If you hire this pro, you’re covered by a money-back guarantee. Learn more
If you hire this pro, you’re covered by a money-back guarantee. Learn more
About
Pen, Path, and Presence offers college admissions guidance grounded in over a decade of experience, with a special focus on college essays. With a BA from Yale, an MFA from NYU, and experience as a Yale alumni admissions interviewer, I help students find their path with clarity, refine their presence with confidence, and wield the power of the pen to tell their stories — on the page, in interviews, and beyond. Packages can consist of solely essay coaching, or essay coaching paired with application strategy, process guidance, interview/video coaching, etc. I offer a minimum 15-hour package.
Overview
Hired 17 times
Serves Murfreesboro, TN
Background checked
1 employee
11 years in business
Business hours
Sun12:00 pm - 8:00 pmMon9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Payment methods
This pro accepts payments via Cash and Zelle.
Services offered
Services needed
Student's grade level
High school Freshman
High school Sophomore
High school Junior
High school Senior
Work location
I work remotely (phone or internet)
Projects and media
Projects and media
Reviews
Customers rated this pro highly for work quality, value, and responsiveness.
Exceptional 5.0
36 reviews
5
100%
4
0%
3
0%
2
0%
1
0%
Your trust means everything to us. Learn about our review guidelines.
Read reviews that mention:
Roberto O.
Jan 22, 2025
•
Hired on Thumbtack
Olivia worked on tutoring my daughter throughout the daunting college application season. She helped her navigate her personal statement, while staying true to my daughter's voice. She also helped with supplemental essays and general advise about targeting colleges based on her personal preferences, career goals, and academic record and she helped my daughter get into her top choice program.
Details: Writing essays • Completing applications • High school Senior • Cadence recommended by professional • Remotely (phone or internet)
College Admissions Counseling
Gina B.
Jun 19, 2025
Choosing to work with Olivia as a college consultant was the best decision we made for our son. Starting with little direction as to how to choose a college essay topic, Olivia's brainstorming sessions helped him find the strengths he wanted to highlight, as well as the personal stories that would make his essay unique. She worked directly with him not just on content and draft review, but also on deadlines, taking the entire process and all of the stress off my shoulders. My son specifically said that she let him think freely and without judgement, bringing out his personality. His final essay authentically captured his strengths, voice and spirit so well that we immediately asked her to help him with his supplemental essays. She also helped him develop the activities and honors sections of the common app in a way that was not just a list. In the end his entire application told a cohesive story.
Olivia's assistance with the remainder of the college application process became invaluable. Olivia helped us make decisions (such as where to send SAT scores, when not to apply EA) college by college, reaching out to colleagues for input when the decision wasn't straightforward, making sure that for each school we chose the path that would best support his application and enhance his chances of admission. It was clear she never took a single question or decision lightly, giving each and every one full consideration. She was incredibly responsive to emails and an absolute angel with questions, even answering one night at 10pm on a holiday the night before a deadline. She is fun and engaging and obviously loves what she does. I have no doubt her guidance helped my son get into almost all of his chosen schools, even reaches. I hope she is available in a few years when it is time for my daughter to apply to college.
Courtney b.
Apr 29, 2022
•
Hired on Thumbtack
Olivia is truly amazing. She is brilliant, down to earth, dedicated, helpful and so comforting. She helped me with my entire application (resume, paper, recommendations, etc) to an Ivy League graduate program that I was initially intimidated to apply for. She is generous + effective with her time, positive and helped me get my application in a few days before the deadline (and feel fantastic about it).
I nailed an interview so far which she’s also helping me prep for!
Olivia made me feel incredibly confident throughout the process and continues to be helpful and excited for me. She made this process fun and totally accessible! I highly recommend her for any admissions support.
Details: Writing essays • High school graduate • More than once a week • Remotely (phone or internet)
College Admissions Counseling
Asmae M.
