The essay got an A. That doesn't mean it's finished.
A second reader for the college essay. A real person goes through it line by line, marks what is unclear or repeated, and sends back written feedback and a graded rubric within 48 hours. $29.99.
- Back within 48 hours
- One reviewer per essay
- We never rewrite
- Rough drafts welcome
I have always been a resilient person. When my grandmother got sick during my junior year, I learned to balance hospital visits with school, and it taught me a lot about responsibility. Every night I sat by her bed and did my homework while she slept. Those months made me who I am today.
- 1Cut this. The nights by her bed already prove it. Let the reader arrive at the word.
- 2"A lot" is doing no work. What specifically changed? Name one thing.
- 3Every essay ends here. Say what you do differently now instead.
Graded rubric
One essay, one reviewer, one price.
Within 48 hours you receive an email with the reviewed draft and the graded rubric. Here is what is inside.
Comments on the draft
Specific sentences highlighted and explained: what is unclear, what is repeated, where the essay tells the reader instead of showing them. Every note says why.
Paragraphs 2 and 3 could swap with no loss. That means neither is doing enough.
A graded rubric
Five criteria scored 1 to 5, each with a one-line note. A clear answer to the question every parent has: is it ready, or does it need one more draft?
The three biggest fixes
A short summary of what to work on first, in plain language, so the next draft is a real step forward rather than a polish.
Turnaround is 48 hours from upload. If we miss it, the review is free.
Three steps. About two minutes of your time.
Send the essay
Pay $29.99 and upload the draft at whatever stage it is in, finished or half-built, with a few details about the student and the schools.
A person reads it closely
One reviewer, one essay, read start to finish. Sentences are highlighted and commented on, not skimmed in a stack of 150.
The review arrives within 48 hours
The commented draft, the graded rubric, and the three biggest fixes, in an email the student can act on the same day.
The essay matters more than it used to. A careful read is harder to find.
Students apply to more schools than a decade ago, and with most colleges test-optional, the essay carries more of the decision. It is the one part of the application still fully in the student's hands in the final weeks. With four years at a private college now able to exceed $300,000, a stronger essay can be the difference between a thin envelope and a scholarship.
Counselors are stretched thin
The average U.S. school counselor is responsible for close to 400 students. A close read of every senior's essay is not possible.
Teachers grade at scale
Half an hour on each of 150 essays is nearly two full work weeks. Most college essays get a completeness check, not a line-by-line read.
Private help is priced for a few
Independent consultants commonly charge that much per hour, often with a package minimum in the thousands.
My English teacher gave the essay an A+. A student at Columbia read the same draft and showed me what was vague, what didn't build, and where I was telling instead of showing. Her notes are part of why I got a full ride.
A second reader changed my essay, and my next four years.
When I was applying to college, my high school English teacher read my personal statement and gave it an A+. I trusted that grade. I had worked hard on the draft, and I believed it was done.
Later, a student at Columbia read the same essay. Her response was different. She noticed places where I had assumed the reader would understand what I meant. She questioned a structure that felt neat to me but did not build toward much. She also marked moments where I explained my qualities instead of letting the story reveal them.
I went back to the draft with those notes beside me. The next version was measurably stronger. Nothing about the experience made my teacher careless. It showed me the limit of asking one teacher to grade essays for a large group of students while handling everything else that comes with a classroom. A recent applicant with time to read closely could give the essay a different kind of attention.
That is the reason Double-Check Essays exists.
A person reads every essay.
Every essay is read in full by one reviewer: a recent graduate who wrote a college essay that worked, went through the Common App within the last few years, and gives each draft the time it deserves. No essay is skimmed to hit a quota.
Our founder is an NYU Stern graduate who earned a full-ride scholarship and credits the college essay as part of what made that possible. Every reviewer is a recently graduated college student who knows the system firsthand. We also learn through direct conversations with guidance counselors, English teachers, and admissions officers, and we are always reading current literature about what admissions readers respond to.
Questions parents ask
Does the college essay really matter that much?
Yes, and more than it used to. Admissions offices consistently rank the essay among the most important factors after grades and course rigor, and with most colleges now test-optional, it is often the largest part of the application that is not a number. It is also the only part a student can still improve in the final weeks. Our founder credits it with a full-ride scholarship.
Do you rewrite or edit the essay for us?
No. Colleges expect the essay to be the student's own work, and so do we. We mark what is unclear, what is repeated, and what to cut, and we explain why. The student makes the changes. That is also what makes the next draft better rather than just different.
What does the rubric grade?
Five things, each scored 1 to 5: whether the essay makes a clear point, whether the structure builds toward it, whether it demonstrates the student's qualities rather than listing them, whether the voice sounds like the student, and whether it answers the prompt. Each score comes with a one-line note. Anything under 20 out of 25 usually means one more draft.
Does the essay have to be finished?
No. An early draft is often the best time to send it, because structural problems are cheaper to fix before the sentences are polished. Send whatever exists, tell us what stage it is at in the notes field, and the comments will be pitched to that. The only thing we cannot review is a blank page.
Can't ChatGPT just review the essay?
It can produce comments, and it is worth trying. What it tends to do is praise, generalize, and nudge every essay toward the same smooth, safe voice, which is the opposite of what an admissions reader is looking for. It also cannot tell you what is missing, only what is there. Here, a person who has written one of these and read many goes through the whole essay and is responsible for every comment: the sentence that sounds like someone else, the paragraph that exists to impress rather than to say something, the moment the real story starts.
Is the essay kept private?
Yes. The essay is seen only by the reviewer assigned to it. We do not publish, share, or use essays as examples, and we delete the file 30 days after the review is sent. You can ask us to delete it sooner at any time. Details are in the privacy policy.
Questions first? Ask.
Anything you want to know before sending an essay, or something we should know about your situation. We reply within one business day.
Or email support@doublecheckessays.com.