Testimonials...
Thanks to all the kids, parents, and authors who took the time to shoot me these generous testimonials.
It means a lot.
It means a lot.
Homework Help
Charlie was an immense help in unlocking our 5th graders "writers brain". Previously, book reports and essays had been a titanic struggle for all of us. Our son had convinced himself that he couldn’t write and became overwhelmed whenever he was given a large assignment. Our own attempts to help him just led to frustration and resentment. We made the early mistake of suggesting that he work with a tutor, but this only made him feel more inadequate. We were all at the end of our ropes when we found Charlie the Writing Coach. Our son plays baseball, so the fact that Charlie was a “coach” rather than a “tutor” made the whole concept much more palatable for him. Within the first hour of working with our son Charlie had not only inspired him to think like a writer, but managed to put to rest the writers block that had been plaguing him all year. Staring at a blank page can be daunting for a 10 year old, but Coach Charlie was patient and inspirational. That's all we could ask for. Charlie's love of ideas and writing was infectious. Our son felt immediately at ease and was writing confidently. Thank you Coach Charlie. You're the Tommy Lasorda of the literary world.
—Michael Alberts
Father of Ashton, 5th grade
—Michael Alberts
Father of Ashton, 5th grade
College Application Personal Statements
The first thing I ever wrote with Charlie was my “personal statement” and I didn’t know where to begin. My first draft without Charlie’s help was a mess and I knew I needed help. As an American living in Hong Kong, though, I didn’t know where to turn. A family friend recommended Charlie to me and I never looked back. Working via Skype, Charlie was able to help me organize my ideas and portray them in a thoughtful and engaging way. Charlie doesn’t write your essays for you, he teaches you to write on your own. After spending a couple of hours with him you are confident about writing the other 6000 college essays by yourself. Without Charlie I would have struggled with my essays and may not have received the same results I did from colleges. Thank You, Charlie.
—Luke Spiegel
International High School-Hong Kong/accepted at USC, George Washington, Lehigh, UWisconsin, UWashington and URichmond, Tulane
Working with Charlie motivated me to finish my college applications—I had been working on them for months, but I was procrastinating over the supplements and essays. He helped me figure out what I was trying to say; how to answer the prompts, and what the prompts were actually asking of me. With his perspective as an outsider he really helped me pinpoint what I was writing about. Plus, now I know how to properly use m-dashes, and other punctuation!
—Natalia Garrotto
LACES H.S./accepted at UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, Emory, Tulane, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, and Goucher.
Charlie, thank you so much for helping me through this process. I accomplished more than just completed application submissions; my writing skills as a whole improved. I was hesitant at first to get help but I'm so glad I did. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
—Edin Golumb
LACES H.S/accepted at Hofstra (with Merit-based Scholarship), Syracuse, Lewis and Clark, UC Davis, & Northeastern
In less than an hour, Charlie helped my “personal statement” go from a legal document to a truly personal (and surprisingly inspiring) story. Revising and brainstorming with him is just so much more comfortable than with anyone else. He is insistent that his students infuse a sense of themselves into their essays, allowing colleges to get a feel for who the person is behind the writing. His input and support helped me receive admission from UCLA, USC, Boston College, NYU, Michigan, and 7 other schools.
—Charley Rock
Loyola H.S./UCLA Freshman
Charlie, thanks for all your help. Without you I don't think I would have ever been able to put my ideas together to write such great college essays. You asked me stimulating questions, following my hobbies and interests to help me figure out what is most important to me and what I want to achieve. Then you introduced me to free writing which allowed me to write large amounts on any essay topic, where previously I could barely come up with 2 coherent sentences. Finally, you helped me pull all my ideas together to create a coherent and involving story. You brought out the humor in my writing and showed me how to write in my own voice, rather than just list facts. The essays I wrote with your help had much more depth than my original ones, because people could now actually visualize me through them. My favorite essay was "Introduce yourself to us" for the University of Pennsylvania, which was limited to 150 words. You helped me write an incredibly witty 90 word essay, and I think that essay helped me get into UPenn. All of your help contributed to getting me into other top colleges too, like Georgetown, USC, all the UC's, and Boston College.
