About

Jack Brookes is a writer, educator, and college admissions mentor with over eight years of experience supporting students through undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral applications. He has helped students gain admission to top liberal arts colleges, state universities, and Ivy League institutions by combining strategic insight with a deep commitment to clarity, self-knowledge, and authentic expression.

Jack holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Comparative Literature from St. John’s College and earned his M.A. from Harvard University. During his time at Harvard, he worked in a range of educational capacities—as a teaching fellow, writing tutor, and mentor to graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Before graduate school, Jack spent several years immersed in Zen Buddhist monastic training, where he studied and practiced the arts of reflection and focused inquiry. That training continues to inform his approach to mentorship: patient, attentive, and attuned to the inner work that strong writing and meaningful direction both require.

At The Arc Project, Jack offers highly individualized mentorship designed not only to build strong applications, but to support students in articulating who they are and what matters to them. Through a close, collaborative process—brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and refining—he helps students craft essays that are not only persuasive, but meaningful. Sessions begin each spring and continue through the college application season.