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Award-winning College Counselor, Writing Coach, and AP/SAT/ACT Prep
Alisa H.

5.0 (137 ratings)

484 hours tutoring

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About Alisa

Bio

My success as a coach is based on first establishing positive and collaborative relationships with my students, strengthening their skills through encouragement and affirmation while maintaining high expectations.

I have over 20 years experience helping students surpass their academic goals. I started my writing career as a journalist, then spent 16 years in the classroom as an English and Journalism instructor before earning my College Admissions Professional Certification from UC and...

My success as a coach is based on first establishing positive and collaborative relationships with my students, strengthening their skills through encouragement and affirmation while maintaining high expectations.

I have over 20 years experience helping students surpass their academic goals. I started my writing career as a journalist, then spent 16 years in the classroom as an English and Journalism instructor before earning my College Admissions Professional Certification from UC and starting my own business as a full-time educational consultant and writing competition coach.

I HELP STUDENTS GET ACCEPTED TO THEIR TOP CHOICE COLLEGES. I've guided hundreds of students through the college admissions process from list building to writing personal essays to completing the application. You'll find my students on campus at NYU, Johns Hopkins, Wake Forest, Berkeley, Florida, the University of Texas, UNC Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt and beyond! I also work with students to find and apply for scholarships and have had multiple students earn full-ride college scholarships.

I HELP STUDENTS WIN WRITING COMPETITIONS. My students are among the prestigious Gold and Silver Key Regional award winners as well as Gold and Silver Medal National winners in the Scholastic Writing Competition. I'm honored to have been awarded Scholastic's Outstanding Educator Award. I've also coached shortlisted finalists in the John Locke Writing Competition.

I HELP STUDENTS SCORE 1500+ ON SAT and 32+ on ACT. As part of the preparation for college success, I provide personalized test prep that's enabled my students to improve as much as 110 points on the English section! Many of my students are among the highest scoring National Merit finalists.

I HELP STUDENTS BECOME AP SCHOLARS. All of my students have scored a 5 or 4 on the AP Lit and AP Lang exams. It’s rewarding to hear them say that they are confident and ready on test day. :)

I'm happy to answer any questions you have and look forward to meeting you!

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Education

Virginia Tech
Comm and English
UT Dallas
Masters

Policies

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Approved Subjects

ACT English

ACT English

As a former English teacher, I'm an expert on the reading and analysis skills needed to do well on the ACT reading section. Every one of my students has improved their score after working with me, some very significantly. These score improvements resulted in being accepted to their college of choice with merit scholarships.
College Counseling

College Counseling

After a career spanning from journalist to tech writer to HS English teacher (words and stories have always been my thing!), I shifted from education to educational consulting after receiving an MS in Leadership and Organizational Development with a Certificate in Transformational Leadership from UT Dallas. I then went on to earn my College Admissions Consultant Certification from UC Riverside which gave me the expertise to support and collaborate with students through the entire application process from deciding on a program of study/major to building a college list to writing essays to hitting the submit button on the Common Application. My clients have been accepted to Johns Hopkins, Berkeley, UNC Chapel Hill, UT Austin, NYU, Wake Forest, Michigan, UVA, Georgia Tech, Florida, Purdue, NC State, Vanderbilt, the US Naval Academy, as well as many other good fit schools.
Creative Writing

Creative Writing

I love helping students harness their creative writing voice! As a former English teacher, I have proven curriculum to assist with pacing and structure as well as incorporating dialogue and choosing the best words to match the story's tone. My students have won Gold and Silver Keys as well as National Gold Medals in the Scholastic Writing Competition, been shortlisted with the John Locke Writing Competition, and attended the prestigious Iowa Writers Program.
Personal Statements

