I was so fortunate to have Kristie guide both of my daughters as they worked to create narratives that got noticed.
It was such a proud moment when their essays received compliments during college interviews.
Verna, PARENT
The college essay your kid writes should sound like them.
Most don't.
Most students approach the college essay the way they approach a test: find the right answer, format it correctly, turn it in.
The result is a draft that could have been written by any competent student — one that doesn't actually let the reader see how this particular kid thinks, or what they notice, or how they move through the world.
Admissions readers notice. They've seen ten thousand versions of the same essay about leadership, loss, and lessons learned.
The Essay Compass is a self-guided PDF that helps students figure out what they're actually trying to say — before they write a single draft. It's built around the same framework I use with one-on-one coaching clients: what story you're telling, what to leave out, and how to tell the difference between an essay that describes an experience and one that reveals a person.
I'm Kristie Schmidt. I've been coaching college essays for over twenty years. I hold degrees from Smith College and Harvard University, and I write literary memoir — which means I think about narrative for a living, not just for application season.
The Compass won't write the essay for your student. It will help them stop writing the wrong one.
Works best for rising juniors and seniors who are ready to think seriously about their story — not students looking for a template to fill in.
In the end, the writing was original, authentic, and well received. And being that both student and parent were on our last nerve, you preserved our relationship and let me just be Mom while you got to be the writing coach.
I’m eternally grateful.
SHELLEY, Parent