Ryan and Cole Bernstein are identical twins and recent college graduates with a shared passion for personal and authentic storytelling. Ryan went to Carleton College, where he graduated with Distinction in the English and Cinema majors. Cole was a Howard Nemerov Creative Writing Scholar at Washington University in St. Louis.
In the fall of 2021, we found ourselves overwhelmed by the stress of college admissions. Did we do enough extracurriculars? Take enough honors classes? Was Ryan's A- from Woodshop Sophomore year going to rear its ugly head and foil any chance he had at a reach school?
In a process filled with cold, hard numbers, the personal statement is a chance to stand out. Admissions offices are flooded each year with essays that discuss the same handful of topics in an overly formal, detached tone that will make your reader's eyes glaze over (or worse, suspect it's AI). If you can provide them a life raft, your chances of getting in skyrocket.
We've been creative writing our whole lives and enjoy helping students approach the personal statement as a meaningful reflection exercise rather than another box to check off. We've helped countless friends revise application essays, earning them competitive fellowships, university acceptances, and pieces of writing they can feel proud of.
Through our uniquely collaborative process (we have heated twin arguments over how to improve your essay), we will help you develop an engaging topic, structure, and voice for your Common App or supplemental essays that will intrigue even the weariest of admissions officers and remind them: "This is why I do this."
Our Common App Essays
Personal statements can be vulnerable for students who are new to reflective writing. In the name of transparency, we dug deep into our Google Drives and found the Common App essays that we applied to college with. We can't help but cringe a little looking back at what we wrote five years later, but if we are going to be present with you as you reflect on your personal experiences, we think you should have the option to see what we wrote when we were in this process ourselves.