Independent School Application Essays

As my resume shows, I've taught Middle and Upper School English and Humanities at a number of Los Angeles-area independent schools, and I understand the culture of independent schools. I know how nerve-wracking the application process is for families, and I believe in protecting student-applicants as much as possible from that pressure. I focus on each student's particular, authentic voice and interests. Having worked a lot with secondary students, in grades 7 - 12 especially, I'm skilled at building rapport with your child and helping him or her write the best essay(s) he or she can write, however many drafts it takes.

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Artist's Statements and Other Kinds of Statements

and Proposals

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There are fields other than college and graduate school admissions that require some kind of "statement," and in those cases, I can help, too. I'm a poet, so I had to write an aesthetic statement for my Creative Writing M.A. thesis. Since then, I've written artist's statements for grant applications or on the rare occasion an editor wants to publish one along with my work. I've spent a lot of time with visual artists, so I've given feedback on artist's statements in fields other than creative writing. I know that writing about your own artistic work can be frustrating, so I can help you step back and look more objectively at whatever kind of writing or art you create. We'll find and clearly articulate some key ideas that underlie your artistic output and, if necessary, connect that output to contemporary critical theory.

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I can help with other kinds of statements required in different artistic, professional, and academic contexts, such as an abstract for an article or dissertation or a book proposal.

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