Essay Coaching
Essay Coaching for Students Whose Parents Were Educated Abroad
Online college essay help for bicultural students across the United States.
About Zelda
I grew up between cultures, too.
I was born in Mexico City, the daughter of American diplomats, and moved between countries, schools and cultures throughout my childhood. I lived in Mexico, Barbados in the West Indies, Thailand, India, and Italy. Today I work with bicultural students, many of them children of immigrants, whose families are meeting American college admissions for the first time.
Why it matters
Why the essay matters so much here.
In many countries, an exam score decides where a student goes to university. American colleges work differently. Selective admissions offices read the essay to meet the person behind the grades, and for strong applicants it can tip the decision.
The common mistake
The essay admissions officers have read a thousand times.
The students who come to me are often brilliant on paper and anonymous on the page. With no one at home who knows what admissions readers want, they play it safe: a list of achievements, a summary of a résumé, or the story of their parents' sacrifice. That last essay is heartfelt, and admissions officers see it constantly. It rarely shows them who the student is.
Selective colleges do not admit the most polished application. They admit the student who is unmistakably themselves, and ready to keep becoming that person.
What I do
What I do.
My work is to get students to see themselves clearly and write with such conviction that admissions officers cannot look away. We begin with the interior work: the questions that occupy them, the books they can't put down, and the life ahead. The essay flows from there, in the student's voice, never mine.
For parents
A guide for the whole family.
Parents educated abroad know a different system well, and they want to help. My role is to explain the American process to everyone at the table, so parents understand why the essay matters and their student has time to write one worthy of it.
Yale library where I often studied while I lived in New Haven.
In their words
“Our family comes from two different cultures, and our son has grown up navigating both. When he decided to apply to Yale, we wanted someone who could help him tell his story without making everything about his background. Zelda really understood that. She asked questions that got him thinking about himself in ways he hadn’t before, and she wasn’t afraid to tell him when something he’d written wasn’t working. What we appreciated most was that she never tried to turn him into some idealized version of a college applicant. His essays sounded like him, just much more thoughtful and focused.
Jhumpa M.
Parent · Bangor, ME
How I work
How I work.
Hourly
Never a large package up front. You pay only for the work your student needs.
Direct Access
No handoffs to junior staff. Your student works with me, start to finish.
Online
By Zoom with families across the United States and abroad.
Flexible
Help with a single essay or partnership from eighth grade through the fall of senior year.
Questions from families
Frequently asked questions
01Do you work with students outside Minnesota?+
Yes. I work online with students across the United States and internationally.
02My child was born here. Is this page for us?+
Yes. Whether your student arrived recently or grew up in the U.S. with parents raised elsewhere, if the American process is new to your family, I can help.
03Should my student write about our family's immigration story?+
Only if it reveals something no one else could write. Many strong essays touch on family, but the best ones center on the student's own mind and character.
04When should my student start working on essays?+
Writing usually begins the summer before senior year, but students who start earlier have time to build the experiences their essays draw on.
05Will you write my student's essay?+
No. Every word belongs to the student. I help them find the story only they can tell and shape it into their strongest writing.
06How does billing work?+
I work hourly, never with a large package up front. Families can book individual sessions or choose a 5 or 10 hour package, depending on the support their student needs.
Begin
Let’s find the story only your student can tell.
Initial consultations are complimentary.