Essay Review



Essay overview preview

Too many students overlook the importance of the college application essay. Learn why this writing is so important.


Essay whitneys story preview

Learn how Whitney’s college application essay led to a scholarship!


Essay brainstorming preview

College application essays require planning. Learn how brainstorming help set up Sara’s essay.

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Overview

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Whitney's Story

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Brainstorming

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Message From Jason

A college application essay should be a student’s best writing during their high school years. This takes time and a lot of drafts to get it ready. Sometimes it helps to have an extra set of eyes review the essay. For example, I think students should have their parents read their essays, because parents will be honest and may catch something like an error that the student did not see.

I also think it helps to have a stranger read it: someone who will also be honest with you. While in college, I was a newspaper writer and editor for a community newspaper. While working in the public schools, I would help students with papers even though I was technically a high school math teacher. When I retired from the public schools and began doing test prep full-time, I would have test prep students contact me to review and edit their college application and scholarship essays.

I have reviewed hundreds of essays.

Essay Examples

Process

  1. The essay review fee is $175. When you are ready to begin, pay online.
  2. Email Jason your essay: Jason.Franklin@BetterPrepSuccess.com.
  3. Jason will use Microsoft Word to edit your essay, so it will be easier for you to see his notes and suggestions.
  4. Review Jason's comments and make the changes you are comfortable with. After making the changes, you might want to have a parent read your updated draft to see if they have suggestions for improvement. When ready, email Jason your updated draft.
  5. This is a process. Usually, there will end up being over five drafts. It is not uncommon for a student to end up with over ten drafts. You and Jason will keep doing this until both feel it is ready. The fee covers all the drafts for one essay.
  6. Jason will need three business days to review your draft once it is received. Usually, it is much faster than that. There are times when a student and Jason can do multiple drafts on the same day. There are no guarantees since Jason has other responsibilities during the week.
  7. Jason will be thorough throughout the editing process using "tough love" because he cares and knows how important this application essay is.

Testimonials

I would like to personally thank you for all the time you have put into working on this essay with me. I loved the way it turned out and have learned a lot in the process. I appreciate all that you have done for me, truly. Thank you.

Isaac

Now, I feel like my essay gets my point across more efficiently and I feel more confident submitting it to colleges! Thank you for everything!

Emma

Linden made the change as you suggested and is very happy with her essay! Thank you so much for your very knowledgeable assistance. She feels very confident about moving forward with her application. You have been a great help with everything, and it is much appreciated.

Linden's Mom

Thank you so much for assisting me and getting my essay perfected in less than a week.

Jacob

Comparing my original essay to my current one, I believe it is much more positive and cohesive—everything from the first to the last sentence ties back and flows together very well. In my first draft, I focused too much on the negatives and how I thought as a child rather than emphasizing how I have changed and grown as a person. It took me months to brainstorm an idea I could stick with, but when I finally came up with the humorous idea of talking about my paleness, I knew that was the one.

However, I wasn’t sure how to connect that to one of the common app prompts, so I made it more about accepting the Mexican side of my identity. It wasn’t until you suggested that my essay be more reflective of me rather than what I should be that it finally clicked. My first draft wasn’t necessarily bad by any means, but this one is a lot better regarding the message. Plus, I tend to be wordy with my sentences, so my sentences aren’t as long as they initially were in the first draft.

Thank you very much, you’ve been a huge help!

Jocelyn

I feel great about it. It really has changed greatly over the course of these drafts. Thank you for being so helpful and patient with me. Your knowledge and critiques were monumental to the improvement of this essay and I appreciate that greatly.

Mark

I just read your suggestions... I must say you have helped increase the strength of this essay tremendously!

Jim's Mom

Thank you. I feel like he has never been pushed with his writing up to this point. Your assistance has made such a difference!

Shawn's Mom

It looks great! Thank you so much for helping me with this and thank you for getting back to me quickly. I did not expect you to be so quick with your feedback!

Ellen

Thank you for the feedback! I feel much better about this essay now than I did when I started writing it. I felt that my main problem was the length of the essay and how I would be able to wrap it up. I think the essay is much clearer now, so thanks again for all of your help!

Chris

Jackson admits that he has learned a lot about the writing process going through these edits with you! Thank you!

Jackson's Mom