Testimonials

Not sure if hiring an essay coach is right for you?
Here's what others have to say.

If you love your college applicant son or daughter, use Craig Heller to help him with his college essay.

I consider myself a hard worker but Craig matched me step for step. Even after we had marked my grad school Statement of Purpose “FINAL,” Craig continued to address my concerns, no matter how minor.

Craig was so helpful with the college essay word counts. It was often hard for me to know which parts of the essay to cut out or elaborate on, but Craig had a clear eye for keeping the subject matter as focused as possible.

Craig Heller has been an invaluable resource in my application process. He is especially timely in returning drafts during deadline crunch times. His knack for articulating my ideas into a more coherent, interesting and often humorous piece of writing is what makes him truly top notch. I have enjoyed working with him, and learning more about writing creatively beyond mere editing tips. I’d recommend him to anyone seeking to strengthen their essays with flair.

It was fun to watch Craig and my daughter develop their own system of working together.

The only way I’d write a testimonial for Craig is if he edited it for me. Only then would I feel confident sending it out into the world.

I am a “science person” and find writing very boring. However, since I was applying to many schools with many supplemental essays, I had over twenty essays to complete. One of the best things Craig did was help me find ways to use the same ideas over and over, so I wouldn’t have to keep writing new essays. Somehow, Craig made me enjoy (almost) this painful process.

Craig’s uncanny eye for exactly what should stay in and what needs to be cut brought incredible focus to my grad school Statement of Purpose.

Craig was instrumental in my son’s efforts in writing meaningful, sincere, and effective essays for his college applications. He made sure that my son’s true voice came out of his essays. We were extremely pleased with Craig’s guidance and firmly believe he inspired my son to write the best essay he possibly could.

With Craig’s help, writing the essays became a reflection on life. Craig encouraged our son, and us, to do some serious soul searching and, in some ways, the essays were like our score card for raising kids.

With Craig’s guidance, my essays went from an F to an A.

I brought my Law School Personal Statement to Craig thinking that it was pretty much finished. Five drafts later, it had improved about 200%.

If you’re looking to go to film school I highly recommend you seek Craig’s help on your college application essay. After Craig’s thorough advice and our ongoing conversations through the writing process, he allowed me to gain the voice I needed to grab the attention of Admissions Departments. My own voice could now be read on the page in a way that I was unable to capture on my own. Craig is not only a knowledgeable person and talented writer, but he has years of experience in the film industry and knows what schools are looking for in creative types. From concept through every revision, he is there to spark your inspiration while guiding your decisions in a smart direction.

Craig was an integral part of my son’s application process, coaxing ideas and stories from him that he might never have thought of on his own. I honestly don’t think we could have done this without Craig!

My nephew applied to 17 colleges, and Craig helped him with all the essays. We would not have made it through this complex and stressful application process without Craig’s help. He took the time to really get to know my nephew, and helped him write essays that reflected his unique voice. His writing style greatly improved by working with Craig. So, it turned out to be a great learning experience!

My daughter applied early acceptance to four different colleges. She was accepted at all of them and received merit scholarships from all of them ranging from $23,0000-$25,000/year. I sincerely believe she would not have enjoyed such success without Craig’s insightful guidance through this process.

Craig took us through an intimidating and unfamiliar process in a way that I could never have imagined when I first reached out to him. My son instantly trusted him and was willing to share so much. Craig pulled out all the things I adore about my son, and helped him articulate his thoughts, dreams, experiences and values. I LOVED reading his essays!

At first I was a little unsure about working with Craig through the computer instead of in person, but he is so organized that it made the whole process much easier than I could have imagined. Every essay I wrote had many drafts to ensure it was the best essay I could write. That was a new experience for me and taught me that it takes time to write a great essay. With Craig’s assistance I completed all of my college essays well before the deadlines, which was also a new experience.

I would recommend Craig to anybody looking for writing help. He may be the reason I got into the law school of my choice!

Wherever I got accepted, I owed a part of that to Craig.

College application is an exciting, but also a painstaking process, with the writing of the essays being arguably the most difficult and essential part of it. Hiring Mr. Heller was one of the best decisions of my life! His patience, dedication, speedy turnaround time and the wonderfully caring way of helping and advising my son, made the entire process not only less stressful, but actually a lot of fun. Seeing my son learning so much from him and finding his own style and voice was truly remarkable. I can’t express how grateful I am. Without him, we could not have done it. Thank you Mr. Heller!

My husband and I were very hands on in giving feedback and asking questions about my son’s essays. Throughout the process, Craig remained helpful, patient, quick to respond and, most importantly, astute in his guidance. We could tell he really cared about what he was doing, which was extremely reassuring.

