Welcome to Calmin' App

Since 2006, Hildie Block has been supporting students in the process of applying to college.  She's a former Senior Admissions Officer (Johns Hopkins) and has taught "Freshman Comp" since 1996 first at GWU and then at American University.  She works with about 50 students a year on this process.  Her students typically get into their first choice colleges.

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Hildie's philosophy is to help students understand how an admissions officer thinks, and then introduce the student to the personal essay as an art form.  Once students understand those two concepts,, then she helps the student mine their experiences for topics.

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She does not "edit."  One of the most important concepts to Hildie is ownership and pride.  She wants her students to feel like they created these essays on their own and that they represent the best side of the student.  According to Hildie, the most important thing is not that a student gets into the most impressive college, but that they get into the college that will be the best fit and help them become their actual best selves.

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So where do your students get in?  EVERYWHERE!  In just this unusual year, I haven't finished compiling the lists yet, but I can tell you, Yes, Ivy Leagues and Virginia schools, including Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Cornell, Brown, Stanford, UVA, Virginia Tech, James Madison, William and Mary, George Mason, Christopher Newport, Virginia Commonwealth, Old Dominion, Radford. 

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Georgetown, American, GW, Catholic, Maryland, Vermont, Colby, Colorado College, Georgia Tech, California schools Irvine, Davis, SDSU, Georgia, Georgetown, Duke, Colorado/Boulder, Washington, Clemson, Ohio State, OU, Alabama, Miami (for Marine Bio!), and Miami of Ohio, Wesleyan, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, Wisc/Madison, Macalester, Bryn Mawr, Barnard, Swarthmore,Vassar, Wash/Lee, Kentucky, Nebraska, Tulane, Loyola (Chicago, Loyola Marymount (CA), Indiana, St Mary's College of Maryland, Richmond, Ursinus, Juniata, Guilford, McDaniel Gettysburg, Dickinson, Kalamazoo, Seattle U, University of Chicago, Purdue, U of the Puget Sound, Evergreen, Tampa, High Point, East Carolina University, Boston College, Boston University, Holy Cross, Nebraska, Wisconsin, UNC Chapel Hill and Wilmington, Davidson, Tufts,  .  . . and many more

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