I have worked with Luke for the past 4 years during community college as a nontraditional transfer student looking to get into an elite university. Luke is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE in his craft. My personal statement was so killer, I was able to receive a full tuition scholarship from a top university in California. He utilizes your time efficiently, and really helps you pick topics that will stand out with admissions. I plan to use Luke when I apply to medical school because he is just SO good at making your 1 paragraph about nonsense into 3 solid sentences that blow your mind. I have learned so much over the years from Luke I was even able to give a presentation about essay writing to my community college based on the skills he had taught me. Even if you have to pay out of pocket yourself like I did for Luke, I'm tell you now... ITS WORTH IT. Balancing academics and extra curricular is hard, but Luke holds you accountable and makes the application process a breeze. Even the style of writing I've learned from Luke will help me in future endeavors for years to come. Luke, I am so fortunate to have met you and I have a feeling I wouldn't be in the amazing position I am right now without your application guidance. THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the work and time you put into me as a student and getting to know me on a personal level. 10/10 would recommend to everyone. read more

They've built an amazing team of consultants and tutors who really cared about my child as a person, not just as a client or just for high scores and admission. He really enjoyed his interaction with their staff. And we notice his much improved confidence and maturity. Thanks! read more

I can't recommend Luke and Spark Prep enough. I worked with Luke last summer/fall on my law school applications. I've always been a pretty solid writer, so initially I didn't think I would need much help. Looking back on the process, it's amazing how much my personal statement and addendums improved with Luke's guidance and insight. Spark Prep's approach is all about taking a complete and critical look at who you are and what you're bringing to the table. Luke susses out your strengths, personality, goals and so on, and helps build your application from the ground up. My personal statement and addendums worked together to present a complete picture of who I am as an applicant, making a clear case for my skill and experience without being redundant. It was really useful to have an outsider look at my work critically, especially since I can be a little stubborn about my writing. But even if you already fancy yourself a writer (and I do), sometimes you do need a little brutal honesty to realize that you don't have to say everything -- you just have to say one really important thing really well. Luke is outstanding in his mastery of this 'crafting' process. And, he provided a ton of support and coaching to help me manage timeline, stress, etc. Even though they say that the law school game is all about your numbers, having a stellar personal statement makes people notice. I got a 90K scholarship from my top choice T15 law school, and at the admitted students day one of the program directors personally approached me to say how much she loved my personal statement and application. Spark Prep FTW!! read more

Working with Luke was a great experience from start to finish. Not only was I applying to a unique masters program, but I came to him with a less than ideal time frame for submission, and he was more than accommodating. With his help, I was able to put together an application I was proud of, and ultimately one that resulted in an acceptance letter. I definitely plan to come back around to Spark Prep when I apply to law school later down the road! read more

Couldn't recommend more highly. I'm a reapplicant to medical school and Luke helped me with both my primary application, the secondaries, and the interview prep (because this time I actually got interviews!!) With the primary Luke was especially crucial for the writing of my Personal Statement. After taking the time to get to know me and hear about some major events in my life, he helped me determine a couple options of what to write about. I then proceeded to write pages and pages of ramblings, which he helped me mold into a statement that I think is honest, indicative of my personality, and also extremely compelling. I'm 100% sure it one of the reasons I have had some positive responses so far. When it came to the secondaries Luke helped me organize the overwhelming process into something manageable, kept me on task, and made sure everything I sent out was comprehensive, well written, and not repetitive (very helpful when your eyes have started to cross after days of writing answers to vaguely similar questions). Luke and I are currently in the process of prepping me for interviews next week and I feel much more confident knowing he will prepare me so that I convey the best parts of myself and my capacity for a medical career. Last year I had multiple people tell me that I am going to make a great doctor but I need to figure out how to market myself better in my application. It's like a sick joke that to get an interview science minded individuals are evaluated based on their ability to WRITE a compelling and complete application, but here we are. Thanks to Luke it seems I've done a much better job this year and I would recommend him to anyone who is looking to apply to a competitive program. Worth MORE than every penny. read more

I worked with Luke for a full year to tackle the entire M.D. application cycle, from the first draft of the personal statement to the final acceptance letter. In between, his organization and professionalism allowed me to effectively fill primary submissions, send strong secondary essays, and prepare for six interview invitations. He helped me refine my thoughts, clean up my writing, and tailor statements to individual programs. Skype and email were effective and efficient methods of communication throughout the cycle. I was also able to meet for in-person sessions several times during the year. Overall, I was extremely satisfied with my Spark Prep experience. Luke's unique and refined skills helped me achieve success amidst a stressful and competitive process. Highly recommended. read more

Luke was fantastic! Our son got help with the whole college admission process, honing essays and deciding where to apply early. Luke was an intellectual inspiration who stretched and inspired our son, who got in to his first choice. Can't say enough good things about the whole experience. read more

I could not be more satisfied with Luke Taylor and his assistance to me in writing my statement of purpose for PhD programs in psychology. Luke is everything you want in a writing tutor- great attention to deal, offers lots of constructive criticism, great vision for what you want to say. He gave me so much constructive feedback for my writing and never made me feel stupid or bad for needing improvements- that's really important when you spend hours with someone and they are evaluating your work. He always called me right on the dot for when we were supposed to me and emailed me back very promptly while I was working with him- usually a few hours or less. I mentioned another person's example essay and without me asking he went and read it and offered me feedback on it. That's so above and beyond to do that. Preparing for any kind of admissions is a very stressful process, and it is just so nice to work with someone so competent and feel your essay is in good hands. It really took a lot of the anxiety out of writing because he really helped me with the direction and flow of my essay. Anyway, I very highly recommend. Don't hesitate to chose Sparkprep/Luke. read more

I just finished applying to a couple of PhD programs and Luke's help was absolutely invaluable. I started the process with my head a bit in the sand. I didn't really know much about applying to grad school or why, exactly, I wanted to and Luke asked incredibly insightful questions that made me really think through my goals and interests. A couple months later, I finally had a few essays drafts to show for my labor. Luke was kind in the way he told me that they had a lot of room for improvement. He pointed out places that I needed to augment and sections that could be cut entirely. He did so gently but firmly, guiding me towards a much better final product. Besides being able to greatly help with content, Luke is also a great copy-editor. Word choice is important, and Luke knows the right words to choose. Regardless of the result of my application, working with Luke made me confident that I have put my best self forward. I highly recommend his services and Spark Prep as a company. read more

Luke met with me at my house in Marin shortly after we started talking. I was hoping that he could help me focus my thoughts and my complicated story into something that law schools would like. In only an hour, he helped me completely retool the direction of my letter. I'm much happier with what I have now and, although it is not a finished product because I'm not applying until the fall, I'm excited about the help that he gave me. Update: I have worked with Luke twice since this has been posted, and over that time I changed the direction of my Personal Statement. Luke was patient and conscientious of the message that I was trying to send the law schools. He helped me to get rid of the superfluous stuff that is so hard to see past when you're writing about yourself, but he did it in a gentle and kind way. The final product is a PS that I'm very proud of. I put in my applications yesterday with supreme confidence. I have a low GPA due to some struggles in my past and I feel that my PS accounts for it and makes up for it. I'm excited to hear back from the schools that I applied to, and I'm so glad that I chose to work with Luke on crafting my Personal Statements. If you need help crafting a solid PS, work with Luke and Spark Prep! read more