Columbia M.Arch · Seventeen years of one-on-one work.
I work with about five students per application cycle, usually over several years. That means I'm there for the decisions that come first — courses, activities, when to test — and then for the applications themselves.
Most families handle the college process one piece at a time. Grades, then testing, then activities, then the applications. That's how it's usually presented, so it makes sense.
I think it's really all one process. A course picked in ninth grade can open or close options in twelfth. An activity someone sticks with for three years often ends up at the center of their essay. Testing planned early is the difference between a manageable senior fall and a miserable one.
I work with families across the whole stretch, so decisions get made with the other decisions in mind. Students end up with stronger applications, and they usually understand the process well enough to move through it without panicking.
"Mike is not just a tutor; he is an academic coach... working with my daughter on SAT prep and putting together a robust architecture college application... some advice has been priceless."
— Edita
A course picked in ninth grade is already an admissions decision. Most families don't find that out until later.
Credentials
I studied physics and the philosophy of science and mathematics at Columbia, where I received the David H. Siff Prize in the Philosophy of Science, and I have a Master of Architecture from Columbia GSAPP.
Before I started coaching full time I worked in architecture and exhibition design at Thinc Design in New York, did research with Columbia's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and wrote and edited for The New York Observer and a few academic publications.
I've done seventeen years of one-on-one work with students since then.
How the Work is Structured
Early on the work is light. We talk a few times a month about courses, activities, how to use a summer, and eventually where the student might want to apply. Ninth and tenth grade shouldn't be about applications, and I think treating them that way does more harm than good.
Testing starts when a student is ready for it, which depends on what they've covered in school rather than what grade they're in. I try to get testing finished before application season starts. Both are demanding, and when they overlap in the fall of senior year they compete for the same hours at the worst possible moment.
Application work starts in February of junior year. That's earlier than most families expect. Summers tend to disappear, and essays get better when there's time to write a draft, leave it alone, and come back to it.
Getting testing done before applications start prevents most of what makes senior fall miserable.
A Small Practice
I take on about five students per application cycle. The work depends on knowing a student well, and that's difficult to accomplish at a larger scale.
Architecture and Design Applicants
I have a Master of Architecture from Columbia GSAPP, and I work with students applying to undergraduate architecture and design programs. Portfolio development happens alongside everything else in the application, on one timeline.
Every engagement starts the same way, with a short conversation about where your student is now and what the next few years might look like.
Five students a cycle. Few enough that I actually know them.