1-Week
ACT Boot
Camps
1-Week
ACT Boot
Camps
Prepare for Fall 2021 Test Dates
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These camps are week-long intensive introductory courses, designed for students who are just starting out, or who are looking for extra practice in a more structured environment. They run Monday through Friday from 9am-2:30pm. Read more to view the 2021 Summer Schedule.
Prepare for Fall 2021 Test Dates
​
These camps are week-long intensive introductory courses, designed for students who are just starting out, or who are looking for extra practice in a more structured environment. They run Monday through Friday from 9am-2:30pm. Read more to view the 2021 Summer Schedule.
Essay Writing
Individual Tutoring
Individual tutoring for writing involves personalized instruction and guidance tailored to the specific needs and goals of a student. Learn more about our tutors below or call in to discuss who would be the best fit!
Small Group Workshops
Each Summer, we offer workshops to jump start your Common Application Essay!
These courses are ideal for students who are in the initial stages of the writing process to work up ideas and complete an initial draft. Check back in for the Summer 2025 next Spring.
Individual Tutoring
Bob Finegan
Bob holds a B.A. in English and History from the University of Delaware, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Additionally, he holds an M.F.A in Creative Writing from the University of Pittsburgh, where he was awarded a teaching fellowship.
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Bob has been a professor of composition and literature at Drexel University since 1993. He has also taught workshops at the University of Pennsylvania Writers Conference and in the graduate creative writing program at Rosemont College. Since 2012 Bob has served as a writing consultant at the Wharton School, where he helped to develop a graduate writing program and continues to coach MBA students.
Bob's short stories have been published in The Sun, River Styx, The Antietam Review and other magazines, and he has received a literature fellowship from The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He has been wit hMJ Test Prep since 2006, and besides tutoring for the SAT and SAT Subject Test in literature, he specializes in helping students with college admissions essays and general writing skills. Bob is VP of Sales at 11 Trees, an e-Learning software company.
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Available via Zoom Only
$180/hour
$275/hour
Andy Snover
Andrew is a graduate of the Schreyer Honors College of Penn State University, where he received his BA in English, with a Creative Writing Emphasis. He also received a Minor in History, assisted by the head start of 21 credits he earned from his success on Advanced Placement tests in high school. Originally from the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Andrew attended Central High School where he excelled at academics and was a National Merit Scholarship Finalist.
Whether he’s working with an underprivileged high school student trying to master algebra or an elite NCAA athlete struggling to write a term paper, Andrew’s approach is to show the student that the subject at hand isn’t nearly as hard as it looks once it is unraveled piece by piece. He focuses on building a student’s confidence and is quick to apply positive reinforcement to continually engage and motivate the student.
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Available in Chestnut Hill Only
$275/hour
Patricia Noonan
Patricia holds a B.A. in Theater Arts and English from Boston College where she was a Presidential Scholar and graduated summa cum laude. While continually honing her own storytelling professionally as both an actor and playwright, Patricia has worked with students on their writing at the high school and collegiate level for over a decade.
In addition to tutoring students one-on-one, she has been a Guest Artist at Boston College, Emerson College, NYU, and Sacred Heart University and a long-time Teaching Artist in the public school system, where she developed several successful writing workshops, including “Jumpstart Your College Essay.”
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Patricia’s plays and musicals have been work-shopped and presented at Boston College, Emerson College, Goodspeed Opera House, the Philadelphia Women’s Theater Festival, and other venues at both the educational and professional levels. As a tutor, she loves working with students on the personal and creative work of crafting college essays. Patricia prides herself on getting to know each student, creating a safe yet creatively challenging space, and helping each student to discover, craft, and polish the story only they can tell.
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Available via Zoom Only
$275/hour
Small Group Workshops
Led by Bob Finegan
This course will help students develop essay topics and drafts for the Common Application. Since narrative is the most effective form for the Common App personal statement, we’ll focus on storytelling skills. Students will learn to use elements of nonfiction craft to engage the audience’s sympathies by dramatizing compelling events.
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Every student has personal experience that can be translated into a winning essay, but most high schools don’t spend enough time teaching this kind of writing. It can be hard to recognize the best essay material even when you spend days scanning your memory for it. Shaping that material to snare and sustain a reader’s interest isn’t easy either. Applying the principles and methods of creative nonfiction to this process can help students at every stage, from early brainstorming to final edits.
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The college admissions essay is an early and pivotal opportunity to reflect on your character strengths and to introduce yourself using personal narrative. In this way it prefigures career-related storytelling occasions like the common (and daunting) interview question, “Tell me about yourself.” Developing a strong personal narrative for your college application not only helps you prepare for such challenges, but can itself be a mode of illuminating self-discovery.
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The course will be conducted in workshop format. That is, we’ll review drafts as a class, starting with exemplary college essays, and then we’ll spend time brainstorming topics and discussing ways to refine class members’ drafts. The class limit of five students will ensure that each student’s drafts will receive plenty of attention, including detailed feedback on content, style and focus.
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The course is $900. Students may book below or call in to sign up and place a $250 deposit.
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Session Dates: August 11th, 13th, 15th from 3:30pm-6:30pm
Location: Bryn Mawr Office
Led by Andy Snover
This three session course will take students from the blank page to a solid rough draft. Activities will include review and analysis of successful essays, brainstorming topics, guided writing exercises, peer review, and more. The course structure, meeting once per week, allows time for writing and revision, with guidance every step of the way.
The course is $900. Students may book below or call in to sign up and place a $250 deposit.
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Session Dates: August 4th, 11th, 18th from 6pm - 8pm
Location: Chestnut Hill Office