Summary

The author describes their experience working as a freelance essay writer for college admissions consultancies, which proved to be a demanding yet satisfying job with fluctuating workload and moderate pay.

Abstract

The author, a skilled writer who once benefited from the guidance of a mentor named Anita, found themselves revising college admissions essays for a consultancy to earn a living. This work involved crafting essays that were not just grammatically correct but also engaging and authentic, reflecting the voice of a smart 17-year-old. The job was seasonal, peaking during the admissions season and leaving the author without work for several months. Despite the satisfaction derived from the work, the author decided against returning to it due to the intense nature of the job and the relatively low pay, especially considering the severance package received from a previous 9 to 5 job.

Opinions

The author initially felt a sense of disapproval from their mentor about the nature of the work, which involved helping affluent students gain an edge in college admissions.
The author acknowledges the ethical gray area of the admissions essay industry but also recognizes the allure of the work, finding it both challenging and fulfilling.
The author has a fondness for the craft of writing, particularly enjoying the process of adopting a student's voice to make the essays authentic.
Despite the high demand for perfection and the exhausting nature of the work, the author found the experience satisfying.
The author ultimately decided not to continue with the consultancy due to the demanding workload, the seasonal nature of the job, and the inadequate compensation relative to the effort required.
The mentor, Anita, is portrayed as a significant influence in the author's writing career, and her approval is valued by the author.

“Revising” College Admissions Essays

Hey, it’s a living

Everyone gets to graduate! WikiMedia Commons

I could practically see my mentor’s nose wrinkling when I told her over the phone that I was revising college admissions essays for an admissions consultancy to earn my daily bread.

Anita Eppley has been my mentor and probably my biggest fan since my days at Cleveland State University. When I got the crazy notion of applying to Columbia University, Anita and I probably spent two weeks writing and rewriting and re-rewriting my admissions essay. Spoiler alert: I got accepted. She was my English composition professor at CSU who firmly told me not to major in Journalism during my second quarter there as a “non-traditional” student (that means old; I was 38 years old when I started college). Her words: You’re too good a writer. Major in English with a concentration in writing.

“Not everyone has an Anita to help them with these, you know?”

Still, I got where she was coming from

The kids for whom I was revising these essays didn’t need an Anita. They had parents with money. A lot of money.

It’s a growth industry that’s more than a little sketchy. There’s a line in there that these consultancies cross at their peril. But with big money in play, there are going to be players in the game. I’d just broken up with yet another bat-shit crazy immigration attorney and answered a Craigslist ad for an essay writer.

The Best Worst Writing Job Ever

At least I made some people’s lives a LOT better

medium.com

I had to rewrite an excerpt from a pretend admissions essay and the instructions were to do more than correct any punctuation and grammar errors. They wanted me to turn that dull little paragraph into an attention-getter. I got the job.

$30 an hour, paid monthly

This turned out to be a total feast then famine situation. I came on board at the height of the admissions season and as quickly as I could churn out perfect essays that never exceeded the word or character limit, they’d shove more my way.

I’ve worked hard to overcome perfectionism but clearly I kept some germ of that sickness because these people wanted Perfection.

Beyond perfect spelling, grammar, punctuation and adhering to guidelines, they demanded that the tone and flow of each admissions essay be pitch-perfect. This was not work for a dilettante; it was demanding, exhausting, crazy-making work. It was also satisfying as hell.

I loved it!

Getting each next set of essays and seeing what was asked, what the kid had come up with and what I could do with it made me want to rub my hands together in glee.

I like slipping into someone else’s skin and talking through their mouth. All false modesty aside, I’m good at sounding like a really smart 17-year-old so my revised essays sounded authentic. I never interacted with the clients; I got my assignments and feedback from my manager at the consultancy. After she’d signed off on my work it went back to the kid for final editing before being submitted to Stanford or UPenn or Columbia or Dartmouth or Brown.

Famine follows feast

Then on the first of January, the good times ended. The season was over and there would be no work or very little work until things revved back up next October. I got a few last-minute jobs in March, but it was back to drawing unemployment benefits and tossing resumes into the void.

When my most recent 9 to 5er went south, it was just in time to wade back into the fray of admissions essay revision.

I passed. I know that consultancy would have welcomed me with open arms but I wasn’t up for kissing my life good-bye until the new year. Part of it was laziness; it’s really demanding work that doesn’t pay all that great. The best I managed at the height of the season was $2800 in a month and that’s just not enough money for working that hard deep into the night to hit every deadline. Plus I actually got a little severance package from that 9 to 5 job!

Back to the 9 to 5 again?

Last week I made it to a third-round interview for a really exciting position helping build a new communications department at the organization that just laid me off two months ago. But I didn’t get the job.

So here I am, back to throwing resumes into the abyss, and considering what it would take to throw myself back into the freelance arena. Here’s one thing I’m not considering, however, and that’s going back to revising college admissions essays.

Anita will approve.

Keep me honest: