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My Approach

 

Over the many years that I taught for one of the largest test prep companies in the world, I came to realize that franchised offices for these companies charge large sums of money to cover the substantial overhead costs of operating a local business (administration, staff, facilities, franchise fees, etc.). Yet, they provide little more than organized practice and general instruction directed to students at all levels in a classroom setting.

 

There is some value in that, but it’s not good value and it’s not very effective.

 

It’s no wonder that so many students who take these courses never realize their full potential or get the specific instruction they need.

 

During this time I realized that what my students really needed to be successful in any part of the university application process (not just testing) was individual attention and targeted focus on exactly where their weaknesses occurred.

 

As a result, I devised an approach which uses one-on-one, face-to-face interaction (tutoring) and allows the student to know exactly where improvement can be made and how to make that improvement.

 

There are no “use it or lose it” class schedules to follow, no investment in a video library that contains many topics you don’t really need to see, just your individual work and one-on-one personal consultation at a time that is convenient for you. You pay for what you need and pay as you go (stop anytime). When you are satisfied that you have gained the improved competency you need, just say so and we will bring our work to a close.

 

Also, I use virtual technology for our meetings which eliminates the inconveniences of needing office space, traveling time, and traffic. I can meet with you anywhere you are, as long as there is a reliable Internet connection at your location.

 

The following list briefly introduces the skill areas in which I help international students and scholars. If you have any questions or would like to inquire about availability, you can contact me by using this form. My rates are listed here.

 

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For International Students

 

Academic Test Preparation (GMAT, GRE)

 

Does your math score look okay, but your verbal score needs help?

 

I specialize in teaching the verbal sections of graduate-level academic tests to students who are international applicants and use English as a second language (ESL). Of course, native speakers are welcome as well.

 

Many of my students consider the submission of a standardized test score to be a necessary evil, especially for the verbal section(s). Nevertheless, it is an objective measure of your verbal skills and an important part of how a graduate program evaluates your eligibility. Even though some universities waived test scores during the recent pandemic, many have reinstated this requirement. It is not going away any time soon.

 

Your immediate goal in academic testing is to maximize your score. This score will be different for everyone depending on your fluency and academic background. This is where I come into the picture. After evaluating your incorrect answers on the verbal section of a practice test, we meet and discuss where your major weaknesses and misunderstandings occur and develop a plan for improving those areas through instruction and additional practice/evaluation. Ultimately, the goal is to reach the highest score that reflects your academic fluency.

 

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Admissions Interviews / Scholarship Interviews

 

Interviews of all types can be intimidating if you are not familiar with the questions you will be asked and your answers. In addition, anxiety and nervousness can cause you to “go blank” if you have not rehearsed possible responses to questions. Knowing what to say and practicing this can have a major impact on your comfort level during an interview.

 

During this skill practice, I ask questions normally used in the standard interview (and comprehensive questions, if needed), evaluate your responses, and suggest ways to improve both your answers and delivery.

 

You can proceed with evaluation and practice as much as you desire to gain the confidence you need.

 

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Application Essays

 

Over the years graduate schools have slowly shifted their writing requirements for applications away from the personal statement and toward a series of short essays instead. Short essays allow the schools to request more specifically the kinds of topics they would like you to write about.

 

I can help you with your application essays in a number of ways:

 

• brainstorming content
• evaluating content relevance
• suggesting changes to create a more convincing essay
• editing already existing essays

 

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Personal Statements

 

Even though the personal statement has become less requested over the years (due to the preference for the short essay), there are still many graduate programs that ask for this document. Without previous experience, putting together your personal statement can be confusing because of the varied approaches promoted by different instructors. I can help you quickly understand the purpose of the personal statement, the fundamental components of the document, and how to communicate ideas about yourself that are brief but informative.

 

If you have already written a personal statement, you can submit this to me for evaluation and subsequent consultation about things to improve, if needed.

 

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Statements of Purpose

 

Graduate schools that have a research requirement or technical emphasis may request a statement of purpose instead of a personal statement or in addition to short essays. The document has a slightly different emphasis—it focuses more on what you plan to do during the program, not primarily who you are. 

 

To write a successful statement of purpose, it will be important for you to have a good general idea about what you want to research. The graduate department you are applying to must know if your research emphasis, or the academic activities you would like to be involved in, are compatible with the department's interests (of course they are because you will already have checked for compatibility). We'll make sure that your academic interests are defined well and your academic goals can be clearly stated.

