Part-Time College Essay Support Specialist

Responsibilities

• Review student college essay drafts assigned by a CPSI counselor — Common App personal statements, UC Personal Insight Questions, supplemental essays, and scholarship essays.
• Work alongside the assigned counselor for each student—they have the deeper knowledge of the student and family, and call the plays; you bring the craft to execute them.
• Apply CPSI's draft-by-draft approach (content first, then structure, then polish) and write feedback in our standard format so it flows smoothly from the counselor to the student.
• Preserve the student's voice. A 17-year-old should still sound like themselves after your review.
• Adapt your approach to each student — some need fast, focused feedback, others need restraint, others need more hands-on guidance with structure.
• Maintain steady availability during application season (August–December, January–March). Specialists who work through essays a little every day, or at least every other day, keep students moving forward.

Qualifications

• Experience reading and giving feedback on college application essays; through admissions work, tutoring seniors, teaching, or related editing. You should know what admissions essays look like.
• 2+ years of writing or editing experience, ideally including coaching, mentoring, or teaching writing, not just producing your own work.
• Strong writing and editing skills, with a proven ability to give feedback that improves a draft without rewriting it.
• A collaborative instinct. You do your best work as part of a team and take pride in improving the counselor's work and the student's essay through collaboration.
• Respect for craft and process. You appreciate why a thoughtful, draft-by-draft approach makes a difference for students.
• Respect for the student. You write honest, specific feedback without being discouraging.
• Steady availability during application season (August–December, January–March).

About the role

CPSI is a leading private college planning company supporting high school students and their families through career discovery, major exploration, and college admissions. We offer a structured, proven process and seek seasoned professionals who thrive in a collaborative, tech-enabled environment.

Benefits

We hire slowly, support our people fully, and treat each counselor-specialist pairing as a long-term collaboration, not gig work.

Pay

$25 - $25/hour