Since I am a writer, and a professor of writing, I spend a lot of time working on the essays and trying to help students brainstorm good, interesting, and unique essay topics. I ask them to do a lot of writing. I also suggest reading lists. I am quite tough on students, and ask for multiple drafts and re-writes, since that is, I believe, where much of the learning takes place. Often straight-A kids will tell me that I’m the first person who has ever criticized their writing. My goal is to teach them how to write in the first-person, and how to think hard about themselves and what they are interested in and find ways to represent that to admissions committees. Often students don’t even realize how amazing they are. I never share anything they have written with anyone else (including parents). Often, though, at the end of the process I will ask permission from students to show their essays to other students if I feel that they have done a particularly good job.

Though I think it goes without saying, I offer no guarantees about the final outcome. It’s a random and often bizarre process, and anyone who says they can get your kid into Harvard (or Cornell or Northwestern or Wesleyan) is either naive or wants your money. What I can do is answer questions honestly, based on my experience and expertise, help to figure out what’s interesting and unique about each student, be a voice of reason (and sometimes gloom and doom) about the relative safety of a college list, and teach students a thing or two about writing.What I aim to do is to keep the process from being brutalizing for both kids and parents. It is certainly the case that I have a bunch of clients who have landed at top schools, but there are so many great kids applying for such a limited number of slots that there is bound to be disappointment if they narrow their choices too early.

My goal for my clients is to have them get as much of the application done as possible during the summer so that when schools starts in the fall — and they are taking their hardest course load — the pressure is lessened. This is especially true for kids who want to apply early.

The way I work is to bill by the hour, in quarter hour installments, keep track of my time and what we’ve worked on (phone, email, essay review, college list research, etc.), and send an invoice out at the end of each month. I do not have contracts and I ask clients to set the hourly rate. It’s important that the family pays what they think is fair and reasonable. The amount of time used varies vastly from student to student. Some kids just want some initial help thinking through schools and getting reads on their essays; others send me drafts of everything they write (often many, many times).

I do this because I love working with the kids. I become a mentor, and often, a friend, to students during this intense process. I can tell them things that they may not want or be able to hear from parents or teachers, and, when they learn that they can trust me, they confide in me as well. My primary relationship is with the students, but I am also available to talk to parents at any point in the process.

If you are interested in working with me, the best thing to do is to contact me, either by phone or email:
CONTACT
racheltoor@earthlink.net
406-370-5899 — mobile
2931 South Tekoa Street
Spokane, Washington 99203