Admissions Consulting / Help with Essays

ashleyfcashleyfc Alum Member

Hi,

Does anyone recommend a specific consultant to use to look over personal statements and additional essays? I don't need help with the admissions process more just someone to look over essays and offer suggestions throughout the writing process.

And preferably a service that doesn't cost thousands $$$

Thank you!

Comments

  • FilibusterFilibuster Alum Member
    100 karma

    Hi Ashley,

    I highly recommend 7Sage's Sarah Cohen. Sarah carefully sculpted my PS and DS - both huge factors for me outperforming my numbers. If I sent an email, I usually received a response within a day (no longer than a few days). With her direction, my writing improved tenfold. Her suggestions often left me nodding and muttering, “She’s so right…that’s perfect”. Sarah was genuine, professional, and meticulous (and patient… and committed…and supportive…the list goes on). Best decision I ever made. Here's her contact info, if you want stellar guidance: sarah@7sage.com

  • b______gb______g Alum Member
    17 karma

    Sarah Cohen here at 7Sage has saved my life with her editing skills! She is truly the best and works REALLY quickly. She took my essays from a 5 to a 10. Thanks to Sarah, I am getting into schools wayyy above my stats - I truly believe this is due to her writing help. Sarah is so kind and encouraging, and works with you to understand what you are really trying to say. I cannot recommend her enough! To kick off the process, she had me answer some questions about my life. She told me which stories were most compelling and I went from there. Sarah has made the process a breeze. She is so positive and has made applying to law school an awesome experience.

  • Eye_on_the_PiesEye_on_the_Pies Alum Member
    13 karma

    I was really really hesitant to spend this money on essay help. I didn't want to splurge, but I also needed to score decent scholarships so I can afford to send my daughter to college at the end of all of this (she'll graduate high school the year I graduate law school). Looking back, it has been an incredibly worthwhile investment. Selene Steelman has been a guiding light through this whole process. She helped me to enhance my application in every way. It is worth every single penny, from brainstorming to fine tuning to emailing me answers to questions I didn't even know I had until she sent them!

    I also thought I didn't need help with the application process and honestly, Selene has been an incredible asset. I am making my final school decisions now and I have so many incredible scholarship options (in schools that I should have just been happy with an acceptance without $$$) because of Selene's guidance. I also would have spent so much more time obsessing over my writing and I don't think I would have had an application that was half as good without her help. It was an investment in scholarship opportunities and I realized half way through the process that I was also protecting my sanity! Selene's email is selene.steelman@7sage.com, you really should reach out to her with questions!

    Best of luck!

  • EagerestBeaverEagerestBeaver Alum Member
    edited April 2020 703 karma

    Aaron Thier of 7sage is very good. The value of one edit I believe is 250$ and unlimited edits was 800$. While it is impossible to know which part of the application contributed to the final offer, I received a six-figure scholarship from multiple schools. While the price tag might be high to get help, if the app is excellent, it pays for itself many times over. If you are able to manage it, it is well worth it.

  • Vino VeritasVino Veritas Alum Member
    33 karma

    I also can't recommend Sarah Cohen enough! She helped me turn a mush of ideas into a beautiful and coherent personal statement. Sarah has an extremely rare gift with language... from word-choice to sentence level to larger structure stuff. She knows how to word things in exactly the right way to express what you wanted to say. Afterwards, I couldn't help but have her help with my diversity statement and LOCI. On top of that, she is very supportive and always responded quickly with lengthy explanations to my questions and concerns. I'm very happy to answer any other questions about the process!

  • olee2020olee2020 Free Trial Member
    10 karma

    Sarah C. has been an extraordinary consultant to work with. She’s incredibly smart, articulate, knowledgable, and quick! I have worked with Sarah for months, and I am always so impressed with how quickly she returns my essays with her feedback—usually within 1-2 days and more often by that same day.

    From start to finish, Sarah helped me reformulate my jumbled thoughts and ideas into compelling, coherent stories. In her feedback, she often poses questions to you so that you can really be reflective and authentic in your writing. Sarah has brought out the best qualities in my writing—and I honestly did not know I had it in me! She also understands that sometimes we may not agree with an edit of hers. Her suggestions are just that—suggestions, but I nearly always find that her suggested edits improve my writing.

    In addition to being superb at what she does, Sarah is also FUN. Can’t tell you how many times i’ve laughed at our conversations. She is kind, supportive, and compassionate.

    If you’re looking for an all-around awesome consultant - Sarah is a 10/10! I worked with Sarah for my entire admissions process. However, I have no doubt that working a few hours with her to go over your essays will be extremely helpful. Her contact is sarah@7sage.com, and I am happy to share any other aspects of my experience working with her as well.

  • ndas1234ndas1234 Alum Member
    3 karma

    Hi Ashley,

    Aaron Thier on 7Sage is amazing and I highly recommend working with him! I had so much starting trouble with my personal statement, and Aaron helped me figure out the perfect topic and craft the perfect statement, down to the last detail.

    I had also been a bit skeptical of the value of an admissions consultant, especially since I consider myself a good writer already, but I really can't exaggerate how good Aaron is. He helped me reflect on my experiences, find the right narrative thread to connect them, and then craft a compelling and well-written essay. Not only is he a fantastic editor, but he's also super nice and supportive through the whole process, which makes the stress of writing law school essays a lot more bearable.

    I'm headed to a T6 on a full-tuition scholarship and don't think I would be without his help writing a great personal statement. You can contact him at aaron@7sage.com!

  • lexxx745lexxx745 Alum Member Sage
    3190 karma

    Spivey has just an essay option. A bit more expensive, but I heard its well worth it.