Working with Craig was a completely enjoyable experience and I would advise students of all writing levels to seek his professional assistance. He is kind, flexible, understanding, and really cares about the students.

Craig was always available to discuss my essays, even if it was late at night or on the weekends. I felt like he really cared about helping me.

As an international student, I was terrified about writing my admission essay in English, but Craig made everything so easy! Now I’m ready to enter the university of my dreams next semester!

I actually looked forward to our discussions and tackling the essays.

I can say with complete certainty that it is thanks to Craig that I got all my 25+ essays done on time and ended up with a collection of essays that I am truly proud of. It was remarkable how accessible, patient, and easy to work with he was; day or night and everywhere in between, I could pick up the phone and know I’d be able to have a productive, motivating, and enlightening conversation with him. I’m confident that he’s capable of bringing anyone’s writing to the next level as he always seems to know exactly what advice to give. Thank you Craig!

Craig worked with both my children, on undergraduate application essays and a grad school Statement of Purpose. Their essays, and chances for acceptance, were greatly enhanced by his input.

Mr. Heller was always full of ideas, enthusiasm, humor and encouragement. His suggestions often added that “something extra” that raised the level of my essays.

When my son went for an interview for a merit scholarship (half tuition), they asked him about some of the ideas from his essays that impressed them. Since all of the students being interviewed had outstanding scores and grades, I have no doubt that my son’s essays were a major factor in his being awarded the merit scholarship!

Craig helped me find topics for my essays that were totally unique and reflected exactly who I am.

Craig’s system works!

Making the decision to work with Craig Heller was one of the best things I could have done for my daughter. He is a consummate professional and easy to work with. I was not referred to Craig but conducted an Internet search for essay coaches and decided to contact him. From the very first call, Craig was warm and inviting. He offered to have a conversation with my daughter, before I committed, to understand her objectives. My daughter liked him immediately and so did I. The fact that we were on opposite coasts did not impact the work that needed to be done. He would make appointments with my daughter based on her schedule and they would discuss her written work. The process became so seamless, I did not need to be involved. Craig is an excellent writer himself and brings his wealth of experience to students. My daughter was accepted into some of the best colleges in the country - 2 ranked top 12, others top 25, and she believes she could not have done it without his help. Thanks Craig for all you have done this year! You helped make a very stressful time painless. I highly recommend Craig and foresee him being used again for law school.

Craig put all of his effort into helping me with my essays and in turn, I have been accepted into some of the best colleges in the country.

My son was his class Valedictorian, yet I did not think his college application essay was as good as it needed to be. After working with Craig, however, the essay became a true reflection of how bright and special my son really is.

Craig had a tremendous impact on our son, and on our family as a whole. Our son’s essays set him apart from the rest of the crowd, in that he was able to be himself and project who he is into each and every essay. Thank you, Craig, for giving your time, expertise and most of all genuine thoughtfulness into this process. We are grateful for the outcome (he was accepted to fifteen universities) and that we committed to you to help him soar.

The essays were incredible! Craig has a gift. Working with him gave my daughter a new confidence in herself. Her writing style also improved dramatically.

I enjoyed my long discussions with Craig, as we brainstormed for unique essay topics.

The only words I can think of to describe Craig’s work with my child are “gently relentless.” His levels of caring and patience were truly impressive.

I appreciated having someone else give my daughter feedback. The college application process can cause a lot of friction between kids and their parents, and with a tight timeline and a lot of ground to cover, Craig brought the stress level way down.

Craig was always available when my son called with a question or an issue to discuss. He gave our entire family a wonderful sense of comfort.

Even though I was happily using a college advisor, Craig helped my son write an essay that went way beyond what my advisor could offer.

As a student from outside the U.S., applying to a U.S. graduate school, I needed an essay advisor who would be responsive to my particular needs. Craig played a key role by guiding, helping and supervising my personal statement, which eventually became one of the strongest factors in my application. He was also essential on advising me and explaining how to write for American universities, which are definitely different from other countries.

Craig had an intuitive sense of what I wanted to say, then helped me to say it.

Craig understood my son’s strengths and steered him in the right direction. They had a great working relationship.

After our initial discussion, I felt completely confident that Craig was the right person to work with my daughter.

Although we had enlisted the help of another well-known college consulting firm, Craig was by far the better choice for our son’s essay preparations. No doubt about it. Craig helped every step of the way, knows how to speak “teenager,” made our son feel comfortable, and we believe got the very best effort from him. We applied to thirteen colleges! Yikes! Although our son has heard from only six so far, he’s been accepted at every one. We couldn’t be happier. Thanks again, Craig!