“We trust her completely and recommend her 100%!”
— Laura M., mother of Brown freshman, Class of 2026
As an admissions expert, Alana guides students and families through all aspects of the college admissions process. This includes helping students to write admission-winning college application essays, to strategize college lists, and to compose stand-out supplemental essays.
Alana also works as a Hollywood screenwriter; as such, she excels at helping college applicants create strong and compelling themes in their essays and she shows applicants how to successfully structure and pace their narratives so that their essays leave admissions officers with a rich and memorable portrait of the applicant’s character and value as a college student.
“An outstanding college application essay is like an episode of your favorite TV show: It keeps you on your toes, strategically revealing new information, while you root for the main character.”
Under her guidance, college applicants have been awarded admission to top colleges in the country including: Princeton University, MIT, Brown University, Duke University, Smith College, Vassar College, NYU, USC, UC Berkley, Tufts, Wash U, Skidmore College and many others.
Alana began teaching at Clark University where she was asked to teach academic writing, close reading, textual analysis. She has also worked as Lead Teacher for the Grammy nominated arts education and media company, Story Pirates where she helps students develop personal stories with strong narrative arcs, an authentic sense of voice, and memorable details.
As a writing tutor, Alana works with students to advance their writing and critical thinking skills. The goal of all good writing instruction is to help students make their own ideas visible to themselves and then to help them organize and represent their ideas in a meaningful way, and that’s just what Alana does best. Whether working with college applicants or tutoring young writing students, her patient and nonjudgmental approach encourages students to reach beyond their comfort zones and achieve academic excellence through writing.
Middle School English
College Application Essays
time management
confidence training
Home School Support
Language Arts
Private School Admissions
essay writing
reading comprehension
remote learning loss
Math Fundamentals
public speaking
“We were worried that Duke was a stretch for our daughter, but after working with Alana she was admitted early decision! We even got a scholarship!”
— Priya C., mother of Duke University freshman, Class of 2026
Certificate, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Literature and History
Advanced Certificate in Tutoring and College Counseling, The Writing Center of Princeton
Starting in 1st grade, we help your child:
• Master grammar and punctuation
• Develop an advanced vocabulary
• Improve thinking and organizational skills
• Develop inferential skills
• Develop confidence and motivation
• Read and write fluently using multi-sensory techniques based on the Wilson Reading System
Starting in your child’s first year of middle school, we teach your child how to:
• Improve close reading skills
• Break down a prompt
• Advance inferential thinking
• Improve reading comprehension
• Write a coherent thesis statement
• Find evidence that supports claims
• Clarify connections between ideas
• Detail and elaborate a written response
• Develop sentence variety
• Improve performance and grades by working with and around learning disabilities (LD)
Starting in ninth grade, we show your child how to:
• Advance close reading skills
• Improve organizational skills
• Improve depth and clarity of thinking and writing
• Detail and elaborate a written response
• Develop sentence flexibility and variety
• Write advanced-level persuasive, narrative, argument, and literary analysis essays
• Write high-scoring AP, SAT, and ACT essays
• Improve performance and grades by working with and around learning disabilities (LD)
• Prepare for AP exams and the PSAT, SAT, and ACT
• Write high-scoring AP, SAT, and ACT essays
• Prepare for the challenges of college-level writing
• Write college admissions essays that are strategic, compelling, and memorable
Starting in ninth grade, we show your child how to:
• Identify ideas that can be turned into stories to illustrate who you are and how you stand out
• Develop compelling, cohesive, and distinctive narrative arcs without compromising your original voice and intention
• Strategically writing, rewriting, editing, and polishing essays to ensure they will leave a lasting impact on college admissions officers
• How to exploit the supplemental essays to make sure that your responses increase your value and boost admissions chances
For a detailed description of WCP’s college admissions services, click here.
FREE PHONE CONSULTATION
Schedule a free 20-minute call with Alana to learn how The Writing Center of Princeton can help your child create an admission-winning application.
“My son was really struggling to write his college essay. He didn’t have a single word written when we started with Alana. I don’t know what we would have done without her help.”
— Robert G., father of NYU freshman, Class of 2026
“Alana helped with every single written aspect of my daughter’s application from the big essay to the little blurbs about extracurriculars and activities. The admissions officers really got a complete picture of my kid, and it worked! She got into Smith!”
— Aanandita P., mother of Smith sophomore, Class of 2025
“Alana takes the stress out of applying to college. We will certainly use her again when our younger child applies.”
— Marcia S., parent of USC student, Class of 2023
“We were so thrilled when our daughter got into UC Berkeley. We couldn’t have done it without Alana!”
— Lisa T., parent of UC Berkeley student, Class of 2023
“After only four lessons with Alana, our daughter boosted her SAT score 80 points! She’s a test prep genius!”
— Rhoda P., parent of 11th grader
“My daughter couldn’t keep track of anything, but Alana helped her manage her time. And in 6 months her grades were all back up to A’s.”
— Paul V., parent of 9th grader
“My daughter’s reading and writing have skyrocketed, and she’s doing better in school overall.”
—Justin F., parent of a 10th grader