Renowned researcher, writer, and teacher

I have taught at Duke (as an undergraduate!), Stanford, the University of Chicago, and UW-Madison.

In the top 10 students in all of my college classes

I attended Duke (BA, Computer Science and English), Cambridge University (Masters, Engineering), and Stanford University (PhD., English), all on full academic scholarships, graduating in the top 10 students of my classes. (I was number one at Stanford.)

College admissions committees

I’ve served on too many admissions committees to count and have worldwide university connections in technical fields and the humanities.

Stellar record with clients

My special expertise in coaching essay-writing has gained my clients admission to top universities, even when their grades and test scores were below the college’s average. I do not limit myself to straight-A students, although my record in this area is stellar. My practice finds great collegiate homes for students at every academic level, and I have experience coaching students from around the world.

What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?

Professor SuperPlum charges by the academic year, not the hour. Discounted packages are available for students who sign up for freshman through senior years, and for those who enter into junior and senior year agreements. (If you sign up for the four-year package, you get the freshman and sophomore years for no charge.) Thumbtack’s mode of representing prices is hourly, but unlike a lawyer and more like a physician, I typically charge by the job, not the number of hours I put in. Exceptions can be made in certain circumstances. The total financial investment you make is the same whether you join in eighth grade or senior year in high school or beyond, so to get the most for your investment, earlier sign-up is to your benefit.

What is your typical process for working with a new customer?

I begin by sending clients a short survey form to get a general picture of the student. We then have up to a 30-minute free online consultation at our mutual convenience, in which I learn more about client’s needs and desires, I discuss my services and pricing, and I answer questions.

How did you get started doing this type of work?

I began doing this work in high school when I helped friends and relatives with their college applications. I have consistently done such coaching and editing on the side for friends and children of friends and family since then. Serving on admissions committees sharpened my ability to coach. Now it has become my full-time business.

What types of customers have you worked with?

I have worked with high school students through med school applicants. My clients produce excellent applications, whether they’re straight-A students or still on their way to finding themselves academically. My clients have been accepted to big state schools that provide the oft-desired “Big-10” experience alongside an academic one, top-ranked private universities that offer tickets to all sorts of futures, and small liberal arts colleges that provide more student-professor interaction that leads to incomparable educations and careers. I have worked with clients who begin thinking they want one thing in a college, and they learn to love quite another option that I present. All my clients complete their time with me with strong writing skills that will carry them through college. This is much more than required, say, for an AP exam. I also work with students and parents who have not started on the same page about what they want out of the student’s college education. Say, for example, a student wants a music career and her parent wants an engineer. Mediating that negotiation is part of my practice.

Describe a recent project you are fond of. How long did it take?

One recent client and one client from long ago stand out in my mind. The young woman who is now a junior at an enviable university did not have anywhere near the standardized test scores the school required. We worked hard on all of her writing, and from her first draft to her last, she started as a good writer but became an outstanding one because she learned to catch a reader’s attention, fully understanding for whom and what she was writing. She now has a plethora of internship offers and is doing splendidly. One of the earliest students whom I helped earned mostly Bs and Cs. He had just lost his father, and he needed a small college that would act in loco parentis as he developed into his adult self. An excerpt from his admissions essay was read aloud at the school’s opening convocation, and he was quickly enveloped into the larger community and became a leader, which he had never been before. Because I measure success by the year and not by the hour, the amount of time it takes to accomplish these goals is hard to specify. They include a student’s whole background, academic and otherwise, no matter what point I enter into the picture.

What advice would you give a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?

Hire a coach as early as possible in your high school career. Obtaining the right college admission in the 2020s is harder than it was in the generation of current students’ parents. Sculpting a personal profile for college begins the first day of freshman year. For example, do not hire a coach who promises a formula or a secret method to follow. Along the same lines, a counselor who tells you on day one that you need to play two varsity sports on top of your other activities so that you appear well- rounded is reading from a playbook that is one-size-fits-all. Merely playing a varsity sport is one thing; being able to play at a level in which you win and earn prizes is quite another. If you’re not an athlete, doing it for its own sake does not get you very far. Colleges are not looking for each student who does everything. They look for individual students who are distinctive and bring something special to the table to compose a well-rounded entering class. I urge you not to be seduced by promise admission to the top 25 universities. The mathematics of admission are not that transparent and success rates only appear that high because rankings are flexible. There are so many different ranking systems that there are at least 75 schools that can rightfully make a claim to be in the top 25! Hundreds of universities fit into the top 100! Ratings conglomerate all sorts of information that may be irrelevant to your education and your future success. Even if you narrowly count only the eight Ivy League schools, the quality and diversity in the quality of education at each varies widely. Some provide direct access to top professors and opportunities. Others put senior professors on pedestals and filter your education through lower-ranked instructors, leaving you to your own devices. Choosing an admissions coach who collaborates creatively with students and families gives everyone the best chance of short- and long-term success and happiness. You do not want to spend hours and years obsessing over a single college only to arrive and find you and the college are total mismatches. Work with someone who learns about you and knows about individual institutions of higher learning.

What questions should customers think through before talking to professionals about their project?

Students and their families should ask themselves *why* they want to go to college and what they expect from the experience. Interrogating what internal and external reasons propel a student towards a university is more important than riding an assembly-line to get there. Consider what kinds of help students already know they need in the admissions process, and then be sure to ask trusted individuals, ultimately including your coach, what else might be missing from your plans. Think about things like the geography of where to attend college. Ask the bill-payer in the family what is possible financially. Contemplate the possibility that the majority of students’ projected majors change during college. Determine how a college could nurture the interests you develop and reflect on how you might make choices that allow maneuverability.