Feb 3, 2022
•
Hired on Thumbtack
Olivia is absolutely incredible. She did everything she possibly could to ensure I felt support and to ensure my essays were the best they could possibly be. Early mornings, late nights she made sure to be there when I needed her most and we worked on every single essay- start to finish. Sentence by sentence and she paid so much attention to
details. My essays were perfect: a beautiful balance of my voice and great writing. She never let a sentence go unedited and truly took her time to make sure I would succeed. She always, always, always made time to help me especially when application season was close to finish. She’s is really the best person I’ve worked with. I’ve never met an advisor that cares so much about her students. Olivia goes above and beyond to make sure I would get into my dream schools. She took the time to edit, make suggestions, and even help me come up with a proper school list. She always made sure that my voice and passions were perfectly displayed in my essays. She truly is an expert and makes sure to share every last bit of knowledge to maximize my success. There was never a moment that I didn’t feel supported. Olivia is the only person I trusted with my essays and I trusted to give me advice during this stressful process. She made the entire process so much less stressful and so much more fun. She gave me so much for my future. I absolutely loved loved loved working with Olivia and I’m SO grateful I have the opportunity to be supported by someone as smart, caring, and experienced as her. Beyond her eye for grammar,voice, and she really cares about your success. Usually, college advisors are closed off, but Olivia is the person to turn when you need academic or writing advice and she will give it to you, happily, at ANY time. She takes her time, even under time pressures, and still we always met the deadlines and did so with beautiful essays. I so deeply appreciate Olivia her expertise. She’s really really incredible and I wouldnt be where I am now without her! If you come across Olivia, I highly recommend working with her. There’s really no one better go through this process with. I am so so lucky to have met her. Thank
You so much Olivia!!!!
Details: Completing applications • High school Senior • More than once a week • Remotely (phone or internet)
College Admissions Counseling
Mahesh T.
Feb 14, 2023
•
Hired on Thumbtack
Olivia is absolutely amazing. She was really helpful in whatever stage of writing I was in-whether it was choosing what idea to write about, creating my first draft, or making final edits. She always made sure that I felt that my writing was something that represented me and was something I was confident of. She is detail-oriented and allowed me to push myself into writing essays that really allowed me to put my best foot forward. It was clear that she was dedicated and genuinely cared about my success. Not only was she willing to find time that fit my schedule, she could recollect small details from my previous writing and conversations we had to give me suggestions on how to improve my writing. Her support made a massive difference in my writing, and I highly recommend her for anyone looking for help with collegeadmissions.
- Simran Tawari
Details: Selecting colleges • Completing applications • Writing essays • High school Senior • Once a week • Remotely (phone or internet)
College Admissions Counseling
Credentials
Background Check
Olivia Scicolone
FAQs
What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
I offer a minimum of 15-hour packages; please keep this in mind when inquiring about my services.
What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
When working on essay writing, I first start by getting to know the student, talking through potential story ideas, and then setting the student off to do some free writing on anything they like. Then we see what the student has written, which story has some substance to it, and how we can dig deeper into that topic to get to the heart of the story. The initial meetings typically happen via Zoom, but once a story is chosen and the student gets comfortable doing work solo, we start to work in a hybrid model wherein the student presents work via a shared google doc and I leave detailed comments which either provoke a discussion via Zoom or further revisions on the google doc (whatever the student prefers). Many students enjoy this combination method, as it allows the student to take a look and digest the information, followed up with a Zoom call to clarify any ambiguous points or additional questions -- or vice versa.
For college consulting services, we begin with college list building, then we tackle multiple application considerations: strategy, major declaration, essays, interviews, demonstrated interest, etc.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
MFA NYU
BA Yale
Content Developer (ACT/SAT English) for two test prep companies (2 years)
Creative Writing teacher in New Haven, CT (1 year)
English / Performance teacher at the women's prison of Cleveland (2 years)
Private College Essay tutor and ACT/SAT English tutor (8 years)
