Carter Osborne's side hustle is helping students get into college. He makes more money from the gig than his full-time job, and he says anyone can do it.
What To Know: In 2017, Osborne found himself looking for ways to make extra cash as he tried to keep up with graduate school tuition. He realized he could make good money helping high school seniors write college admissions essays.
Before he applied to Stanford University, he too sought out a consultant for assistance with the admissions process. He tapped that same mentor to get his side hustle off the ground.
His former college consultant referred him three clients, which he was able to roll into 40 clients over the next few years. In 2021, Osborne made $113,550 from his college admissions side hustle, according to CNBC.
"I think it’s absolutely replicable for anyone who wants to spend some time learning how to break down the college essay writing process and engage in it," Osborne said.
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If you want to try to start the same side hustle yourself, a good mentor is crucial to your success, he said. You need to find someone with knowledge of the ways that admissions readers evaluate submissions.
The admissions process is in a state of flux, and you need someone who is up-to-date on what schools are looking for, Osborne said.
You also need to figure out how to help students improve essays without actually writing it for them. Osborne starts with a 90-minute brainstorming meeting, where he asks questions that help the students think critically about their experiences in order to better form their personal statements.
"When people start writing text for students or suggesting new content, that’s where you could get into hairy territory. The initial rough drafts are never great, and I can’t write their essays for them. If I need them to dig deeper into an idea, I only pull notes and make suggestions based on things that they’ve told me," he said.
Osborne scaled his side hustle down to 33 clients last year. He still made more than $77,000 helping students while also maintaining a full-time job. The side hustle allows for a lot of flexibility because it can be done remotely, and it only costs about $50 to set up a Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM account and a simple website.
It takes a lot of work, though. When admissions deadlines are approaching, Osborne works about 70 hours per week between his full-time job and his side hustle, he said, but the extra money is well worth it.
This story is part of a new series of features on the subject of success, Benzinga Inspire.
Photo: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.
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