Please reach out at A2essaymentor@gmail.com or text/call 617-821-9404
I provide expert one-on-one writing consultation through the college application season for students as they develop and perfect their main and supplemental admissions essays and get ready to write at the college level.
Annie Blais, PhD, is an educator with 30 years’ experience working with high-achieving young people as a classroom teacher, administrator, and founder/lead of college prep programs that have significantly increased college acceptance rates for low income students and students of color. I really enjoy teaching young people composition and editing techniques and helping them to use these essays to clarify their thinking in this transition to college.
Currently, I am an English teacher in Ann Arbor, as well as a teacher educator, education researcher, and writer. I hold degrees from Harvard College, Columbia University, and the University of Michigan. As a parent of three children in high school and college, I am able to provide an empathetic perspective on the work required by the post-high school transition. It can be a stressful time for the whole family. I’m here to make it easier.
"Annie prepared a schedule to keep us on track, coached C. through his applications, and removed stress from our lives. As a result, C. was accepted at 4/4 and received scholarships from 3/4 institutions. I highly recommend working with Annie on college applications."
-- Nicole, Parent
"If your child is needing writing help, especially with college essays, you MUST READ THIS! You all know I'm almost impossible to please, just ask [partner], who luckily has eschewed social media to have a real life. But this is going to be my favorite recommendation ever. My senior-to-be son and I were 2 hours from Ann Arbor to visit U Michigan, and I was looking on FB for people I knew that lived there. Not while driving of course. Annie Blais name popped into the feed, as did the notice that she had one spot for one wonderful student that needed her help writing college essays through her www.A2essaymentor.com. Oh, the serendipity. Guess who was pulling what little hair he had out over this boys essays....It was a no-brainer to text Annie. The work she did with my son was life altering. No, I mean it. Before meeting Annie, ___ and I were barely on speaking terms. Such was the stress levels over college essays, especially given the kind of..ahem...strong willed and demanding parent that I am rumored to be. It is not easy to outsource something like this, especially for someone that fancies himself as a decent writer and who was able to get his daughter through the process. But with Annie, and her ability to gently nudge both student, and parent, along the process (in my case, out of the process!), our relationship instantly improved. Trust me, even if that was the only benefit of her work with my son, it would have been worth it. But beyond the family-saving benefit, not only did my son produce a killer essay that really spoke to who he was at his core, but he learned so much about the writing process at the same time that he will take forward. A few specific things he noted: Annie was incredibly flexible and allowed him to work on teenage boy time, which many of us know is different than human time; She created a framework and process that was new to him that enabled him to keep focus on the big picture instead of being bogged down on details, which kept him moving forward when it seemed like he may have been treading water. These are all things he mentioned when he said "10 out of 10, she brought something out of me that I didn't know I had". From my perspective, frankly having anyone bring out that level of excellence from my son, while being able to deal with me, is nothing short of a miracle! If you are thinking about hiring someone for essay help, it would be a mistake not to call her."
--D., parent
"I was so grateful for Annie's work with my son through his college essay writing process. As a student who had spent most of his high school years during the pandemic, he came to the application process late and without much direction. Annie was unfazed by his lack of preparation - she quickly built a relationship with him and helped him identify and craft a narrative that was tailored to his academic goals and, most importantly, was authentic to his voice. He was accepted to every school to which he applied, and chose to matriculate into a highly-selective, top-ranked program at the school he'd dreamed of attending since he was a small child. I am so grateful to Annie for making this dream a reality for him!" -- Pyper, parent
"Dr. Blais was incredibly understanding and helpful from start to finish of the college essay application process. I credit her work with my college essay to my acceptance to a top university in the country!" -- L., college sophomore
"My high school senior son had an idea for his college essay but Annie helped him flesh it out. The turn around time after he sent it to her and her helpful suggestions on edits was remarkably quick. He was accepted to his school of choice. I truly appreciate Annie’s help." - Carrie B., parent
"Working with Dr. Blais could only be described as wonderfully productive. She is a fantastic teacher and helped me to craft my college essay to the highest standard possible." - A., college sophomore
While my work with clients focuses on helping them to craft writing that they can feel proud of, my deeper aim is for them to develop writing skills and confidence that they can carry with them, next year.
I take on a very small, select number of motivated clients through the critical four- to six-month application period (starting July or September, through November 1 and/or mid-January). Serving just a handful of young people allows me to provide quick attention to each person and strong communication with each family.
While my services do not come with a guarantee that a student will get into their top choice programs, I do have a solid track record of success. I help students define and achieve their ambitions. It's my goal to make the writing process less stressful for students and their families. References are available upon request.
Help at all stages of the process: brainstorming/discussion on how to tackle questions, prompts/guidance for drafting, content and editing feedback. I help students create a weekly assignment schedule and read the work they produce. I provide weekly feedback on essays, plan editing exercises clients can try out, meet with clients over zoom every two to three weeks, and respond to texts all the time. I check in with my clients frequently to make sure they're progressing. I update and confer with families along the way, as needed. See fee structure (below) for specific packages/scopes of work.
Required In Person or Zoom Meetings:
Contact:
First consultation: free. We discuss your goals, get to know each other, and think about the scope of work. After, families and students decide afterwards if it feels like a good match.
Fee: Payable upon signature by all parties to the Contract, before work begins.
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Package A: Summer Main Essay Development $1200
Time: 4 weeks [generally, July, or mid June to Mid July]:
Scope of Work: Brainstorm, Develop, Revise, Polish the Major Admissions Essay
as needed. Student writes draft 2.
August: Table essay. Total break from it. Enjoy the summer.
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Package B: Summer Main Essay + 2 Large Supplementals $2000
Time: 6 weeks [July to Mid August]:
Scope of Work: Brainstorm, Develop, Revise, Polish the Major Admissions Essay
+ 2 larger supplemental essays:
essay and research information essays
as needed. Student writes draft 2 of main essay.
Late August: Table essays. Total break. Enjoy the end of summer.
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Package C: Fall Package, August 24-October 26 $2500
Note: this schedule creates a manageable pace of work for students who are applying to approximately 5-7 colleges for the November 1 deadline.
Time: August 18 – November 1
Scope of Work: Main Admissions Essay + Supplementals:
Rotate development of the essays
activities section language on your own)
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Upgrade from Package A to B: Continue Work in Fall +$1000
Note: As my client load allows, upgrades may or may not be available; it’s important to me to not take on too many clients, to ensure better attention to each.
Scope of work:
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