What’s your story?

Find Your Wow Factor!

What’s your story? That’s my tagline, always has been. As a journalist, I’ve published articles nationwide. Through my PR firm, I helped Fortune 500 companies craft compelling and newsworthy stories. Editing is a key ingredient to ensuring all correspondence is clearly communicated and error-free. College and graduate school-bound students face the same challenge. Applications include grades and test scores that are already set in permanent ink. The essay is a great opportunity to set yourself apart, to catch the eye of an admissions officer, to sell YOU with your unique signature.

Hello

I’m Amy

My background in PR (Write Ideas, Inc.), journalism (Northwestern University, Medill School of Journalism), freelance writing, publishing and broadcasting, and parenting reporting brings a unique ability to get to the heart of the story fast and to communicate messages that stick. As a writing coach, I help students brainstorm, research meaningful support, edit, and polish. At no point do I write their essays, but I have years of experience helping students connect their dots and stand out. I love getting to know each student as a unique person, helping them find a topic that means the most to them, and motivating them to power to the finish line!

Most importantly, I take the stress away from parents and students. Let me help your student find and amplify his or her best voice!

The Power Hour Difference

Who I Work With

Students applying to college for the first time or as a transfer student; graduate applicants’ personal statements; and essays for honors programs, scholarships, and more. Anything with words? I can coach you to success!

I regularly survey admissions officers about best practices and share valuable intel with my students.

Bonuses for Students

I use decades of journalism and PR experience in a unique intake process where I quickly help you find meaningful connections you may not have considered. A robust and easy-to-follow Online Action Plan powers you to the finish line. A Power Hour Student Folder loaded with tips and resources guides you to find YOUR Wow Factors! Plus, regular VIP updates for college-bound students provide insider tips and forms to save you time and maximize your success.

A Proven Coaching Approach

Each student is unique, and you’ll find I’m extremely intuitive, supportive, and POSITIVE. I truly believe in every single one of my students. The first thing I tell each student is this, “My job is to help you shine like a rock star.” And I do. They each have unique stories to share and sometimes need a coach to help uncover the greatest gems. I value the parents’ role in the process and give you ways to increase success, decrease stress, and get the job done!

Services

Blog

10 Questions You Need to Ask Before Submitting College Apps

by Amy Smith | Sep 16, 2026 | College Admissions, College Essays, College Research, Common App, Reporting Activities

It's that time of year. Seniors are submitting college applications and asking themselves an important question: Did I do everything possible to make my application AWESOME? I want to share some of MY top questions I encourage you to ask before hitting SUBMIT: Did I...

What’s New With the Common App for the 2026-27 Cycle

by Amy Smith | Jun 4, 2026 | College Admissions, College Essays, College Students, Common App

Every year, I wait with great anticipation for the Common App’s “What’s New” webinar for counselors like me. As a journalist since high school, I like to announce breaking news, especially news that sets my juniors in motion. This year, there aren't any drastic...

New Class Announced May 31: How RESEARCH Can POWER Your College Search + Writing!

by Amy Smith | May 13, 2026 | Artificial Intelligence, College Admissions, College Essays, College Research, Common App

I’ve found that when students uncover unique, interesting facts about a college and THEN connect these findings to THEM in meaningful ways, that they can really WOW a Why Essay and more. Anyone can find something on the home page of a college website. But Power Hour...

FREE ESSAY PLANNER:

CREATE A SMART ROADMAP & POWER TO THE FINISH LINE!

Get our FREE report!

Testimonials

The hardest part was being able to express my ideas by showing, not telling.

Amy really helped me accomplish this by helping me show my true character through my writing. Power Hour Editing took my essays to the next level, and I have no doubt that this enhanced my application and contribution to my admittance to Georgetown.

Giulia T., Georgetown student

Amy just helps you get it done!

No matter what point in the writing process you’re at, she will help you get to that next level, and on top of that help you understand how to get there. For that I will always be thankful.

Jack B., University of Florida

Amy's support, guidance, and positivity

throughout my entire college process truly brought out my best inner writer. She not only helped perfect essays that I was extremely proud to submit, but she made a tough journey fun and stress-free. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to work with her and could not recommend anyone more!

University of Michigan student

Amy made the difficult, stressful process

of applying to college productive and rewarding. My essays went from sounding like analytical English papers to pieces where my voice and personality came through.

Francesca C., Duke student

I couldn’t have completed the college process

without Amy’s help. She was always available to help and gave amazing suggestions to bring my essays to the next level.

Eli L, Penn State

Amy is very knowledgeable and

helped me think about how to spin a variety of ideas in creative ways. I really appreciated her frankness and ability to take my essays to a new level.

Virginia Ivy League student

Amy is a college student's fairy godmother!

I’m so grateful that we had access to an expert like her to start a dialogue about our student’s essay strategy. She was kind, open-minded, accessible to teens, and so positive and empowering. My advice to anyone seeking help with college essays is to hire Amy, give her as much information as you can, and then allow her to guide your student directly toward an “aha moment” for essay topics/ideas and through completion.

Julie D., RIT Mom

Amy took a lot of the stress and pressure off of me

so I could just parent and support my son. She followed up with him and kept him accountable to deadlines so I didn’t have to. She also is incredibly organized, which made everything flow smoothly.

Kim W., Indiana University mom

Amy was great about correcting grammatical problems and things that just did not make logical sense.

She also has a great sense of what will work and what won’t. She works fast and is really responsive. She really helped my daughter get focused and concentrate on writing a tight, coherent essay that was grammatically correct and told a story.

Maryland dad

I am so grateful to Amy for removing me from the process

because my child was able to get professional, skilled, unbiased assistance without the emotional baggage that comes with being too close to the whole admissions process. We had no conflicts with each other, and my child had a sense of peace and calm knowing a third party was helping him get through this stressful time.

Maryland mom

I loved how Amy pulled ideas for the essay from questions

she asked my son and me. This helped my son figure out how to frame his essay and what areas to highlight.

Clemson mom

Amy saved the beginning of my senior year.

My college essay was the biggest stressor. With Amy’s help, I meticulously groomed through every stage and grammar detail. She helped with word count, scheduling, and getting my ideas onto paper. My phone calls and emails with her were super productive in short amounts of time and on my own schedule. I’m so glad I found Amy to make my senior year and the college application process a whole lot less stressful.

Olivia D., RIT student

Amy brings a rare combination of skills to the difficult process of helping a student apply to college.

Insightful & kind, compassionate & wise, principled, strong, and highly experienced and skilled as an editor…Amy gracefully helped our student see that she deserved a better, more constructive topic & led us through a process that yielded a much richer, more expressive essay. Amazingly, Amy accomplished this so kindly that our student was not discouraged but was actually more excited about working on her essay! Sue S., grandparent

Colleges look at your test scores, GPA, and extracurriculars, but your essay is the one thing that is truly a personal reflection.

It is such an important factor that should take a lot of time and effort. Once you have your general idea, getting help is the obvious next step. You might be a great writer, but it’s necessary for another pair of eyes to see your essay and help you.

Arthur L., Northwestern

Don’t think twice...

Amy gets it done!

Stu B., Penn State dad

Amy was incredibly helpful through the whole process.

She helped me realize that the most important thing is to keep your child’s writing in their own words/voice so the college admissions person who is reading it will definitely understand who your child is.