Success Story provides coaching services for college application essays and scholarship essays. A student emerges with takeaway skills: replicable strategies, methods, and tips useful for these essays as well as high school and college writing.

 

View details of our Services.

Do you need the Success Story team to do a one-time review of all your writing in an application before you hit Submit?

$850

• • This service offers an asynchronous, one-time review (via Google documents) of all written parts of the Common App or UC application after students have been working independently, have later drafts, or who return to us after a hiatus with the latest draft. You will receive a detailed, one-time review from 3 members of the Success Story team.

• • For the Common App: we will review the Personal Statement, one school’s supplementals (whether 1 or several, such as Stanford’s), Activities List, Challenges and Circumstances, Additional Information section, and any other writing longer than a few sentences required for a school.

• • For the UC application: the UC PIQs, Activities List, and Awards Lists.

• • For MIT and other schools with their own application, please indicate how many essays and other written components you will submit, and we can discuss.
  • You are welcome to share a résumé. This is for context, and we will not edit. If it’s treated as the 1 supplemental for a school, then it will be counted as part of 1 priority school’s application and reviewed thoroughly. If you also want a résumé review, it’s +$200.

• • This plan works well for students who want expert feedback from 2 specialists and who also seek detailed advice to make their application competitive.

• • This service works best for students who are submitting later drafts, not first drafts, of their application essays. 

• • Students walk away with detailed line edits and suggestions for improvement with links to essay models, strategy handouts to aid revision, and other actionable notes and guidelines to improve their application as well as a way to efficiently implement them.

• • Please add $250 per additional school. Please submit all school essays at the same time. (Adding additional schools later is subject to availability and additional reviews to refamiliarize ourselves with essays, therefore +$300 per school.)

• • Please note that this is a one-time review and does not include followup. If you need more regular revision support, consider the Full Service option, Sprint Intensive, or a series of Hourly Draft Review service engagements.
  • Ask about the Bookend Service: for students who book both Idea Lab and Application Review together! $1775
  • Returning families receive a 5% discount.

• • Reach out to request more information or schedule a call.

$235

Do you have 1 or more essays (800 words or fewer) that need a careful review?

• • This popular service of hourly consult provides you with efficient, meaningful feedback, and fast! A member of the Success Story team can send students right into revision, thanks to meaningful comment of narrative summary and line edits. 

• • Success Story resources (videos and handouts) are provided. Every line edit also comes with rationale, whether developmental, editorial, or proofreading comments. Students know how to complete their revisions, right away.

• • Please note that this is a one-time review and does not include followup questions and back-and-forth.

• • If you need more regular revision support and coaching, consider booking a series of Hourly Draft Reviews, or Full Service, or Sprint Intensive.

• • Returning families receive a 5% discount.

• • This service provided by a member of the Success Story team. 
  • 3 Hourly Draft Review Sessions for $675; 5 Hourly Draft Review sessions for $1075 or 10 sessions for $2100.
  • Please note that Lyn’s Founder Support is $250 per hour; 3 for $735; 5 for $1200; or 10 for $2350.

• • Reach out to request more information or schedule a call.

$925

Do you need a few hours of brainstorming to get started?

• • This service offers two items: access to the Student Workbook (a wide array of brainstorming activities, self-guided) and four one-hour Zoom brainstorming sessions.

• • This service works well for students who want to generate a bank of usable ideas for the Personal Statement essay or UC PIQs. Gets your essay or 2 PIQs to draft 2.
  • Students complete Workbook exercises prior to the live session, and come to the first Zoom session to work on reviewing and choosing content: stories and details, values and themes, and arguments. We discuss which details will offer the best portrait of their authentic identity, skills, and accomplishments to schools.
  • In the second Zoom session, students pitch a Personal Statement essay idea and outline (or draft, if ready), based on topic ideas recommended and sent by the coach. We will discuss how to ensure the essay has all the Admissions Nutrients.

