"Although I won the Funniest Person in New York City, I am serious about making certain that you reach your potential. I attended the University of Nebraska and majored in speech, minoring in English. Teaching English for 27 years, however, prepared me to tutor students who were struggling with composition outside of the classroom. Helping those students gain admission to the colleges of their choice might have been the most meaningful part of my lengthy career. If you need to cure College Applicationitis or you need assistance in improving your writing and speaking, I will show you how to think as a writer thinks. We will begin by assessing your strengths and weaknesses. Then we will develop specific strategies to correct any concerns. If you have writer's block, for example, I will teach you a fluency drill that has eliminated blockages for hundreds of students in three weeks. I can show you how to use "key concept linking" to craft more coherent arguments. Or if need be, we will begin by learning how to write one good sentence.

Two of my prep books on the ACT and SAT reached #1 on Amazon in their categories. One of my publications was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the Best Books of the Year. This book details success strategies for bright, lazy students. Another of my books, a scavenger hunt to teach the basics of research, earned the Ben Franklin Award for the Best Self-Help Book of the Year. I co-authored a book (for at-risk students) with Tommie Lindsey, a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient. The fundamentals of good writing and speaking that I teach are covered in my bestselling journalism and speech textbooks.

But the best way for you to understand the worth of what I teach is to consider what other writers have said about me. Preeta Bansal, a first generation American, needed significant tutoring to master English. Writing fluently and correctly was our goal. Preeta, now lead counsel for the Office of Management and Budget under President Obama, said, "I learned mo" less...