Sophomore creates preparatory and essay service for college applicants

When Ava Sanchez was applying to colleges as a high school senior, she had trouble navigating the admissions process. Although some of her family members had gone through college, they did not have experience with the Common Application or applying to private universities. And unlike some high school students, she had no options for resources or application help services in her area outside of her school counselor.

Coming across essay editing services that charged between $100-$300 per essay, Sanchez realized she would have to rely on her school’s college counselor who also needed to work with around 500 other seniors. Her difficulty navigating the college admissions process inspired Sanchez to create an organization where college students could help high school students navigate the college application process by editing their application essays free of charge. 

“You’re just trying to put your best foot forward to the schools, which are essentially gatekeepers to your future [and] now — whatever ambitions you have for yourself,” Sanchez said. “Having great essays is a really big part of that. No one really knows what a great essay is. You just have to try and figure it out, and the best way to do that is to find people that have done it.”

Sanchez, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and economics who is a Trustee Scholar, created Ava Edits Essays in late-July to help students going through the college admissions process. Along with her team of undergraduate volunteers, Sanchez reviews and revises personal statements for many high school and transfer students. Sanchez said that she intends to keep the organization’s services free to edit three University of California statements, or three edits of one statement, since most universities require one personal statement and several personal insight questions.

Unlike many college preparatory services across the country, which offer standardized testing practice or application revisions, Sanchez wanted to make Ava Edits Essays accessible by not charging students.

“There are ambitious students that would benefit from these kinds of programs and just cannot afford them,” Sanchez said.

With each service, Ava Edits Essays provides line-by-line editing and feedback regarding the applicant’s strengths and weaknesses in writing. By keeping a small client base, the group’s goal is to provide an intimate and personable experience. 

Ava Edits Essays officially began offering services in August, when the Common App opened for high school seniors to apply to universities across the country. So far the organization has about 20 essays to review, but Sanchez said she expects demand to increase by the end of the month as deadlines approach. Many of the applicants using Ava Edits Essays are applying to University of California schools, and two are hoping to get into USC.

When she decided to start her organization, Sanchez initially made a post on social media calling for volunteers. Since then, she has curated a team of four other undergraduate students to assist by editing essays. Two of these volunteers were already friends of Sanchez, and the other two reached out via Instagram. All volunteers were required to submit writing samples for consideration and were selected from a pool of about 10 applicants.

“The idea is that [Sanchez] will manage it,” said Karina Aguirre, a sophomore majoring in law, history and culture and an editor for Ava Edits Essays. “She gets the input from the essays and then based on our interests or qualifications in terms of if we worked on Cal State essays, UC statements, private schools or what schools we got into, we could help.”

Since many school counselors are overloaded with work during the pandemic, Sanchez said she hopes Ava Edits Essays can be a useful resource for applicants. 

“We try to be as holistic as possible, and we try to focus our whole entire goal to empower disadvantaged students and give them the voice that they need,” said Antonio Okeke, a sophomore majoring in business administration and the creative director and editor for Ava Edits Essays. 

In addition, some college essay editing services can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, which Aguirre believes is inherently contributing to a privilege gap in college admissions.

“I strongly believe that there is [advantage] when you have students who are able to hire private tutors, who are able to hire essay editing services, and who have generations of parents that have gone to college,” Aguirre said. “It’s just much different.”

Because the program is fully online, Aguirre said it is also more accessible to students living in communities and rural areas that may lack tutoring and editing services and other resources that help students navigate college admissions. 

Okeke said that change starts from those who experience the disadvantage, and he hopes that Ava Edits Essays can be a light in the darkness scenario for those who don’t have access to most college application resources. He also said that the inequality can be traced back to the initial admissions of marginalized people into higher education institutions and while the process has changed over the years, there is still a long way to go before college application resources are completely accessible.

“Honestly, just coming from [the Black] community is the biggest inspiration that I can probably have,” Okeke said. “Without that, then I wouldn’t know what it’s like being a disadvantaged student and student of color. And students that are a minority need the help to get through this whole process. I think especially right now is the best time to have more of a voice in how the whole process goes.”

Currently, Ava Edits Essays is taking essay submissions and answering application questions on its Instagram page. Sanchez said the organization is taking steps to launch a website by the end of September, which will have FAQ forums for questions about the application process, information about scholarship opportunities and curated content for specific deadlines and dates.

“We’re trying to make sure that all of our plans are thoughtful, and actually effective and efficient, where we can actually stay open and helpful, hopefully create a bigger impact as time goes on,” Okeke said.

Correction: A previous version of this article mislabeled Ava Edits Essays as a nonprofit organization, implied that Sanchez is a first-generation student and that her family could not help her with the college application process. The Daily Trojan regrets these errors.