• • Students revise to drafts 2 in the next 2 Zoom sessions, while working on revision in between.
  • If you just need to get started, and don’t need support beyond draft 1, ask us about Idea Lab Mini (2 live Zoom sessions): $625
  • Ask about Bookend Service: a special discount for students who book both Idea Lab and Application Review together!  $1875.
  • Ask about additional Hourly Draft Reviews! +$225

• • This service provided by a member of the Success Story team.
  • Please note that Lyn’s Founder Support is $1075 or $725.

• • Returning families receive a 5% discount.

• • Reach out to request more information or schedule a call.

$495

Do you want to tell your leadership story in a powerful way that gets noticed by schools?

Would you like to brainstorm what else you can do to enhance your leadership skills and impact?

• • This service is for established and emerging leaders who are rising juniors and rising seniors.
  • You will meet with Tami Polge, Leadership Consultant, to analyze your leadership journey through the lens of modern leadership theory and define your unique leadership style.
  • This service offers self-guided reflection exercises and two live online sessions.
  • You will discuss your experiences, strengths, and accomplishments. You will receive recommendations on your current activities list or résumé while also exploring ideas to expand your leadership reach. 
  • This service works well for students who want to generate a bank of usable ideas and stories for their Personal Statement essay, for their supplemental essays, for other applications, and for interviews. 
  • Read more about the Leadership Lab experience here. Read more about Tami here. 
  • Reach out to request more information or schedule a call. 
    

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$6600 for 6 weeks

Do you need help selecting your essay topics? Do you need help brainstorming and planning an essay? This plan helps you choose topics, build substantive notes and outlines, and begin drafting. It’s a great deal for students who want support with launching the process and who seek intensive coaching with writing skills.

• • 6 weeks or more of scheduled assignments, regular feedback, and daily access to support, helping students stick to a plan that meets multiple goals per week.

• • Intensive focus on brainstorming and development of ideas, on outlining, and on more fluid and flexible free writing to identify a student’s writing strengths and voice.

• • Specialized support for students with learning differences and/or busy schedules

• • Live (Zoom) support: 3+ hours of live coaching per week, which can include exercises, lessons, feedback, and mentoring through the writing process. Recordings are provided on request.

• • 3-5 hours of asynchronous (Google documents) support: feedback on drafts 3 times a week

• • Detailed developmental feedback (line edits and narrative summary with next steps). Video lessons and/or handouts included, tailored to student needs in the moment.

• • Leadership consultation to help students tell their emerging or experienced leader stories (no extra charge). 

• • Weekly deadlines to stay on track, email updates and encouragement, and a shared calendar. Parents are cc’d on all communications.

• • Grammar and mechanics feedback on any drafts considered close to complete

• • Success Story workbook strategy exercises and essay models, personalized to student needs

• • Recommended amount of essays to address in 6 weeks: 3 to 5. Timeframe can be extended if needed.

• • This service provided by a member of the Success Story team. 
  • Please note that Lyn’s Founder Support is $7000 for 6 weeks.

• • Returning families receive a 5% discount.

• • Reach out to request more information or schedule a call.

View a full-service plan comparison here.

$700

• • Students get four days of daily direct coaching from me in their documents, through a series of detailed line edits and recommended next steps. Students can up level a draft #2 to draft #6.

• • Feedback includes multiple line edits per page and narrative summaries, with links to Success Story model essays, handouts, videos, and other resources.

• • Daily review in the four-day period; students receive new comments by the afternoon of each day. Students need to set aside four days in order to respond with revisions to daily comments. Students receive a total of 5 reviews.

• • Grammar, mechanics, and other proofreading also provided.

• • Limited to 1200 words total.

• • Note: this plan doesn’t work for students who need help getting started or who have a rough first draft.

• • More here on the Sprint Intensive process and expectations.

• • This service provided by a member of the Success Story team.
  • Please note that Lyn’s Founder’s Rate is $850.

• • Returning families receive a 5% discount.

• • Reach out to request more information or schedule a call.

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Who is the Success Story team?

Ask about returning family rates or twin and triplet rates.

Ask about Success Story fall scholarships.

Ask about how I mentor young writers in the craft of creative writing.

Learn more about editorial work with adult clients here.

Contact Success Story.