding, through self-reflection prewriting activities, the characteristics and traits that they will highlight to singularly position themselves, making them stand out amongst other candidates. Finding the best story (one that is neither cliche nor predictable) that reveals those exceptional characteristics, adding credibility to their essay. Polishing it into an essay so original that the admission committee will not only find it valuable and informative but also memorable. I keep students on track, motivated, and organized by storing all documents, including my detailed session reports that review what we accomplished and advise them on the next steps to move forward, in a shared google document. This helps reduce stress-- in fact, my students tell me that working with me is fun, and that they've learned a lot about themselves throughout this process because of our collaboration on choosing the best topics, style, and structure, as well as from my targeted feedback that helps find interesting intersections th
Proofreading

Proofreading

I am a highly qualified, professionally trained academic editor with 20 years of professional editing experience and expertise in all high-stakes business and academic writing: university undergrad and graduate admission essays, university assignments, master's thesis, PhD dissertations, and manuscripts for journal submission. I am efficient and effective, providing suggested in-text and actionable margin comments that adhere to all conventions of excellent writing: Organizing for logical flow of ideas for clarity Identifying and correcting sentence-level issues in terminology, tone, and syntax by rephrasing awkward sentences Correcting formatting issues My collaboration with your writing project will improve the value of your work for the reader, so you can focus on your writing and submit your final draft with confidence.

Examples of Expertise

Marianne has provided examples of their subject expertise by answering 1 question submitted by students on Wyzant’s Ask an Expert.

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Ratings and Reviews

Rating

5.0 (1,921 ratings)
5 star
(1,885)
4 star
(20)
3 star
(5)
2 star
(2)
1 star
(9)

Reviews

Spectacular college essay tutor/coach

Marianne helped my daughter tremendously, to brainstorm, edit and craft her college personal statement and supplemental essays. Her feedback was extensive and detailed. Marianne was helpful in keeping my daughter, a notorious procrastinator, on track by reaching out to her periodically, checking with her to see how her final drafts were coming along. Marianne truly made the entire essay writing process fun and rewarding rather than intimidating or strenuous. She’s an excellent college essay coach! The very best! Thank you for being so patient with my daughter!

Inoka, 10 lessons with Marianne
Tutor responded:

Thanks for your incredibly kind words! I was thrilled to hear about her acceptances to her reach schools and that she'll be attending her dream school--the highly competitive UC Berkeley M.E.T. Program that has a 3% acceptance rate. I had no doubt about her accomplishments, dedication, hard work, and remarkable abilities, and it'd been clear all along that she had great stories to tell. I'm grateful to have played a role in turning her experiences into compelling essays that reveal her qualities to the admission readers. Marianne

Essay Writing Instructor

We’re so grateful for Marianne’s guidance at the start of my son’s essay-writing journey. She had him fill out a thoughtful intake questionnaire with thought-provoking questions, and used his answers to surface details from his life that made his essays richer and more personal. She helped him find the different threads of his story and gave him the confidence to write in his own authentic voice, rather than forcing a “what admissions wants to hear” tone. My son has since drafted his essays and is working through revisions, but the foundation Marianne helped him build early on made all the difference.

Joan, 2 lessons with Marianne

Great essay review

Marianne has been extremely helpful with reviewing college essays. Her comments and suggestions are detailed and to the points. My kid has benefited a lot. Thank you!

Ludan, 5 lessons with Marianne

Encouraging and Involved Tutor

I had only 3 months to prepare for the AP Lang exam and was really struggling with the essay writing portion, but with Marianne's teaching, I was able to grasp and adapt to the style and time constraints and received a 5! Marianne demonstrated how to cut out unnecessary parts and provided a structure to hold to, and this made my essays much more concise, effective and easy to write within the time frame. Part of this involved instruction on what each element of the essay is and is meant to achieve, which ensured I included everything I needed to form a sophisticated essay with proper analysis. Additionally, she directed me on efficient annotation strategies and creating a conversation of sources in the synthesis essay. Marianne encouraged and guided me in selecting the best fitting word choice, rather than the vague or obvious one, which improved the quality and sophistication of my writing. She also provided very specific advice on time management that allowed me to complete all 3 essays with time to spare on test day.

Lily, 11 lessons with Marianne

Review for Marianne B.

Marianne has been Maya's AP Language tutor, and we couldn't be happier with our experience. She is incredibly professional, patient, knowledgeable, and experienced. Throughout the tutoring sessions, she not only helped Maya strengthen her writing and analytical skills, but also gave her the confidence to approach the AP Language exam with a clear strategy. We're delighted to share that Maya earned a score of 5 on the AP English Language and Composition exam. Marianne's guidance played a significant role in that success, and we truly appreciate the time, dedication, and encouragement she invested in Maya.

Meggie, 5 lessons with Marianne

AP Lit Success in Short Time

I enlisted Marianne's help to prepare my daughter for the AP Lit exam since her school does not offer the course. In a short amount of time (7 lessons), Marianne helped my daughter to understand the structure of the test and how to strategize addressing the questions. My daughter found Marianne to be very helpful and encouraging. Without much further preparation outside of the lessons, she took the exam and scored a 5.

Caroline, 7 lessons with Marianne

Excellent Initial Session: Instills Confidence and Trust

Great introductory session. Set son at ease and got him to give an honest and thorough account of his struggles with AP English. Son is otherwise excelling at school. Marianne seems to be the right person--both in terms of compatibility and teaching acumen--to get him back on track here.

George, 7 lessons with Marianne

Excellent Advice, Support, Saffolding

Marianne’s advice and support were invaluable to our son. She was able to help him develop ideas, elevate his writing, and guide him toward producing a much improved personal statement. Our son appreciated Marianne’s approach and enjoyed working with her. In the end, he was proud of his work and credits Marianne with pushing him toward success.

Mary Bush, 8 lessons with Marianne

Excellent tutor for College Essays!!

Marianne assisted both my daughter and son with their college essays. She provided invaluable ideas to make their drafts more competitive and also expertly proofread their work. The final results were extraordinary essays. Thank you Marianne!!

Vignes, 4 lessons with Marianne

Amazing tutor!!

Marianne is helping our daughter with her personal essay and she is simply amazing!! We highly recommend her for any student!! Lovely and extremely experienced tutor!

Camilla, 4 lessons with Marianne