Margaret is a graduate of Wake Forest University, with BAs in English and Spanish and an MA in English. She has tutored writing for five years, and has helped college applicants get into their top schools across the country with authentic and intelligent admissions essays. Among others, her clients have attended University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University, Clark University, and University of Maine. 

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Margaret brings both a playful and a disciplined approach to the admissions essay writing process. As a long-time academic and non-fiction creative writer, Margaret understands the challenge students face when writing a personal narrative. While students often expect a sudden lightbulb moment, the stories they are able to tell well come to the surface through their engagement with consistent dialogue and writing practice. Margaret helps students achieve this by combining her writing knowledge with each students’ needs, personality, and goals. Her process aims not only to help students write strong admissions essays, but also to support students’ confidence in their self-expression and communication abilities as they move beyond their high school years.

Available via Zoom or in Bryn Mawr

Alexander Guevarez currently teaches Upper School English at Germantown Friends School, where he has covered a range of topics, from Art of Persuasion: Reading and Writing Well to English Literature, from Tragicomedy to Taking Hitchcock Seriously. He is a graduate of Amherst College, majoring in English and Philosophy, and Johns Hopkins University, where he was a doctoral candidate in English. At JHU, he also edited The Norton Anthology of Poetry (Sixth Edition) as well as The Hopkins Review.

Bringing a combination of passion and discipline, Alexander is dedicated to teaching students to read critically and craft compelling essays. To this end, Alex strongly emphasizes process. His mission is to make literature and writing not only accessible to students but also to connect the work to their individual lives. Alex calls on his own experience as a student to help students learn how to organize and plan their busy schedules to maximize their time and performance.

Available via Zoom or in Chestnut Hill

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 

Andrew is a graduate of the Schreyer Honors College of Penn State University, where he received his BA in English. He also earned 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. He also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Drexel University, where he was offered a teaching fellowship.

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When working on college application essays, Andy believes that the best essays succeed in showing both a student’s personality and their insights about themselves. Voice, tone, and style can be almost as important as the subject matter. He first helps students distill the message they want to share — a step which often includes a measure of self-analysis and even self-discovery. Then, using some techniques from creative nonfiction and memoir, he helps the student tell an engaging story about who they are. Students often surprise themselves with the ideas that arise when they write, so Andy’s process is heavy on drafting and revising, with specific steps and targets along the way.

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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 or via Zoom