 

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Letters of Recommendation

 

When requesting a letter of recommendation from that important professional person, there’s usually one major problem. These important people in your academic or professional life are usually too busy to write the kind of recommendation you need to get accepted into a graduate program. Instead, they will contact their HR department for a recommendation template (or just look at the Internet), make a few minor changes, and send off a standard letter that says you are a good student or employee but will not contain the detail you need.

 

How do you overcome this problem? Write the letter of recommendation yourself. Yes, you can put together a detailed description of your accomplishments on behalf of your referee and offer this as a quick remedy to your request for a letter. Your referee will appreciate not having to create something from scratch and you will have highlighted your best features. Your referee will usually agree with your descriptions, make a few minor changes, and send a letter that both of you are happy with.

 

If you need help with this, I can assist you with any part of writing process from brainstorming ideas for content, to organizing the letter, to editing and proofreading the final version.

 

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For International Students and Scholars

 

Academic Presentations

 

Presentations are intimidating enough when using your native language, and even more intimidating when using a second language. There are underlying concerns about using the right vocabulary, pronouncing words correctly, and worst of all simply forgetting what you want to say about your topic during the middle of the presentation.

 

As with interviewing, the key to a more relaxed presentation and more confidence is knowing exactly what you want to say and practicing this until presenting your topic feels "second nature" or completely familiar to you.

 

In this skill area we will look at your content (obviously), the structure of your presentation, how you will appeal to the audience, how to answer questions, and several other aspects of the successful presentation. And, of course, this will include presenation practice until you are completely comfortable with communcating your ideas. 

 

Academic Résumés / Curriculum Vitaes

 

For students, the academic résumé is unlike the employment résumé because it’s organization emphasizes academic experience and qualifications. You probably already have an employment résumé. To adapt this, I will review your employment résumé and help you to restructure it to meet the expectations of the academic reader. If you have already created an academic version of your résumé, we can review it for correctness and possible revision.

 

The academic résumé is required by most Masters programs unless the field of study is research-based and requires previous research experience. In that case, the department you are applying to may request a curriculum vitae instead. If you are a PhD applicant or a Masters applicant with a research background, a curriculum vitae will most likely be required. Unsure about the differences between the two documents? We can discuss this during a free preliminary consultation. To arrange this, contact me using information here.

 

And for scholars, you most likely already have a polished version of your curriculum vitae. However, if you are making alterations or additions and need someone to review your latest revision, I can review and give feedback to help create the final version.

 

Academic Writing

 

How we organize and communicate ideas can be done differently depending which part of the world you are from. If you are getting lower scores on written assignments than you expected, confused reactions from colleagues, or just feeling uncomfortable with writing in English, I can help improve your understanding of composition in the following areas:

 

• sentence structure
• paragraph development
• the organization of information
• document structure

 

We can work together at the level you need, from a simple review of your previous writing to complete lessons on “how to” in the areas listed above.

 

Editing

 

Inherent in the process of evaluating a document is the discovery of errors. Thus, it is expedient for me to offer editing services in my work whenever I look closely at student essays, personal statements, and other academic documents. I provide basic line editing which covers about everything that needs to be corrected during the writing process. Editing and final proofreading by an objective observer can make the difference between making a good impression or a bad impression depending on the quality of your writing.

 

In addition to academic document evaluation and development, I offer to make sure your document is as free of errors as possible at all levels from grammar and punctuation to document structure.

 

I have spent a significant part of my career helping international students and scholars "polish" their final draft of documents resulting in positive outcomes.

 

If you need this kind of assistance, contact me with a brief description of your document, i.e. type of document and length (you can also include a sample in the form on the "Contact Me" page). 

 

Note: Due to the variety of services I offer, I must refer manuscripts for books and other extremely lengthy publications (e.g. more than 50,000 words) to a full-time editor. There are many highly qualified editors that can easily be found on the Internet for this type of intensive work.

 

Even though I must limit document size, if you have an undergraduate thesis, masters thesis, journal article, or other lengthy academic document containing less than 50,000 words, please contact me to discuss rates and my availability.

 

Second note: If you are an ESL writer, I suggest that you utilize the inline proofreading tools found in word editors like Google Docs and Microsoft Word before submitting a document for editing. This makes the editing process much more efficient and less time consuming (a good thing for me). It also helps you to learn where you are making grammatical mistakes (a good thing for you). I will proofread the document after the final draft is completed (another good thing for you).