Hana Williams
Great essays aren't written — they're excavated. I help students dig through their experiences to find the story that only they can tell, then write it in a voice that's unmistakably theirs.
About Hana
I've read thousands of college essays as a UCLA writing tutor and journal editor. The ones I remember are never the ones with the flashiest story or the most impressive achievement. They're the ones that feel real — where I can hear an actual human being on the page, thinking through something that actually matters to them.
That's what I help you find. I don't rewrite your essays — I ask you questions until you find the specific moment, the concrete image, the exact right thing to say. Then we write it together in your voice. My students have gotten into UCLA, Yale, Williams, Brown, and more. But what I'm most proud of is that every single one of them told me their essays sounded like themselves.
Academic Credentials
Extracurriculars
- Daily Bruin (Editor-in-Chief)
- Westwind: UCLA Journal of the Arts (Fiction Editor)
- Spoken Word Poetry Collective (Co-Founder)
- Youth Literacy Tutoring Program
- Senior Thesis on Toni Morrison (Departmental Prize)
Awards & Honors
- UCLA Undergraduate Research Prize
- National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Award
- AP Scholar with Distinction
Services Offered
Line-by-line feedback on your Common App personal statement and supplemental essays. Specific, actionable edits — not just vague encouragement.
Big-picture application strategy: how to position your profile, which schools to target, and how to differentiate yourself from other applicants.
Identify gaps in your activity profile and build a plan to deepen your commitment to things that genuinely matter to you.
Student Reviews
Hana asked me one question — 'what's the smallest thing that matters the most to you?' — and that question unlocked my entire common app essay. I went from a blank page to something real in one session.
Hana's feedback is unlike anything I've ever received on my writing. She doesn't just mark things — she explains WHY something isn't landing and gives you the tools to fix it yourself.
I worked with Hana for three sessions on my personal statement and ended up with something I'd genuinely want to read. It sounds like me. That's the hardest thing to achieve in a college essay.
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