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College Essay Coach | Students Admitted to Columbia, MIT, Yale
Sam F.

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Hourly Rate: $150
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About Sam

Bio

I spent seven years directing the writing program at YES Scholars, where I worked one on one with students on college essays, personal statements, and applications. More than 100 of those students were admitted to selective schools including Columbia, MIT, Yale, and Georgetown, along with specialized public high schools and independent boarding schools. I also built the program's creative nonfiction curriculum, which focused on narrative voice and personal storytelling.

Outside of teaching...

I spent seven years directing the writing program at YES Scholars, where I worked one on one with students on college essays, personal statements, and applications. More than 100 of those students were admitted to selective schools including Columbia, MIT, Yale, and Georgetown, along with specialized public high schools and independent boarding schools. I also built the program's creative nonfiction curriculum, which focused on narrative voice and personal storytelling.

Outside of teaching I'm a working screenwriter. I've written for Audible, IFC Films, Universal Pictures, and Paramount Animation. I have an MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts. Before that I worked as a literary associate at a New York agency, editing manuscripts and proposals.

I know both how stories work and what admissions readers respond to. My job is to find the thing students actually care about and help them write it in their own voice, not mine. I don't rewrite student essays. I ask better, deeper questions until the real one shows up.

I work with students on Common App personal statements, supplemental essays, scholarship applications, specialized high school admissions, and interview prep. I also work with students applying to arts and film programs, where portfolio and personal work carry extra weight.

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Education

Bard College
Literature
California Institute of the Arts
Masters

Policies

Schedule

Sam hasn’t set a schedule.

Approved Subjects

ACT English

ACT English

For six years I taught writing and grammar to middle and high school students and prepared them for the English and reading sections of high school and college admissions tests. I work with students on the mechanics the ACT English section tests: punctuation, sentence structure, transitions, redundancy, and word choice, along with the timing strategy the section demands. I have an MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts and a BA in Literature from Bard College. I'm a professional screenwriter, and I previously edited manuscripts and proposals at a New York literary agency.
College Counseling

College Counseling

For six years I ran the writing curriculum at a college-access program in New York City and worked one-on-one with students and families through every stage of the application process: school selection, application strategy, personal statements, interview prep, financial aid, and scholarship applications including QuestBridge and LEDA. More than a hundred of those students were admitted to selective high schools and colleges, including Columbia, MIT, Caltech, Yale, and Georgetown. I also advised on independent day and boarding school admissions and worked directly with admissions offices at those schools. I have an MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts and a BA in Literature from Bard College.
Creative Writing

Creative Writing

I hold an MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts and work professionally as a screenwriter and writer. For seven years I directed the writing program at YES Scholars, where I built and taught a creative nonfiction curriculum focused on narrative voice and personal storytelling for middle and high school students. I have worked with students across fiction, personal essay, memoir, and screenwriting, on everything from generating first drafts to structure, voice, and revision. Before that I was a literary associate at a New York agency, editing manuscripts and proposals for publication.
English

English

For seven years I directed the writing program at YES Scholars, building and teaching curriculum in academic writing, analytical essays, close reading, and creative nonfiction for middle and high school students. I have worked with students on structure, argument, evidence, revision, and voice, along with reading comprehension and literary analysis. I'm a working screenwriter with an MFA in Creative Writing, and I previously edited manuscripts and nonfiction proposals at a New York literary agency.
Essay Writing

Essay Writing

For six years I ran the writing curriculum at a college-access program in New York City, working one-on-one with middle and high school students on personal statements, supplemental essays, and application writing. More than a hundred of those students were admitted to selective high schools and colleges. I also taught analytical and academic essay writing, focused on structure, argument, evidence, and revision. I'm a professional screenwriter with an MFA in Creative Writing, and I previously edited manuscripts and nonfiction proposals at a New York literary agency.
Fiction Writing

Fiction Writing

I have an MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts and work professionally as a screenwriter, with projects for Audible, IFC Films, Universal Pictures, and Paramount Animation. Before that I was a literary associate at a New York literary agency, where I edited manuscripts and novel proposals for submission to publishers, so I know what separates a draft from a book that sells. I work with writers on structure, scene, voice, character, dialogue, and revision, at any stage from first pages to full manuscript. For six years I also taught fiction and creative nonfiction to middle and high school students.
Film

Film

I'm a working screenwriter with an MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts, and I've written screenplays, treatments, and narrative projects for Audible, IFC Films, Universal Pictures, and Paramount Animation. I work with students on structure, scene construction, dialogue, character, formatting, and revision -- including how to take notes and rewrite, which is most of the actual job. I've also taught narrative and creative nonfiction curriculum to middle and high school students for seven years.
Literature

Literature

I have a BA in Literature from Bard College and an MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts. For six years I taught literature and writing to middle and high school students, building curriculum around close reading, analytical essays, and how to make an argument about a text and defend it. I work with students on comprehension, thematic analysis, literary devices, and writing about what they read. I'm also a professional screenwriter and a former literary associate at a New York agency, so I read fiction and nonfiction the way people who work with it do.
Proofreading

Proofreading

I worked as a literary associate at a New York literary agency, editing manuscripts and nonfiction proposals for submission to publishers. I have an MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts and a BA in Literature from Bard College, and I write professionally as a screenwriter. For six years I taught writing to middle and high school students, giving line-level feedback on hundreds of essays and application materials. I work on grammar, mechanics, clarity, and sentence-level revision, for students and for adults with professional or academic writing.
Reading

Reading

For six years I taught reading and writing to middle and high school students, focused on comprehension, close reading, and analyzing how a text makes its argument. I worked with students on identifying main ideas, understanding vocabulary in context, tracking structure, and drawing evidence from what they read, including preparation for the reading sections of high school and college admissions tests. I have a BA in Literature from Bard College and an MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts. I'm also a professional writer, and I previously edited manuscripts at a New York literary agency.
SHSAT (NY HS admissions)

SHSAT (NY HS admissions)

For six years I ran the writing curriculum at a college-access program in New York City, preparing middle school students for admission to specialized public high schools and independent day and boarding schools. I worked with students and families on application strategy, school selection, essays, and interview preparation. My focus is the ELA half of the SHSAT — reading comprehension, revising and editing, and the timing strategy the verbal section demands. More than a hundred of my students were admitted to selective high schools and colleges.
Writing

Writing

For six years I ran the writing curriculum at a college-access program in New York City, teaching middle and high school students academic writing, analytical essays, personal statements, and creative nonfiction. I work with students on structure, argument, evidence, voice, and revision, from a blank page through a finished draft. I'm a professional screenwriter with an MFA in Creative Writing from CalArts, and before that I edited manuscripts and nonfiction proposals at a New York literary agency. I work with students at any level and with adults on professional and academic writing.
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Hourly Rate: $150
Contact Sam