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Our Team

Our team of essay coaches has worked with hundreds of students on thousands of essays. We love building one-on-one relationships that enable our clients to grow as people and subsequentially find success in the admissions process.  

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Tina Boyer

Since 2013, I’ve worked with hundreds of students, guiding them through thousands of application essays. My clients have received acceptances and generous scholarship offers at a wide range of colleges and universities. I was introduced to the college admissions world by two experienced comprehensive counselors who started as mentors and continue to be cherished colleagues. Prior to my time as a writing coach, I worked in the non-profit sector for 15 years, primarily in a communications capacity.

My own writing experience includes business writing, personal essays and I’m the author of a novel. In addition to my degree in English from Kenyon College, I’ve completed coursework in copyediting at the University of Chicago and taken classes in UC Berkeley’s College Admissions & Career Planning Program.

I am a member of the Higher Education Consultants Association, the standard-bearing professional organization for college counselors. In addition to its endless professional development opportunities, HECA enables me to hear directly from admissions officers on a regular basis. I also serve as an application reader for the Maisin Scholar Award. I lead workshops and trainings for counselors and aspiring essay coaches and I’ve designed resources for a large college counseling firm in Chicago.

I love getting to know my clients and having a chance to share in their major life passages. It’s an honor to immerse myself in their words, unravel their stories, find meaning, learn new things and cheer enthusiastically from the sidelines. When I’m not cheering enthusiastically, I like to consume a large quantity of books and delicious Bay Area food. Sometimes I take hikes with my husband and dog or go to a barre class. Despite my appreciation for the wonders of California, I’m a Midwesterner at heart, having grown up in the Chicago area.

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Becca Katz

As a professional writer who has developed stories for NPR, The Huffington Post, and The L.A. Times, I deeply understand and believe in the power of words. I have always felt most powerful when crafting words on the page and I hope to help my clients find their unique voice and wield the power of words in their college essays.

Since 2015, I’ve worked with all different types of students on essay writing and storytelling skills. At the University of Southern California, where I received a dual Bachelors in English and Political Science and a Masters in Journalism, I tutored student athletes and English language learners in basic and advanced writing courses. I believe that getting a student to feel passionate about their story or thesis is always the first step to a heartfelt and successful essay. Since 2020, I’ve also been leading personal essay writing courses with Thrive Scholars, which provides high-achieving students of color from economically underserved communities with college counseling and essay coaching.

I’m a Los Angeles native and attended a rigorous prep school, so I also understand the pressures that come with the college application process. It’s my goal to help ease some of that stress for my clients and help them hone their voice and gain confidence in their writing before they start college. 

In my spare time, I can be found working on my novel, reading, taking gymnastics or ballet classes or outside in the California sunshine 🙂

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Kevin Richardson

I have been working with clients to realize their higher education dreams since 2003. My clients have received offers to some of the top schools in the United States and Europe, with many receiving scholarship and fellowship assistance. I first began my admissions career helping candidates gain admission to the highest ranked post-graduate programs. In the past few years, I’ve expanded my work to include undergrad admissions, helping candidates with applications – and offers – from schools as diverse as state school to Ivy League.

I have always had a love for writing, however, that love blossomed when I became a ghostwriter for the Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford. Talk about pressure! After business school, I used my writing in the business world, for everything from marketing to creating business pitches. Perhaps my most enjoyable writing experience was crafting the monthly newsletter for Soggy Paws, a Midwestern chain of dog grooming and pet supply stores that I co-founded.

While I love enabling students to tell their stories, perhaps my bigger enthusiasm lies in helping them first find their own unique story to tell, to be willing to say out loud that dream, that hope, that passion that they are afraid to share with anyone – sometimes even themselves. My goal is to help my clients discover their individual truths and then to let that truth shine on the page.

When I’m not working with clients, I can be found playing cards, volunteering for Stanford University, my alma mater, or in the kitchen, where I love recreating complicated restaurant dishes with simple at-home tools.

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Tori Kramer

As a former middle and high school English teacher, I have worked with hundreds of students on developing and strengthening their writing skills. In the classroom, I thrived on sharing my love of literature and the writing process while discovering inventive ways to engage my students.

