Marilyn
College counseling and writing tutor with strong STEM credentials
You have stories to tell! To your teachers, to colleges you plan to attend, to work colleagues, to others who need and want to hear from you. The world is a noisy place, though, and how you tell your story to the world will determine how effective you are at getting the world to listen. Helping people send a strong signal through their writing is my calling and my job, and I love every aspect of it. Whether you are in school, bound for college, or employed and looking for opportunities, I'd l...
vocabulary
grammar
reading
writing
English
proofreading
SAT writing
The SAT writing section tests a defined set of grammar rules and a specific type of essay writing. The rules and the writing are absolutely learnable with the right materials and a sense of adventure. We can practice conditionals and hypotheticals with pictures of emerging technology, for example. By combining some Saturday Night at the Improv and an SAT vocabulary deck, we can practice writing grammatical sentences, telling a story, and learning words in context. Best, we will have a great time in the process.
career development
college counseling
Nathan W. from Mc Lean, VA
Marilyn helped me edit and proof my grad school application essays. She offered actionable advice that really sharpened my message. Having an independent, professional editor was the key to crafting my strongest possible essays. Thanks, Marilyn!
Melissa B. from Alexandria, VA
This is my first time having a writing tutor. Ms. Marilyn is a wonderful tutor. She is kind, knowledgeable, and gives great feedback. I am thankful that I have Ms. Marilyn to help me become a better writer.
Mark H. from Leesburg, VA
Marilyn consistently provided excellent guidance and advice for the problem I was facing. She was patient and flexible dealing with my administrative challenges. She was also unfailingly honest in her feedback and advice. I'd highly recommend Marilyn as a tutor to other students.
Raymond Y. from Mc Lean, VA
I had the pleasure of working through the college applications process with Marilyn for the past couple of months. With her guidance, I worked my way through not only my Common Application essays, but also my supplemental essays and even the UK UCAS application. With so many different schools, essays, and guidelines, Marilyn was extremely helpful in keeping track of deadlines and helping me plan ahead. Marilyn was always easy to reach through email, text message, and SMS and was willing to work together on any platform (even remotely through Google Docs). I'd recommend Marilyn to anybody looking for direction through the difficult college application process.
Jayne F. from Fairfax, VA
I cannot say enough good things about Marilyn. Marilyn helped me turn in amazing essays for my MBA application. She was able to take my good essays and turn them into great ones. Marilyn is great at all the grammar and technical editing, but also so much more. She was able to take my sometimes bland writing and help me find new ways to say things in a much more impactful and catchy way. Also, Marilyn helped me take essays that were over the allowable word count, and helped get them under the word count without taking away any of the meaning.
Marivel S. from Burke, VA
I am very impressed with Marilyn's professionalism, and her knowledge is evidenced in her style of teaching. She connects with her student's goals to learn and succeed. Her precision and commitment to finish what work she began with me transmit stronger than words: "what matters to me, matters to her." She is an asset to WyzAnt.
Tamu W. from Washington, DC
Marilyn did an excellent job of helping my high school daughter structure her essays, learn the finer points of grammar, and work on SAT test-taking strategies - all with a good dose of humor. What was also impressive was that she took the time to learn my daughter's academic strengths and interests and tailored the learning activities to them. She works well with both students and parents alike. Marilyn is a kind and generous person and I would not hesitate to recommend her services.
Jackie B. from Alexandria, VA
Marilyn is a wonderful tutor to my son who is a rising senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. She teaches him English grammar and effective writing to prepare him for the SAT and ACT tests which he took earlier this year. We are very pleased with his scores in critical reading and writing in both of these tests as compared to the scores he received from his PSAT. He received a score of 34 in ACT reading and 720 in SAT critical reading. He will be taking the SAT the second time this October and we are confident that his scores will improve even more. She is now counseling him on college choices and applications. She always keeps us informed on Jonathan's progress. We feel completely confident on Marilyn's ability to guide our son through the "stressful" college research and application process.
Alexis B. from Vienna, VA
During our initial meeting we discussed my goals and expectations, which I found helpful and view as a critical first step when working with any tutor. Marilyn also briefly reviewed a sample of my writing, and we finished by agreeing on a plan to move forward. We are currently making steps forward drawing from that plan. I greatly appreciate her thoughtful and methodical approach because it allowed me the opportunity to discuss the challenges I've faced recently with my writing. It also helped me feel more comfortable and confident about how to work with her so as to maximize our time together.
Kelly S. from Washington, DC
She is helping my high school son with writing his Common App Essay for the College Admission process and she really knows her stuff! She is patient and offers suggestions for improvement that have really helped my son develop a really good essay. She knows what colleges are looking for and guides the student in that direction. I would highly recommend her.
Marian B. from Bethesda, MD
Marilyn has a gift for helping students become better writers. She helped my son brainstorm and edit his college essays. She quickly figured out his strengths and weaknesses with regards to writing and gently led him to where he needed to be. She has a special knack for guiding kids through the process of thinking about themselves and their interests so that they can write essays that truly reflect who they are. She understands the complicated application process and also greatly helped my son with organization - they created a spreadsheet with all of the essays (including the supplemental application essays) that he needed to write and came up with an efficient strategy for getting them done, which helped take a lot of the stress out of the whole process. I highly recommend her!