College application essay writing, editing assistance offered

Writing a college application essay can be daunting for high school seniors, causing a level of frustration that Fulbright scholar, and Swarthmore College and Cape High grad Griffin Kammerer hopes to mitigate.

“My aim is to make it less initimidating,” Kammerer said. “You put the effort in, and I can help with the skills and experience I learned working as a writing associate and speaking associate at Swarthmore College Writing Center.”

Kammerer said he decided to launch GK Writing Services after being contacted in the past for help as a writing coach. Not only does the service help aspiring college students, it also allows Kammerer to achieve his own personal goals.

After college, Kammerer was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Grant in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, where he taught students in grades 7 to 11 at a local school from 2018-19.

“My experience in Malaysia was awesome,” Kammerer said. “When I got home, I wondered, why can’t I do something like this in my own community? I grew up and didn’t realize how much was done for me, so now I’m trying to give back.”

Kammerer says he develops a partnership with students that helps them become better writers altogether.

“I was literally in their shoes not long ago, and I can help,” Kammerer said. “It’s fun to work with people and satisfying to see them develop. It’s cool to watch the evolution.”

Students can contact him through his website and send a Google doc of the essay along with an explanation of what it requires, he said. Students can request overall guidance or specific help on certain aspects of the piece, such as the conclusion.

Students should contact him the sooner, the better, Kammerer said, as college application deadlines are looming.

“The more time we can put into it and the more revisions, the better it will be,” he said. “The essay can be a very strong part of their application.”

Kammerer said he will not write any part of the student essay; he will brainstorm and conference with students to provide suggestions and feedback. Many essay prompts center around challenges or significant occurrences in students’ lives, Kammerer said. 

“There’s not a formula to writing them, but I don’t provide that anyway,” Kammerer said. “The goal is to give it personal flair so it stands out. I can’t give the answers, but I can guide them in the right direction and give them more confidence in something that tends to scare people.”

Kammerer said his students have seen good results; one Cape senior he worked with last year was accepted by all eight colleges that were applied to and also received a scholarship. No matter what school or scholarship students are interested in, Kammerer said he can give them a better chance of acceptance.

A list of rates and services is available at griffinkammerer.com; follow GK Writing Services on Facebook.