"The number of students applying to the 67 most selective colleges has tripled, to nearly two million a year while the number of places at those schools hasn’t come close to keeping up.
Today, high school seniors often apply to 20 or 30 colleges in the hopes one or two won't reject them.
That means admissions counselors are reading tens of thousands of applications every year."*
Why will they choose yours?
*The New York Times, May 25, 2025
Your GPA, SATs (which fewer schools now require), and portfolio of extracurricular activities aren't enough.
Admissions committees are looking for something else.
They're looking for the right fit.
You need to prove you are it.
Essays are the deciding factor.
A good one distinguishes you from the rest.
A weak one puts you in the REJECTION pile.
Why You Need an Essay Coach
What We Do
(That Others Don't)
WriteToFit's customized one-on-one sessions
show you how to:
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Avoid the traps that make your essay 'undesirable.'
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Leverage the ten secret strategies to make your essays stand out.
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Submit a first-rate essay (without anyone knowing you were coached).
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Fully understand what colleges are really looking for in the Common Application essay prompts, and choose the topic that showcases your best self.
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Find your voice, and weave it into every sentence (they want to hear it).
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Craft drafts that optimize the restrictive word counts (shorter essays are harder, you can't waste one word).
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Hone in on each supplemental essay to submit what individual colleges need to see (which isn't what you think they need to see).
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Revise, refine, polish, proof, perfect -- and submit the essays that get you noticed--and desired.
Typical Essay Questions (They're Not Easy).
Our college’s founding was in response to society’s call from an immigrant community seeking a particular education to foster social mobility. Which of today’s local or global issues is of particular concern to you and how might you use your education at our college specifically to address it?
Most colleges have mottos - a word or phrase that expresses the ideals that guide their actions.Tell us about your personal motto and how it guides you.
Tell us what has helped you understand the world's complexity.
Who You Are and What Will You Bring: Developing a strong, equitable, and inclusive community is important to us. After all, camels live and work together in herds. In 150 words or less, please tell us who you are and what you will bring to the community to help us grow into the best version of ourselves.
Dr. Maya Angelou inspired others to celebrate their identities and to honor each person’s dignity. Choose one of Dr. Angelou’s powerful quotes. How does this quote relate to your lived experience or reflect how you plan to contribute to the community?
We empower students to envision and follow their own paths to wellness. How will you lead a healthy life at our school, and how will you empower others to do the same?
Give Us Your Top 10 List
For one week at the end of January, students upend the traditional classroom hierarchy and teach classes about any topic they love, academic or otherwise. What would you teach that would contribute to the community?
If you worked alongside Ben & Jerry, what charitable flavor would you develop and why?
There are just under 4,000 4-year colleges and universities in the United States. Being as specific as possible, what interests you most about our college, why, and what will it mean for you to be a student here?
What We Offer
Stuck in a rut? Don't know where to start or think you have nothing to say? Sign up for a one-on-one ideation session to focus and get started.
One core essay will be read by every school, so it has to be your best. Hone in on the common app essay so it works for all schools
Some schools require 5 or more . There's also an opportunity to share details about special circumstances that may have affected your grades.
Parent, Chicago
"My son completely shut down when he saw all the required essays---he did really well on his ACT and assumed that would be enough to carry him. When his high school counselor disagreed, he was paralyzed with anxiety and couldn't wrap his arms around the whole process. WriteToFit taught him to navigate the process, and his anxiety level came down about 1000%."
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Testimonials
Student, Atlanta
"I had to write more than fifteen essays for my college applications. Fifteen! Each was specific to each school, so they had to be different. I couldn't repurpose anything. Totally overwhelming. WriteToFit taught me a step-by-step process to complete them all. After a few drafts I really 'got' what colleges are looking for. And I got in to my top choice."
Parent, New York
“My daughter used to sit at the computer for hours and not know how to start. WriteToFit's strategy helped her get past that 'blank page' stage, and then she was off and running. She had private sessions twice a week: She finished an essay each week, her school's writing assignments also improved, which upped her GPA, and in March she was accepted to four schools, two with merit scholarships.”
Elizabeth Shepard, owner and founder of WriteToFit, has been an executive for more than fifteen years at leading digital media companies including Condé Nast, Hearst, and Dotdash Meredith, among others. She received her MFA in Writing as a graduate fellow at Columbia University, and spent six months as a visiting scholar at Harvard.
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Vassar College and published author of numerous books (some pseudonymously), Elizabeth was an Associate English professor at Fordham University and Marymount College. She has also spent several years screening admissions applications for numerous institutions.
