Start here
Free Intro Call — New Clients
Free · 20 min
Not sure where to start? Book a free intro call — we’ll talk through where you are, what you need, and whether working together makes sense. No prep required.
Micah DenBraber
College admissions coaching & competitive fellowship advising.
I have won real awards because I’m perpetually learning this skill. I started taking clients to help them do the same.
Seasonal note goes here.
Groups I’ve worked with, been affiliated with, or helped clients apply to
Unfortunate truth: Your mentors, counselors, and parents don’t have the time or proximity to provide the necessary and uncomfortable feedback you need to succeed at competitive collegefellowship and job applications.
Winning applications for life-changing opportunities can’t be mass produced because they demand a particular kind of self-interrogation about who you are and what you want from the opportunity.
Actually writing an excellent application is a difficult skill, because it requires honesty and effort to form a thesis from the sifting experiences of your life that conveys a specific and approachable narrative.
This is a learnable skill that improves with practice and will serve you when asking for a raise, preparing for a hard job interview, or writing about yourself in ten years for a context you can’t even imagine today.
How can I help you?
When admissions readers finish reading a good application, it should cause them to say to themselves: “I need to meet this person.”
When reviewers finish reading a good application, it should cause them to say to themselves: “I need to meet this person.”
If you work with me, you’ll learn an essay framework that can achieve this by getting readers to remember WHO you are by encapsulating your achievements and passions within the kernel of a single idea. This takes self-reflection and iteration, which is why applications full of generic “impact” or “changemaker” language are so forgettable (and cringe!).
What sets me apart is that I can (and will tell you) when the claims and evidence in your application are generic or unconvincing. I’m a coach at heart and am enthusiastic about your own reflection and success. I will help coax out what you’re trying to say, while helping you show (rather than tell) why you deserve that offer of admission.
What sets me apart is that I can (and will tell you) when the claims and evidence in your application are generic or unconvincing. I’m a coach at heart and am enthusiastic about your own reflection and success. I will help coax out what you’re trying to say, while helping you show (rather than tell) why you deserve to win that award.
What I offer
On pricing: I am not building a coaching empire. I’m a recent grad who learned this skill and used it to earn the awards, internships, and fellowships in my background. I want to be transparent about where the money goes. These prices reflect an hourly rate of about $40 / £30. I’ve included my average hourly labor in each description. Other coaches who do this full time charge over $100 an hour, and often haven’t written a competitive applicationfellowship application themselves in years.
Essay & Personal Statement Review
$185 / £140 per review · 3-pack $500 / £370
One-on-one work on a single application. Includes a line edit on your materials and a 1-hour guidance call after the fact to walk through feedback. The 3-pack is for applicants working on multiple applications or iterating on a single high-stakes one.
~4.5 hours of work per review: pre-review preparation, 2-3 hours of marked-up review, 1-hour guidance call.
College & Fellowship Strategy Session
$250 / £185
For prospective applicants who are unsure where to start or what comes next. Bring your resume, transcripts, and any past application statements or writing samples. We’ll spend 90 minutes talking through your background, and you’ll leave with a ranked list of schoolsfellowships that fit your profile, a timeline for the application cycle, and honest feedback on where your candidacy is strong and where it needs work.
~5 hours of work: pre-call materials review, 90-minute consultation, written summary.
Mock Interviews
$150 / £110 single session · 2-pack + debrief $250 / £185
Mock interview with synchronous feedback and a written debrief. The package includes two mock interviews spaced 5–7 days apart, with a written debrief after each.
~4 hours of work per interview: pre-interview research, 1-hour mock, written debrief.
Full-Cycle Retainer
$1,500 / £1,110 · by application only
Single college applicationfellowship or job search lifecycle from first steps brainstorming to admissions decisionaward decision. Includes unlimited feedback on your materials, three calls per week, and a standing accountability partnership through the full cycle. This is the all-in option for applicants committing seriously to their college applicationsa single competitive fellowship. Please start with an intake form to schedule a preliminary call.
~37 hours of work per month.
How it works
My process for a single essay review is as follows:
-
Send your materials
Send me your materials and I’ll research what your admissions readerscommittee will be looking for (if I don’t already know).
-
Get a marked-up review
Then I’ll spend 2-3 hours marking up your draft across three layers: how internally cohesive and authentic the writing is, how relevant it is to what the admissions officethe committee needs, and the language / syntax itself. You’ll get back two kinds of written feedback: substantive comments on argument and structure, and line-level edits with rationales for each edit.
-
Meet for an hour
You’ll have time to read through everything before we meet for an hour. I’ll open with strategic-level feedback on thesis and narrative, then we’ll walk through specific examples where the language or examples could be sharper. We’ll brainstorm in real time how to spin an experience or reframe an idea so it lands the way you want it to.
Which one do I need?
Two quick questions. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
What are you applying to?
Where are you in the process?
My background
- Political Intern, U.S. Mission to the EU (U.S. State Department)
- Carnegie Corporation of New York
- Critical Language Scholar, Russian
- American Enterprise Institute Honors Scholar (2x)
- Schwarzman Scholars Finalist
- Aspen Security Forum
- Copenhagen Democracy Summit
- Colorado Attorney General Philip J. Weiser’s 2026 Gubernatorial Campaign