Welcome Our New Writing Specialist Liz Young

Liz Young joined Educational Advocates in September as a writing specialist, guiding high school, transfer, and prospective graduate students on their essays and personal statements. Liz is a writer and educator with twenty years experience working with students at both the high school and college level. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Columbia University with a BA in Classics and earned a PhD in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley. Before transitioning into admissions work, Liz spent a decade as a college professor, holding positions as Knafel Assistant Professor of Humanities at Wellesley College and Blegen Research Fellow in Greek and Roman Studies at Vassar College. In these roles she taught Latin and Greek as well as numerous literature courses on topics spanning the history of the sonnet to literary cognition. During this time, she taught and mentored hundreds of students with a wide range of backgrounds, strengths and needs – including students with mental and physical health challenges and learning differences.

 

While at Wellesley, she served for three years on the college’s admissions committee where she vetted applications from across the country and witnessed first hand how powerfully a stand-out essay can transform an application.  

 

Liz’s writing has been published broadly in both academic and literary venues.  Poems have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies and her first poetry collection was selected as a National Poetry Series finalist. Scholarly articles on Ovid, Vergil, Sappho and others have appeared in top peer-reviewed journals and her book on translation and the ancient Roman understanding of literary creativity was published by the University of Chicago Press. 

 

Before teaching college, Liz taught English and Latin at the high school level. She takes great pleasure in helping students of this age cultivate the confidence, skills and intrinsic motivation they need to navigate the application process and likewise thrive in high school, college, and beyond.