Hi, I'm Dr. John McElroy. I've spent 15 years teaching high school English and almost 10 years teaching college-level writing, including years developing writing curriculum at a major public university. I hold a doctorate in education, and these days, I help high school students write college essays that actually sound like them."
Most students don't struggle with their college essay because they don't have a story — they struggle because they don't know how to find it, shape it, or trust...
Hi, I'm Dr. John McElroy. I've spent 15 years teaching high school English and almost 10 years teaching college-level writing, including years developing writing curriculum at a major public university. I hold a doctorate in education, and these days, I help high school students write college essays that actually sound like them."
Most students don't struggle with their college essay because they don't have a story — they struggle because they don't know how to find it, shape it, or trust their own voice in the process. They default to writing what they think admissions officers want to hear, and miss telling a narrative about what's actually true and interesting about them. Unfortunately, this approach only leads to an essay which is quickly lost in a pile of five thousand others.
I use the same methods in my one-on-one sessions that I use with my university students — low-stakes drafting, honest feedback, and structured revision. We don't start with polish. We start with getting real material on the page, and then we shape it together, draft by draft, until it sounds like the student — just the clearest version of them.
I'm not a former admissions officer guessing what committees want. I'm someone who reads and teaches student writing professionally, year-round. I know what makes an essay genuinely good — not just what checks a box.
If your student is staring at a blank page with a deadline coming, I'd like to help. Reach out, and let's turn that blank page into something they're proud to submit."
