Dana Crum
Princeton-Educated English/ESL Tutor and College-Admissions Consultant
Philadelphia, PA
Expertise
Horace Mann, Prep for Prep and Ramapo College of New Jersey are just some of the institutions where Dana has taught English and creative writing. Having taught high school and college, he knows what skills colleges expect of incoming freshmen and what challenges high-school students encounter as they strive to master and demonstrate these skills. In all, he has 18 years of teaching experience and 16 years of experience as an English tutor and admissions consultant. He also worked in Princeton’s Admission Office, where he read and evaluated undergraduate applications.
What further sets him apart is his career as an award-winning poet, essayist and novelist. Every day he faces the blank page and writes under the pressure of high expectations and unyielding deadlines. He knows exactly what students go through when they sit down to write. This makes him an even more effective tutor and college consultant. His students have not only gained admission to Ivy League schools but have also won Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the same awards Sylvia Plath, Joyce Carol Oates and Truman Capote won as teens.
Dana tutors middle-school, high-school, college and graduate students as well as working professionals.
Teaching Methods
Dana tailors his tutoring to the student’s idiosyncratic, ongoing needs and to her specific needs on that day. His pedagogical methods include:
-line-by-line analysis of challenging texts such as Shakespeare plays and poetry in general
-exploration of theme, character, scene, plot, reversals, dramatic irony, foreshadowing, and other elements of storytelling
-scrutiny of poetic devices, including form, meter, free verse, line breaks, figurative language, rhyme, alliteration and assonance
-attention to aspects of writing craft, including prewriting, the five-paragraph essay, thesis, subpoints, textual evidence, introductions, conclusions, paragraphs, transitions and sentences (e.g., sentence-length variation, sentence combining, parallelism, balanced sentences, periodic sentences)
-studying etymology and word roots so as to facilitate vocabulary development
-examination of descriptive grammar (parts of speech and parts of a sentence) and functional grammar (how words behave when used correctly).
Education
- MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Creative Writing in 1996
- BA from Princeton University in English in 1993
Professional History
- Application Reader in the Admission Office at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ from 2014 - 2015
- Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing and Composition & Rhetoric at The Art Academy of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, OH from 2013 - 2014
- Eva Jane Romaine Coombe Writer in Residence at The Seven Hills School in Cincinnati, OH from 2012 - 2014
- English & Writing Teacher at Prep for Prep in New York, NY from 2011 - 2012
- Creative-Writing Teacher & Poetry Teaching Artist at DreamYard Preparatory School & DreamYard in Bronx, NY from 2008 - 2012
- English Teacher; Multi-Subject Tutor at The Dwight School in New York, NY from 2007 - 2008
- Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing and Composition & Rhetoric at Ramapo College of New Jersey in Mahwah, NJ from 2006 - 2009
- Content Editor, Copy Editor, Fact-Checker & Proofreader at danacrum.com in New York, NY from 2002 - Present
- English Tutor & Admissions Consultant; English-Language Expert at danacrum.com in New York, NY from 1999 - Present
- English Teacher at Horace Mann School in Riverdale, NY from 1996 - 2000
- Adjunct Professor of Composition & Rhetoric; Writing-Center Tutor at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA from 1995 - 1996
- Poet, Novelist and Essayist at danacrum.com in New York, NY from 1995 - Present
About Me
A Princeton alum, Dana is a seasoned English/ESL tutor and college-admissions consultant with 18 years of teaching experience and 16 years of tutoring experience. He has taught at several institutions, including Horace Mann, The Dwight School, Prep for Prep and Ramapo College of New Jersey. He has tutored middle-school, high-school, college and graduate students, including students from Horace Mann, Manhattan Country School, Stevens Institute of Technology and Goddard College. Dana has worked in Princeton’s Admission Office and is an award-winning poet, essayist and novelist. Under his tutelage, students have won Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the same awards Sylvia Plath, Joyce Carol Oates and Truman Capote won as teens.
References
(5)
Matt H.
12:23 PM 29/Mar/15
Relationship: Educator
I am very pleased to recommend Dana Crum for a position as a writing tutor/Adjunct English or Creative Writing professor. I first met Dana in 2013 when I hired him to teach writing at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where I am the Chair of the Liberal Arts Department. In the fall of that year, he taught an Honors English class for us, and in the spring of 2014 he taught a Creative Writing: Poetry course. In both cases, and in all of my dealings with Dana, I found him to be organized, collegial, and smart. As a person and a teacher, he has gentle earnestness about him, which is disarming and makes him immediately likeable, but he’s also serious, knowledgeable and attentive to students and their needs.
His comments on student papers, which I reviewed as a part of our assessment program, were thorough and useful, and emphasized the positive while also pointing students toward improvements they could make in their writing. The AAC Honors students, who are notoriously demanding found Dana to be open, inventive, and helpful to them as writers. The students Dana taught in the poetry course also felt truly lucky to have him as an instructor, and noted on the course evaluations that he was analytical, patient, and clearly interested in helping them to be not only better poets, but better writers in general.
