At one point, I was offering $300 reviews of the Common Application Personal Statement for students who wanted actionable, detailed feedback on their CAPS. My reviews covered syntax, thematic and narrative consistency/cohesion, grammar, spelling, academic sophistication, redundancy analysis, word choice and whatever else I saw fit. In addition to in-text/sidebar comments, I also provided separate editorial commentary about the relative strengths and/or weaknesses of the essay as a whole.
The idea was good… but I failed to realize something. Giving students that information assumed that they had the skills and understanding to apply my feedback. They often didn’t. The result was that students would then rewrite or edit their essays… and then request another review or, more frequently, blow up my inbox with questions about whether or not they were doing something “right,” which amounted to an additional, unpaid, mini-review.
I quickly figured out that kind of disengaged feedback wasn’t working. It was far too time-consuming and created a vicious circle of commentary, correction, and more commentary. What did work was coaching: going through essays line by line with students and pointing out what I saw and why it did or didn’t work for me.
That model is now how I provide essay reviews/feedback. You can find that service in pricing under “Online or in-person coaching/essay reviews/consultations* (no edits).”
