Resource Library | Letrado Advisory

FREE TOOL · ESSAYS

Find the first scene of your essay.

Choose a starting point and answer three short questions. You’ll see an opening you could build on, and a writing check that updates as you type.

Choose a starting point

Something you do every weekA job, a chore, or a responsibility at home.A time you changed your mindWhat you believed, and what changed it.A mistake you learned fromWhat happened and what you did next.Something you notice that others missA habit, a pattern, or a small detail.A moment you remember exactlyWhere you were and what was said.

Where were you, and what could you see or hear?

What did someone say, word for word?

What happened next, including the part that didn’t go well?

YOUR OPENING, IN ORDER

Something you do every week

Start with the wordsWhat someone said, exactly as they said it.
Put the reader thereWhere you were and what you could see or hear.
Keep the hard partWhat happened next, including what didn’t go well.
Leave outA final line about what you learned. End with another moment instead.

WRITING CHECK

Start typing. This check updates as you write, looking for real details, exact words, plain language, and clear sentences.

Nothing you type is sent to us or saved. Read two sample essays

Let’s work out your next step, together.

Bring your questions to a free 45-minute introduction with your proposed mentor. We’ll listen, talk through your options, and send you a personalized plan by email. No scare tactics and no pressure to sign up: we’ll tell you honestly what we think, even if that means pointing you somewhere else.

Arrange your free introduction

Read our story →

Get to know your options before you apply.

Start with your year of high school.

Harvard College, from the first question to the final choice.

Two tools you can use right now.

Find the first scene of your essay.

Your U.S. financial aid checklist.

The right college list starts with how you want to learn.

Room to explore

Start with a course

Look beyond the name to what you would learn and do.

Stanford University

University of Oxford

Harvard Griffin GSAS

INSEAD

Phillips Exeter Academy

Your circumstances help shape the right choice.

Make sense of applying across different systems.

See how other applicants worked through their choices.

Let’s work out your next step, together.