College Essay GuyReviews of collegeessayguy.com

My family chose the one-on-one 10 school essay support and add on college counselor support packages. Essay support experience: My son was matched with an essay coach who has been using the CEG program for 5 years. She had the experience to know how to bring out my son’s unique voice in his essays. I was not involved in any of the process until my son was ready to click submit, and me being able to trust a CEG expert and step away from the process was very good for my mental health. I trusted the coach and could let go of feeling responsible as a parent in this application journey. My son also meshed well with his essay coach and trusted her judgement. He was very happy to work with an expert and have me stop talking about college constantly. The CEG team has a parent questionnaire that dives into your student’s personality and how they relate to others. I felt with this questionnaire, my son was well matched with an essay coach and this set him up for success and not frustration. He really enjoyed the process. He learned so much about himself. College counselor experience: My son’s college counselor with CEG helped him build a more balanced list of schools. She suggested excellent schools that were not on our radar initially. She is a very good listener and was thoughtful in her comments and guidance. She really understood my son and what his goals were from just a few hours of Zoom meetings. I also appreciated her extra review of my son’s ED application to his first choice school. It was reassuring to have an experienced prior elite admissions counselor look at his application with a fresh perspective. Our counselor was both realistic and encouraging. She was easy to talk with and my son really appreciated her support. I was not 100% sure initially that this extra support supplement package was worth the extra money, but I am REALLY glad we did this addition to our package. I would choose to do this again. Excellent value. Overall, I researched several college admission support companies and I am still glad I chose CEG. I really like how CEG has resources for all socioeconomic levels (from free YouTube videos to full support). I feel like college admissions favors wealthy families, and I think it’s fantastic that CEG doesn’t exclude families that cannot pay full price. None of my other friends have ever hired a company for support like this (I live in a small town in the Midwest where nobody even applies to elite universities) but I needed to take the stress of elite college applications off my plate. I was able to let go and let my son and the CEG team do everything. I was completely not involved in the process, I just read the final product. It was a healthy decision for my family and worth every penny. I felt the value was great. I just wanted my son to have the best guidance possible during his application process. He did all the work, but felt the guidance and deadlines were very valuable. He’s an amazing person - deep thinking, hard working, wants to change the world kind of human, and I know he sent out his best applications to a wide range of schools with the help of the CEG team. I also chose CEG because it was a TEAM - essay coach and college counselor, but the “almost done” review done by a different person at CEG who didn’t work with my son was also important to me. It was great having a fresh set of eyes for a final review. Thank you CEG for making this process so much smoother for my family. I trusted CEG every step along the journey. My son was accepted ED to an elite university. His dream school came true!!! CEG is about the process and having each student present their best self, not about just acceptance letters. My son’s dreams did come true with the help of CEG, but even if my son had had to wait for regular decision, he certainly sent out a great application to all 10 schools and learned a lot about himself in the process. My son was very proud of his essays. CEG provided great support and it was always clear to me and my son that nothing was guaranteed, except for learning about yourself, your values, and diving deep into what’s important to you and why. What great learning experience for a high school senior!!! Thank you CEG. I would choose you again and again! My highest recommendation to any parents looking for college admissions support. I cannot praise this company enough. It made the admissions process really about my son and his goals and gave me my sanity back when I could trust CEG with the process. Thank you CEG!!!

It's important to know that with the current payment structure, the flat rate is the same for 3 or 6 essays, regardless of when you start. For your best value, I would encourage signing up several months before their hard end date of 10/31. I paid in full in mid-July, with the promise my son could start right away, hoping he would get most of the work done before starting a packed senior year. While it took my son a couple weeks to get his intake forms done, several e-mail requests were required to get started with a coach, with no real work going until mid-August. The coach we got was pretty good, but despite my requests to keep it moving, dragged out the process with the other coaches reviewing the work so it wasn't done until the day the applications were due. Because of this, I wasn't able to review the essays myself before the first round were submitted. When I read them before the second round was due, I noticed a couple typos in the Common App essay. Given the cost and that this was supposed to be edited by 3 experts, I was greatly disappointed. I will say they definitely helped my son get his writing done and it was much better than it would have been otherwise, but will look to see what else is out there next time around.

College Essay Guy is by far the most helpful resource! His courses are thorough and informative and the library of supplemental material is accessible for life after the courses, which is super helpful. I subscribe to the Counselor Essay Workshop in a Box and that is invaluable. There are resources for many different lengths of workshops and handouts that I can use.

I felt the access to the resources alone were worth the cost of the course. However, having the added bonus of discussing my thoughts and ideas with Ethan and other professionals in the course on a weekly business made this all worthwhile. If you've ever worked with a student that is academically talented, but just doesn't have confidence in their writing techniques, this course and the guidebook will help you immeasurably. I had the chance to use many of the approaches with my students in both small group and one-on-one settings and the results speak for themselves. As Ethan would tell you, there is no "one way" to write an essay, but these resources will help you get students writing, and that's the most important part of this process!

The resources are great and very helpful as a student looking for where to begin. The online class was a bit crowded which made it difficult for me to get my essay reviewed and wasn’t always the most helpful. Overall I think it is a great service thought there were definitely parts I liked better then others

Ethan's classes aren't just for those new to college essays -- they're great for anyone who's looking to make an impact with students. His simple, easy-to-implement strategies help students find the nuggets of potential topics that might have otherwise been overlooked. And not only does Ethan offer education, he offers community. Through his online and in-person sessions, he's helped me develop relationships with colleagues that last long after the last session ends. If you're on the fence about making the investment in your profession and yourself, just do it. You won't regret it.

I’ve loved every video, every tip and every bit of advice that Ethan has offered for writing college essays. I took the Essay Writing course for counselors last year and it has helped me tremendously to guide kids to write their deepest stories. The structure of the course has given me so much clarity on the process. I’ve enjoyed going over the brainstorming exercises with the kids and most importantly I’ve made heartfelt connections with every kid while working with through the process. Much gratitude to Ethan and the team of College Essay Guy. Thank you!

The College Essay Guy offers a wide variety of resources for students, families, and counselors, and not only about essay writing! Among the various resources are handouts, emails, webinars, courses, podcasts, and more, covering topics that essential to the college search, application, and selection process. Additionally, the College Essay Guy includes college counselors and admissions experts in his work, so that his resources can be as comprehensive and inclusive as possible. I learned about the College Essay Guy as a resource about six months ago, and I am truly grateful for the high quality and breadth of information he provides!