Following my graduation from Lehigh University, with a dual major in English and Political Science, I taught high school English and earned a Masters in the Teaching of English from Columbia University’s Teachers College. Since 2009, my family has been on the move from London to New York to Connecticut and most recently relocating to Chicago. In spite of all my family’s travel, I kept returning to the field of education, which has provided a home for me wherever I go.

In 2020, I began working with Tina at Boyer Coaching, where I’ve had the opportunity to experience the best of both worlds: facilitating learning and growth in a one-on-one setting. As a writing coach, I can apply my skills as an educator while truly getting to know each of my students. No two clients are the same and it’s been my pleasure to support a wide range of students. I’ve been delighted by my clients’ outcomes and even more excited to observe their personal growth during our time together.

I have my Certificate in College Counseling from the University of California San Diego and am a member of the Higher Education Consultants Association. In my downtime I can be found binge watching TV, dreaming of vacations in the mountains or on the beach, curled up on the couch with a good book and my dogs on my lap, cycling on my Peloton or being Chauffeur Extraordinaire for my two children.

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Reviews

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  • Tina Boyer not only helped me transfer into the school of my dreams – The Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley – but she also helped me develop as a person throughout the process. With her, it’s not just about editing, it’s about telling a greater story about yourself. Through that process, I learned what I want to emulate in my life, as well as how my story comes across to others. Thanks to Tina, I not only got into the program of my dreams, but got to start developing into the person of my dreams.”

    B.D., UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
  • [My daughter] always looks forward to her meetings with Tori Kramer and shared with us recently that she feels more confident in her English class as a result of working with Tori! We’ve noticed a significant shift in her the last couple months, so much confidence and personal awareness, her time with Tori has been so valuable.

    S.P., parent of San Francisco State student
  • I have read his personal statement and was amazed … and not just because he is my son. The writing was some of the best he has done.

    L.B., parent of Stanford student
  • Tina was extremely professional and easy to work with. I would like to highly recommend her. The entire college process was overwhelming to my husband and me especially with two boys applying to multiple schools. Tina worked with the boys individually over Skype. She kept them on track and moved them along efficiently. They finished their essays in a timely manner and applied to all of their schools well before the Early Action deadline. This was a big task. The boys applied to multiple schools that had many different requirements. She also kept in touch with our educational consultant on their progress. I have to say that the boys have been accepted to many of the schools they applied to so far. We are waiting for a few more to come in. Some of the schools commented on how interesting their essays were as well. The entire experience was easy and impressive as Tina had the boys working on their essays, on their own, over the summer/fall (without parental involvement). She motivated them to take ownership and complete their high quality essays in a timely manner.”

    B.K., parent of Case Western and Miami of Ohio students
  • Thank you so much for everything you did for me this year. Without you I wouldn’t have gotten into my dream school … I don’t know how I can thank you enough for keeping me on track, motivated, and not too stressed at the same time.

    E.D., Washington University in St. Louis
  • I worked with Tina as a high school senior and knew from our first meeting that she was not only extraordinary within her field of creative writing but she was also a wonderful person to depend on throughout the college application process, which can be very stressful at times. I enjoyed working with her so much that I returned to work with her again on my transfer apps, after I had outgrown the resources available at my small liberal arts college. Tina helped me convey my needs, my talents and my experience in an effortless and organized manner. I couldn’t be more proud of the work I accomplished with Tina, and it’s all because she continuously pushed me to write better and to consider different ways of communicating the same message. I’m even more proud of what I got out of it: the opportunity to self-reflect on my interests and aspirations. As a Finance major with my own startup that helps women in Turkey who have lost their jobs due to political conflict, this process with Tina made me realize that I’m also passionate about behavioral economics – I now have plans to pursue undergraduate research within that very field. Thanks to Tina I was able to put my best foot forward and will continue to do so, knowing that I have had a mentor like her along the way,

    E.O., American University
  • Thank you so much for all your help and support. A lot of my friends with similar stats as me didn’t make it to some of the same schools, which I believe goes to show the significance of essays. If it weren’t for you, my essays wouldn’t have been as developed and refined as they were.

    N.N., UCLA
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