My Approach
Services
I tailor my services to meet your needs, since some students want a lot of help and some want very little. My services cover every aspect of the college admissions writing process, from brainstorming to drafting to revising to editing to proofreading. I’m eager to meet you wherever you are in the process and see you through to the moment you hit “submit.”
Areas of Focus
Common App essay
Honors program essays
Supplemental essays
U.C. Personal Insight Questions
Scholarship essays
One-on-One Guidance
We will work together using whatever mode of communication works best for you: in person, Zoom, email, or text (usually some combination of the above). Once you have completed your first draft, most of our work will be done asynchronously through an exchange of revisions and editing notes.
Summer Workshop
For rising seniors wanting to get a jump on the process in a relaxed, summer camp–like environment. We will read model essays by writers like E.B. White, Zadie Smith, and David Sedaris, and we will engage in timed writing exercises using autobiographical prompts from the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto. Students will create a master admissions essay.
If you’re not having fun you’re doing it wrong.
A personal essay is probably not something you’ve learned to write in school. I’m eager to help you discover this exciting literary genre and to get you fired up about writing your own personal essay.
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
petrickcathy@gmail.com
Phone
(415) 902-2643