I was really pleased with Dana’s performance, and the only reason he’s not still teaching for us is because he left the Cincinnati area to pursue other creative and professional opportunities. I can’t say enough good things about him. We miss him. His intelligence, kindness, and imagination all recommend him. I recommend too, wholeheartedly and without reservation.
Sincerely,
Matt Hart
Associate Professor and Chair
Liberal Arts Department
Art Academy of Cincinnati
Patricia K.
13:26 PM 14/Mar/15
Relationship: Educator
Dana is a responsible, competent, experienced, and effective teacher, and he is a terrific one-on-one teacher as well as a tutor.
Gregory D.
19:03 PM 13/Mar/15
Relationship: Educator
Mr. Dana Crum is a highly talented, mature, insightful and accomplished writer who is among the select group of the most dedicated teachers I have encountered in my own thirty-year career as a college professor. He is a 1996 graduate of our VCU MFA program, and he achieved an outstanding academic record during his studies, and with his writing he also won one of our top fellowships after having been strongly recruited from Princeton University, where his record was similarly remarkable. He has gone on to a remarkable professional career as a caring and responsible teacher, as well as being an exacting editor. An energetic and courageous person, he has consistently achieved remarkable successes, including significant publication of his own writing, while having overcome the limitations that can be part of rising from an underprivileged background, and he is someone who has earned my admiration and unstinting support. He is a mature person who will work quite professionally and successfully as a Book & Table tutor.
Pak S.
19:02 PM 13/Mar/15
Relationship: Student
Mr. Crum offered me crucial support in reading and writing, and gave me hope to succeed in English during my most frustrated time.
Tina B.
13:49 PM 13/Mar/15
Relationship: Student
"I returned to school after over ten years away from a traditional academic environment. Dana worked with me on a stringent review of grammar and writing fundamentals that are essential to being a successful writer and communicator in ALL areas of life. I am fortunate to have worked with him as working with him gave me the strong foundation I needed to achieve my goal of finishing a graduate degree. He is committed and passionate about his work. I highly recommend him!"
Matt H.
12:23 PM 29/Mar/15
Relationship: Educator
I am very pleased to recommend Dana Crum for a position as a writing tutor/Adjunct English or Creative Writing professor. I first met Dana in 2013 when I hired him to teach writing at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, where I am the Chair of the Liberal Arts Department. In the fall of that year, he taught an Honors English class for us, and in the spring of 2014 he taught a Creative Writing: Poetry course. In both cases, and in all of my dealings with Dana, I found him to be organized, collegial, and smart. As a person and a teacher, he has gentle earnestness about him, which is disarming and makes him immediately likeable, but he’s also serious, knowledgeable and attentive to students and their needs. His comments on student papers, which I reviewed as a part of our assessment program, were thorough and useful, and emphasized the positive while also pointing students toward improvements they could make in their writing. The AAC Honors students, who are notoriously demanding found Dana to be open, inventive, and helpful to them as writers. The students Dana taught in the poetry course also felt truly lucky to have him as an instructor, and noted on the course evaluations that he was analytical, patient, and clearly interested in helping them to be not only better poets, but better writers in general. I was really pleased with Dana’s performance, and the only reason he’s not still teaching for us is because he left the Cincinnati area to pursue other creative and professional opportunities. I can’t say enough good things about him. We miss him. His intelligence, kindness, and imagination all recommend him. I recommend too, wholeheartedly and without reservation. Sincerely, Matt Hart Associate Professor and Chair Liberal Arts Department Art Academy of Cincinnati
Patricia K.
13:26 PM 14/Mar/15
Relationship: Educator
Dana is a responsible, competent, experienced, and effective teacher, and he is a terrific one-on-one teacher as well as a tutor.
Gregory D.
19:03 PM 13/Mar/15
Relationship: Educator
Mr. Dana Crum is a highly talented, mature, insightful and accomplished writer who is among the select group of the most dedicated teachers I have encountered in my own thirty-year career as a college professor. He is a 1996 graduate of our VCU MFA program, and he achieved an outstanding academic record during his studies, and with his writing he also won one of our top fellowships after having been strongly recruited from Princeton University, where his record was similarly remarkable. He has gone on to a remarkable professional career as a caring and responsible teacher, as well as being an exacting editor. An energetic and courageous person, he has consistently achieved remarkable successes, including significant publication of his own writing, while having overcome the limitations that can be part of rising from an underprivileged background, and he is someone who has earned my admiration and unstinting support. He is a mature person who will work quite professionally and successfully as a Book & Table tutor.
Pak S.
19:02 PM 13/Mar/15
Relationship: Student
Mr. Crum offered me crucial support in reading and writing, and gave me hope to succeed in English during my most frustrated time.
Tina B.
13:49 PM 13/Mar/15
Relationship: Student
"I returned to school after over ten years away from a traditional academic environment. Dana worked with me on a stringent review of grammar and writing fundamentals that are essential to being a successful writer and communicator in ALL areas of life. I am fortunate to have worked with him as working with him gave me the strong foundation I needed to achieve my goal of finishing a graduate degree. He is committed and passionate about his work. I highly recommend him!"