Personal Statements

After 15 years in the classroom teaching English and Journalism, I discovered that my favorite part of the work was helping students tell their stories, a passion that carries directly into helping students write their personal statement. I started as a college admissions consultant after earning a Master’s in Business from UT Dallas and a College Counseling Certificate from UC Riverside. I stay actively engaged in professional development, touring colleges (94 and counting!), and attending conferences. I work with students of all academic backgrounds and interests. My goal is to help students understand their strengths, explore their interests, and present a thoughtful, authentic application that highlights their unique values, strengths, and voice.
ACT Reading
English
Grammar
Literature
Proofreading
PSAT
Reading
SAT Writing
Vocabulary
Writing
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Ratings and Reviews

Rating

5.0 (137 ratings)
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Reviews

Very helpful and gave insightful recommendations

Alisa was very knowledgeable and helped me gain a lot more confidence in the college application process! I went into our first session really lost but she helped me get on track with my personal statement and supplementals and provided me with lots of useful resources.

Aleeza, 2 lessons with Alisa

Detailed and Supportive

Alisa really helped my daughter with her Common App and Essay. She was very stressed out, Alisa helped calm her down and made her feel more confident through the process. She was very detailed and organized, improving my daughter’s application and essay greatly! Thank you

Jennifer, 3 lessons with Alisa

Good counselor

Alisa is an excellent counselor who helped answer all of our questions. She has extensive knowledge in all areas of college counseling and recommended many options that fit our requirements perfectly. We highly recommend her to any student in need of college guidance.

Giridhara , 3 lessons with Alisa

exceptional tutor

Alisa helped my daughter with some last minute AP prep. She came to the session well prepared and made excellent use of the time. She seemed genuinely invested in her success. My daughter felt much more confident after working with her and was very happy.

Michelle, 5 lessons with Alisa

Gave me helpful criticism

Alisa is an amazing tutor! She read through my college essay draft and gave me amazing criticism on what was good and should be kept in the essay and what should be changed. After my first call with her I felt way more confident in my ability to complete writing my college essay. I would 100% recommend her to my friends.

Kamile, 1 lesson with Alisa

Great frameworks and strategies to tackle challenging writing assignments

We are so thankful for Alisa's help with my 15-year old who had a very challenging writing assignment. My son was having difficulty even getting started with the research and writing. Alisa helped him create structure and made the assignment much more digestable so that it wasn't so overwhelming. She gave constructive feedback and direction for the subsequent meetings. She also did not waste time. If my son was not prepared, she ended the lesson early and asked him to follow up when he was ready. I would HIGHLY recommend Alisa to any student wanting extra guidance with a writing assignment.

Catherine, 12 lessons with Alisa

exceptional great tutor

We are fortunate to have Alisa tutoring both of our children in writing for over one year, and she is such an exceptional great tutor! She is excellent in knowledge of writing and literature, and her tutoring is so wonderful! She is always encouraging and inspiring, and she always gives very good feedbacks. Her writing skills is very high and she is very good at teaching. She is very sweet and responsible, and both of our children love her teaching. She is also very good communicate with the students and parents to work with our schedule. She genuinely care about her students. Under her help, our children improved their writing skills significantly, resulted in winning a prestigious writing competition. We highly recommend Alisa, as she is one of the best tutors we have ever had.

Yi, 29 lessons with Alisa

Very knowledgeable

Alisa is an excellent writing tutor, very knowledgeable, organized, and helpful. She also has a very positive and encouraging demeanor, we truly appreciate her!

Aarti, 7 lessons with Alisa

Supportive and encouraging tutor!

Alisa was immediately helpful and encouraging for my daughter’s ACT prep. She gave her tools she can apply and build on. We are grateful to have found her and I can already see my daughter’s test taking confidence improving.

Kyle, 8 lessons with Alisa

Amazing tutor!

Alisa is a super kind, patient, and supportive tutor! She provides countless tips that strengthen my writing and analysis skills, so I'm always learning and improving with her suggestions. Alisa is also very encouraging, and I really enjoy our sessions.

Audrey, 14 lessons with Alisa