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College & Graduate School Essay Consulting — In-Person & Remote

Why pay a human when
AI is free?

It's a fair question. Here's the honest answer — and why it matters more than you think.

10+ years consulting
★★★★★ on Yelp
Georgetown Law grad
Bloomberg journalist
Schedule a Free Consultation Read the argument →

"Matt is a godsend. From a single meeting he was able to extract a story that best represented me. That simple change resulted in more acceptances than expected and many large scholarships." — David H., Alexandria VA · Yelp ★★★★★

10+ Years Experience
★ 5.0 Yelp Rating
Free Consultation

The question everyone's thinking

Yes, I know you can use ChatGPT for free. I've thought about this a lot.

I've been helping students write college and graduate school essays for over a decade. And I'll be straight with you: AI has changed everything. I've watched my business shrink as students — and their parents — decide to use Claude or ChatGPT instead of hiring someone like me.

I get it. The tools are impressive, fast, free, and polished-sounding. But here's what nobody tells you about using AI to write an admissions essay.

AI is trained to predict the most statistically average next word.
This is how the technology works at a fundamental level. I produced a whole series on it for Bloomberg Law. It produces language that sounds polished because it reaches for the most common, expected phrasing — which is exactly what a college admissions essay should avoid.

Your essay isn't supposed to sound good in a generic sense. It's supposed to sound like you — at your most vivid, specific, and alive. The entire exercise exists so an admissions officer can hear a voice that belongs to one applicant and no one else. AI cannot do that.

What your admission essay needs to do.

When every applicant has access to a machine that produces decent prose on demand, the students who invest in finding and articulating their genuine voice are the ones who get through.

Three problems AI creates

The case against letting an algorithm write your most important application.

🎭

It strips your voice

AI smooths out everything that makes you interesting — the weird turn of phrase, the off-beat observation, the thing you say that nobody else would say. What's left is grammatically perfect and utterly forgettable.

📋

Everyone sounds the same

You're not the only applicant using AI. Thousands of students submitting to the same schools are generating essays from the same models, and admissions readers are already noticing. You can't stand out when the tool you're using is designed to blend in.

🎯

Standing out is literally the whole point

An admissions essay is not an English assignment. Its only job is to make a stranger remember you after reading hundreds of other applications — and an essay that sounds like everyone else's has failed at that job, no matter how well it reads.

“
Matthew went over my admissions essays line by line... He is a very patient tutor and makes editing really fun.
— Arshia K.
”

How to make sure you stand out from the crowd.

The work starts with a conversation, not a blank page. Most students already have the material for a great essay somewhere in their life — they just haven't been asked the right questions yet.

What working together looks like

I don't write your essay. I find it.

The essay you need to write is already somewhere inside your experiences and interests. My job is to pull it out, shape it, and make sure it sounds like the best version of you — whether you're a high school senior working on your Common App or a college graduate tackling law school or MBA applications.

Not sure if this is right for you? Matt offers a free phone consultation to walk through the process, hear where you are, and answer any questions — no commitment required.

Schedule a Free Consultation
“
Mr. Schwartz played a tremendous part in helping me get accepted to the university of my dreams. His guidance and approach to making college essays better is excellent.
— Yash K., Northern Virginia · Yelp ★★★★★
”

About Matt

A journalist. A lawyer. A dad who finds this work genuinely meaningful.

My name is Matt Schwartz. By day I'm a journalist at Bloomberg Law — before that, I spent years at NPR — making complex legal stories readable and human. I'm also a Georgetown University Law Center graduate and have won top national prizes for feature writing.

I started helping students with admissions essays because I loved the puzzle of figuring out what makes a person genuinely compelling on paper. Over the past decade-plus, I've worked with high school students applying to Ivies, elite liberal arts colleges, and large state schools, as well as college graduates writing personal statements for law school, MBA programs, and medical school. I've also taught graduate-level storytelling courses at American University, where I worked with students on how to present the most compelling version of themselves — whether in a personal statement, a portfolio, or a pitch.

My legal training taught me how to build an argument, and my journalism career taught me how to find the one detail that makes a story unforgettable — both of which are exactly what a great admissions essay requires.

  • Georgetown University Law Center — J.D.
  • National journalist — NPR, then Bloomberg Law
  • Edward R. Murrow Award for best feature reporting
  • American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award for Media and the Arts
  • 10+ years college & graduate school essay consulting

I've watched AI transform this industry, and I've thought hard about whether what I do still matters. I believe it does — more than ever. When every applicant has access to a machine that produces decent prose on demand, the students who invest in finding and articulating their genuine voice are the ones who get through.

Matt Schwartz working with a student on their college essay

Let's get specific.

After ten years of doing this, the pattern is consistent: the best essays come from the stories applicants almost didn't think to tell. A good editor's job is to recognize that moment and build from it.

What students & families say

What past clients say.

★★★★★

"Matt is a talented and insightful editor and I believe his recommendations helped me secure the largest possible merit award for my graduate school program. In the end, Matt's recommendation turned a good essay into an extraordinary one. In an email from the Director of Admissions, I was informed 'the faculty loved your application and rated you very highly. Your story is a very interesting one.' Matt is an award-winning radio journalist. He knows how to craft a compelling story and will help you do the same."

— Pamela T., Hyattsville MD
★★★★★

"Matt is a godsend! From a single meeting Matt was able to extract a story that best represented me. That simple change, and some additional polishing, resulted in more acceptances than expected and many large scholarships. I was even waitlisted to reach schools. I almost don't want to post this review for fear of revealing an untapped resource, but feel not expressing gratitude to be far worse. I highly recommend him."

— David H., Alexandria VA
★★★★★

"Mr. Schwartz played a tremendous part in helping me get accepted to the university of my dreams. His guidance and approach to making college essays better is excellent. I am thankful for his help and strongly recommend his service to those seeking assistance."

— Yash K., Northern Virginia
★★★★★

"Prior to Schwartz Essay Prep, I decided to go with another essay firm, but when I talked to them I quickly realized that I was paying way too much, and they didn't have a quarter of the credentials Mr. Schwartz had. Mr. Schwartz is a well-known award-winning journalist and an editor for NPR. Mr. Schwartz efficiently improved my essay within only a couple of classes and I decided to work on other supplemental essays too. I highly recommend that you work with Mr. Schwartz to get the best essay prep in a timely manner."

— Niya B., Ashburn VA

"Matthew went over my admissions essays line by line, making sure he understood my motive and helped me rewrite them in the most articulate and succinct manner. He really took the time to reformulate my sentences to make sure it conveyed my ideas precisely. He is a very patient tutor and makes editing really fun and you will learn a lot from him. I recommend him 100% to anyone who needs any help editing their essays, papers, etc."

— Arshia K.

"I really appreciated your comments and think I took them to heart in my revisions. Thank you so much for all your help. You were invaluable to me in this process and I greatly appreciate it."

— Parker S.

All reviews verified on Yelp · 5.0 average across all reviews

Common questions

Everything you're wondering but haven't asked yet.

Get started

Let's figure out what your essay is actually about.

Matt offers a free consultation — a quick call to hear where you or your student are in the process and answer any questions. Send a message below, email directly, or call or text anytime.

matt@collegeessayman.com  ·  (202) 810-5338 — call or text

📍 Washington, DC metro area
In-person in DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland. Remote with students anywhere — Matt has worked with applicants across the country over FaceTime, Zoom, and Google Meet.