Thanks again for your help,
--Richard Phillips
Loyola H.S./USC Freshman
Charlie was able to help make the personal essay process go smoothly and successfully. By giving me helpful pointers through the brainstorming process and constructive suggestions through the writing process, Charlie helped me find my own voice, and best express the ideas I wanted to get across. Thanks to Charlie's coaching, I was very pleased with my college essays, and was ultimately accepted into schools such as UCLA, USC, and UC Berkeley.
—Ariel Fridman
LACES H.S./UC Berkeley Sophmore
—Luke Spiegel
International High School-Hong Kong/accepted at USC, George Washington, Lehigh, UWisconsin, UWashington and URichmond, Tulane
Working with Charlie motivated me to finish my college applications—I had been working on them for months, but I was procrastinating over the supplements and essays. He helped me figure out what I was trying to say; how to answer the prompts, and what the prompts were actually asking of me. With his perspective as an outsider he really helped me pinpoint what I was writing about. Plus, now I know how to properly use m-dashes, and other punctuation!
—Natalia Garrotto
LACES H.S./accepted at UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, Emory, Tulane, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, and Goucher.
Charlie, thank you so much for helping me through this process. I accomplished more than just completed application submissions; my writing skills as a whole improved. I was hesitant at first to get help but I'm so glad I did. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
—Edin Golumb
LACES H.S/accepted at Hofstra (with Merit-based Scholarship), Syracuse, Lewis and Clark, UC Davis, & Northeastern
In less than an hour, Charlie helped my “personal statement” go from a legal document to a truly personal (and surprisingly inspiring) story. Revising and brainstorming with him is just so much more comfortable than with anyone else. He is insistent that his students infuse a sense of themselves into their essays, allowing colleges to get a feel for who the person is behind the writing. His input and support helped me receive admission from UCLA, USC, Boston College, NYU, Michigan, and 7 other schools.
—Charley Rock
Loyola H.S./UCLA Freshman
Charlie, thanks for all your help. Without you I don't think I would have ever been able to put my ideas together to write such great college essays. You asked me stimulating questions, following my hobbies and interests to help me figure out what is most important to me and what I want to achieve. Then you introduced me to free writing which allowed me to write large amounts on any essay topic, where previously I could barely come up with 2 coherent sentences. Finally, you helped me pull all my ideas together to create a coherent and involving story. You brought out the humor in my writing and showed me how to write in my own voice, rather than just list facts. The essays I wrote with your help had much more depth than my original ones, because people could now actually visualize me through them. My favorite essay was "Introduce yourself to us" for the University of Pennsylvania, which was limited to 150 words. You helped me write an incredibly witty 90 word essay, and I think that essay helped me get into UPenn. All of your help contributed to getting me into other top colleges too, like Georgetown, USC, all the UC's, and Boston College.
Thanks again for your help,
--Richard Phillips
Loyola H.S./USC Freshman
Charlie was able to help make the personal essay process go smoothly and successfully. By giving me helpful pointers through the brainstorming process and constructive suggestions through the writing process, Charlie helped me find my own voice, and best express the ideas I wanted to get across. Thanks to Charlie's coaching, I was very pleased with my college essays, and was ultimately accepted into schools such as UCLA, USC, and UC Berkeley.
—Ariel Fridman
LACES H.S./UC Berkeley Sophmore
Independent School Application Essays
Charlie Cohen is many things: a teacher, a comedian, and an incredible writer. Charlie helped me mold my thoughts into essays that flowed almost professionally. I got into the school of my choice (Exeter), and I doubt I could have pulled that off without help from such a skilled writing coach. Thanks Charlie!
—Samuel Millner
Pilgrim School/Exeter
—Samuel Millner
Pilgrim School/Exeter