Who We Are
We built Ecstawrite to bridge admissions strategy and storytelling so the college application journey is as transformative as the education it leads to.
Mission Statement
We believe every student merits the guidance to discover, tell, and live their authentic story. We merge admissions strategy with narrative mastery, helping students from all backgrounds present the most powerful, truthful version of themselves.
Rick DiFeliciantonio
former VP for Enrollment,
Communication, & Financial Aid
higher education Consultant
Gabriel DiFeliciantonio
former national magazine
editor & reporter
college essay & youth writing educator
Rick DiFeliciantonio
“A successful application is coherent and honest, communicating achievement and potential in the context of the student’s own story.”
Admissions leadership & consulting
For more than four decades, Rick DiFeliciantonio has worked in admissions and financial aid at selective colleges — heading up enrollment offices, reading thousands of applications, shaping classes, writing on higher ed, and consulting with over 50 institutions of higher education. He understands the institutional side of how admissions committees work and what moves a file to “yes.”
His career has spanned leadership roles at top institutions, including over twenty years as Vice President for Enrollment at Ursinus College, where he designed the school’s first holistic admissions framework. Before that, Rick served as Associate Dean of Admissions at Swarthmore College.
Rick also worked as Admissions Strategy Consultant at Bennington College and as Associate Vice President for Ruffalo Noel Levitz, a higher ed consulting firm.
He takes pride in helping students understand what admissions officers look for, how institutional decisions are made, and how context and voice put test scores and grades in perspective.
Scholarship and teaching
A graduate of Swarthmore College, Rick holds an M.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Denver, and studied in the PhD Writing Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
He taught undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Denver, the Wharton School, and Temple University, delivering curricula spanning academic, business, and creative writing.
Rick was also a standout student-athlete — a two-time First-Team All-MAC baseball selection in 1977 and 1978 — with an understanding of the role that extracurriculars play in admissions and student development.
Selected essays on admissions
Rick has written on the ethics and evolution of the admissions landscape for a number of publications, recognized for his insight into the profession.
| Title | Publication |
|---|---|
| “The ‘Delicate Duplicitousness’ of What I Do” | The Chronicle of Higher Education – Head Count |
| “Who is Willing? Who is Able to Pay?” | Inside Higher Ed – Admissions Insider |
| “Making Liberal Arts Angst Work for High School Applicants” | Inside Higher Ed – Views |
| “Paper Nerds and Folder Flakes” | Journal of College Admissions |
Justin Gabriel DiFeliciantonio
“Good writing happens when you start listening to yourself. Trust the story within.”
Professional and storytelling experience
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Swarthmore College, Gabriel studied English Literature and Religion in the Honors Program. He brings a rare combination of literary training, editorial precision, and one-on-one teaching experience to the admissions process.
For more than fifteen years, he has worked with hundreds of students to develop their voices, sharpen their thinking, and tell their stories with clarity, depth, and style. Before Ecstawrite, Gabriel worked as an editor for Tennis Magazine, where he developed articles on the history, people, and culture of the game. He has also trained for years with the LA Writers’ Lab, deepening his understanding of the process that gives rise to memorable writing.
Gabriel has also served as an alumni interviewer for Swarthmore College, giving him perspective on how students present themselves in selective admissions.
Teaching
Gabriel’s approach combines narrative craft, close listening, and deep reflection. Students move beyond résumé language and surface-level themes to uncover the moments of growth that make an essay memorable.
Through guided journaling, thoughtful conversation, and creative exercises, students produce genuine material that feels alive and unmistakably their own. Gabriel’s students have written short stories, novels, and award-winning work, earning recognition through programs and competitions including the PTA Reflections Contest, National History Day, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and the Columbus State University Carson McCullers Literary Awards.
Contemplative approach
A practitioner of meditation, Gabriel has spent time with Buddhist nuns in Vietnam and taken creativity classes with Hindu mystics in the Himalayas. As a Certified Isha Hatha Yoga Teacher, Gabriel brings a calm, reflective presence to his work with students.
Gabriel believes the college application process can do more than help students gain admission. It can teach them how to pay attention to their own experience, trust their inner life, and communicate with honesty and courage.