About Me
Adam Steele
After receiving my BA from CSUN in Literature, I started working as a writer and production supervisor for a micro-budget film company. I was also coaching high school volleyball and volunteering with high school students at the time. My love for working with that age soon overtook my interest in screenwriting and working in Hollywood, so I got my M.F.A. from Queens University and started teaching English at an independent school in Los Angeles. While there, I helped hundreds of high schoolers write their college essays and find the very best school for them. Now I’ve taken those skills to the private sector and I love it.
Personally, I am an avid reader, novelist, traveler, and life-long learner. I hike, backpack, rock climb, run triathlons, SCUBA dive, spear fish, play and coach beach volleyball, and surf. Oh, and I love boats, of course. I’m married with twin 5-year-old girls and live by the beach in Ventura, CA.
My Process
There are three major steps to my process, and the first is the catalyst for the next two. The very first thing I do is get to know about your child – their interests and hobbies, cool things they’ve done, their likes and dislikes. Then I get to know them on a more personal level – their strengths and weaknesses, their hopes and goals for their immediate and distant future, their values, and the social and emotional pieces that make them wonderful.
Once I know who they are, or at least a more complete idea of who they are, then we move into the next phase of the counseling process, which is to start building our college list with the universities that are the very best fit for them, socially, emotionally, geographically, and academically. This would also be the time that we would button up their “resume” and make sure they have communicated their interests and values through their actions on and off campus. You can check out some tips on planning and process here.
Finally, we will work on the applications to their chosen schools. This will include all of the essays they write, as well as the actual filling out of the online applications. I will help make sure all the t’s are crossed and the i’s are dotted. Then, I will wait with you and your child for those acceptances to roll in as well as help navigate any further decisions that need to made. I walk with you each step of the way.
"Working with Mr. Steele was both incredibly helpful and very pleasant. I came to him not knowing how I should start or even what topic I should write about, but Mr. Steele's insights into the writing process and different aspects of a strong essay allowed me to focus my scope and write a strong and unique essay. I couldn't have done it without him."
Jon – Student at UCLA