  • hk135790hk135790 Free Trial Member
    2 karma

    I've been working with Brian Booker at 7sage since the beginning of my application process. Specifically in regards to the essays, Brian has been nothing but helpful and encouraging from beginning to end. His edits and comments were incredibly insightful, and I was able to see my writing transform with his help. He's also super prompt with responses and does his best to help with every aspect of the application process as well. I can not recommend Brian enough for his editing skills!! I was accepted at most of my reach law schools, and I give all the credit to Brian's impeccable advice and proofreading. My final drafts were everything I had hoped for and more, you won't regret choosing Brian!

  • Squash2020Squash2020 Alum Member
    18 karma

    I worked with the awesome Brian Booker. He responded quickly, provided insightful comments, and wove my law school strategy into the suggested edits. He's the best!

  • PomegranatePomegranate Alum Member
    577 karma

    Hi,

    Sarah Cohen genuinely deserves all of the praise that you see here in these reviews. Under her guidance I wrote all of my essays including supplemental essays and LOCIs. Her revisions and notes were insightful, clear, and extremely helpful. She helped me craft an exceptional application that told my story in an eloquent way. Looking back at my work with her, I see how much I learned just from her edits of my essays.

    Not only was she an excellent editor that made the quality of my essays beyond what I expected and helped me outperform my numbers, but she was also super attentive, kind, and supportive. What I liked the most was that I could constantly feel her genuine care for my success that made the process of essay writing more personal and meaningful.

    I’m endlessly grateful to Sarah and would recommend her services to any law school applicant.

  • alexjlevin27alexjlevin27 Free Trial Member
    4 karma

    I had an incredibly rewarding—and, honestly, fun—experience working with 7Sage's Brian Booker. I'm thankful to have had someone with such an impressive background and considerable experience by my side as I crafted my essays.

    As a splitter, I knew I'd have to weave the most compelling narrative possible, and Brian's help allowed me to do just that. He was personable from the get go—we started off with a long phone call to discuss the best way to shape my personal statement—and helped me produce a piece of writing that I am extremely proud of (and multiple T14 admissions results that make me pretty darn happy too).

    Honestly, my experience was so good that I almost asked him to review this post before I hit "submit" (of course, it's clear that I didn't enlist his help because this has been a bit long winded and more dry that I'd hoped—Brian would never let that happen).

    Although it seems like you really can't go wrong with any of the talented writers at 7Sage, I hope you give Brian a shot (he's at Brian@7sage.com). Also, if you (or any future student reading this) have any questions, please shoot me a message here and I'd be more than happy to elaborate.

    Good luck!

  • PeaceofmindPeaceofmind Alum Member
    446 karma

    I worked with Aaron Thier and he’s amazing! Very insightful comments and incredible work ethic. I’d highly recommend his service.

  • wwwtttttwwwttttt Member
    172 karma

    Thank you so much for the recommendations everyone!

  • CAS_8787CAS_8787 Member
    16 karma

    A bit late here, but I just wanted to throw in my recommendation for Kurt Pitzer at 7Sage because I haven't seen him mentioned yet and his help was invaluable when it came to making my essays really shine. From giving me brainstorming prompts to get me out of my head and to start writing, to feedback about what was working and what wasn't both in terms of content and style, suggestions about what to cut to meet word/page limits for certain schools and still have a compelling essay, to general help proofreading, Kurt helped me ensure that I was weaving a consistent and compelling narrative across all of my essays and that they were as polished as possible.

    It's impossible to know what part(s) of an application ultimately convince a school to admit a person, but I was admitted to a top law school that, based on my numbers, the 7Sage predictor said I had only about a 10% chance of being admitted to, as well as all of the other T14 schools to which I applied with generous scholarships. I am fairly certain that a major factor was the strength of the written portions of my applications, and I have Kurt to thank for helping me make those as compelling and polished as possible.

    It goes without saying that Kurt is a talented writer and editor, but he's also just plain a joy to work with. He's personable, patient, and quick to respond. The style of writing one has to do for law school admissions is both very personal and something that most of us haven't really had to do in the past. I know that as someone who does a lot of formal/technical writing for a living, I really struggled to get into the right headspace and adopt the writing style for my personal statement, so it was a huge relief to work with someone who is so patient and encouraging. I really felt like he had my back every step of the way and I can't recommend Kurt highly enough!

  • shiyuanwang8shiyuanwang8 Alum Member
    34 karma

    I was wondering, what were the usual costs of working with an admissions consultant? I am interested in working with one, but I am a bit worried about affordability.

  • DogOnBuffaloDogOnBuffalo Alum Member
    edited May 2020 167 karma

    I'm also pretty late here, but I wanted to recommend Kurt Pitzer from 7Sage! Apart from being a tremendous editor, Kurt was very approachable, and easy to work with. He was genuinely interested in what I had to say and write, and he helped me find an appropriate voice for my essays. He responded promptly, and was always encouraging!

    Hiring an admission consultant is expensive, and I understand that, for many people, it can be extremely difficult to budget-in. It's one of the many ways the admissions process disadvantages those of low-income backgrounds. But if you can find a way to afford it, I would highly recommend doing so. You owe it to yourself to create the best application you can create! Admission to a great law school, or receiving a huge scholarship can change your life, and I think that crafting a strong, cohesive narrative through your essays/resume is a large part of the admissions decision process.

    With the help of Kurt, I was admitted to Stanford, Harvard, Chicago, NYU, and a few other phenomenal law schools. I suppose that there's no way to know if my cycle would have been different without an admissions consultant, but I have absolutely no regrets!

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