Advisors

Hi, my name is Chika and I'm from New York!

I graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Science and Technology Studies and was an alumni ambassador for Cornell's admissions team for over 10 years. I also have a master's degree in journalism (Columbia University) and have substantial editing experience.

In my career, I have worked as a K-12 tutor and as a high school advisor. I'm now a Freelance Academic Support Specialist, which means I provide a variety of online tutoring, SAT/ACT prep, and other services to students across the country.

I'm a skilled advisor, editor, planner, and researcher who can greatly improve your college admissions experience. My goal is to make everyone's future brighter, so let's work together and make that happen!

Hello! My name is Mary Katheryn, and I graduated from Notre Dame with my Bachelor of Arts in History and a minor in Business Economics. After graduation I worked as a Corporate Recruiter at a tech company before returning to Notre Dame to work as an Admissions Counselor in the Undergraduate Admissions Office. I have 6 years of experience evaluating applications for admission and counseling high school students through the admission process. I'm passionate about access to higher education and helping students find their fit. I know how stressful this process can be for students and parents alike. I have extensive knowledge of highly selective admissions and look forward to taking some of the stress out of college applications!

Hi everyone! My name is Hamsa Shanmugam, and I am a Senior at Brown University’s Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), one of the top BS/MD programs in the country. I am from Hopkinton, MA and am pursuing a double concentration in Health and Human Biology as well as Music. I am deeply passionate about academic mentorship–having been a peer tutor since high school, a college application advisor for the past several years, and an academic peer advisor for the PLME and orientation leader during my time at Brown. At Brown, I am also involved in research, student government, and volunteering with the local Providence community. Outside of classes, I enjoy making music with Brown Bhairavi–the student group I founded for students interested in South Asian classical music–and dancing with Brown Abhinaya, the South Asian classical dance team. As a member of a combined baccalaureate/MD program, I have extensive experience with the college admissions process and, specifically, the admissions process for combined medical programs. I look forward to working with you and supporting you in your college admissions journey!

I believe the college admissions process can be an opportunity for self-discovery and reflection. I've worked with hundreds of students who are the first in their families to go to college and didn't have a ton of resources, so making this process as simple and supportive as possible is one of my passions. I attended Rice University in Houston, Texas, and graduated magna cum laude and phi betta kappa. I majored in anthropology and have a love for working with students of different backgrounds. I also want to make sure that students choose an affordable school that is a great fit for them. I have a special love of writing and was a former English teacher, so can help you make your essays strong. As such, I am a member of CollegeAdvisor's Essay Review Team. I am warm, approachable, and caring, and seek to leave students feeling more clear, less anxious, and affirmed about their abilities and potential!

I have experience tutoring and advising students from middle school, high school, and college levels. I have spent many hours advising high school students on the college process as well as editing essays. My current role as a marketing automation specialist requires solid project management, research, and problem solving skills.

I am passionate about empowering and equipping high school students as they prepare for college and navigate the college application process. I grew up in a small, rural town in Northern Michigan and I often felt alone, confused, and underprepared when I was going through the college admissions experience. Since then, I've dedicated my educational studies and career to supporting students! I bring both lived experiences, professional work experiences, and extensive research experiences with me into this role. I am a two-time alumna of the University of Michigan where I received both my B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics with High Honors and my M.A. in Higher Education with a concentration in Student Access and Success. Following my studies, I worked for two years as an Admissions Officer at U-M and now as an Academic Advisor in our College of Engineering. Outside of work, I love to be outdoors, I love cycling, running, triathlons, and enjoy reading. I can't wait to work with you!

I graduated with my Master's in Higher Education from the University of Pennsylvania Grad School of Education and currently work as Associate Director of Global Co-Curricular Programs and MBA Advisor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. I have also worked for Vanderbilt University, University of Chicago, Arcadia University, and Occidental College. My undergrad experience at Occidental College, a small liberal arts college in LA, was absolutely transformational so I want to assist students to find and apply to colleges that fit them the best.

I specialize in college essay writing and am part of the Essay Review Team at CollegeAdvisor. With my help, students are challenged to dig deeper about themselves, their motivations, and their experiences to ultimately craft essays that are both authentic to themselves, and effective in captivating the audience. As an immigrant myself, I am also adept at helping ESL students or first/second-generation Americans.

On a side note, I am a Taiwanese-American California native and enjoy fitness, Korean dramas, and petting all the dogs!

Hi! My name is Jesus and I graduated from Yale in 2020 where I majored in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. As a first-generation college student, I know the importance of college advising and have supported students from all walks of life as they applied to schools all across the country. I am excited to bring my years of expertise as a pre-med student interested in exploring the humanities and STEM fields through the liberal arts education at Yale as well as my years of experience advising students as they figure out what colleges they want to apply to, develop captivating essays, and determine what subjects they might be interested in exploring during college.

Hi! My name is Isabella. I graduated from Harvard in 2020 with a B.A. in History. During my time at Harvard, I wrote an Honors Thesis, studied abroad at Oxford, and performed in plenty of musical productions. After graduating, I spent 3 years working at a startup! I grew up in Staten Island, New York. Both of my parents are immigrants with limited exposure to the U.S. education system. So, I've invested loads of time and energy into navigating the college admissions process. I'm here to help you craft an individualized application strategy, write authentic essays, and (dare I say) enjoy your application experience! I'll tailor my process towards you — just let me know how I can help.

Hello students and families! My name is Deeksha and I graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a B.S. in Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology. I intend to become a physician and am applying to medical schools. Passionate about helping others through the undergraduate admissions process, I have locally helped underclassmen in my high school and family friends by editing their essays and answering any questions they might have. Furthermore, I currently volunteer at Breakthrough Collaborative San Juan Capistrano as a College Mentor, helping underserved students apply for college and financial aid. I understand how this time can be overwhelming and stressful, and I am here to provide any type of support that you need! I really enjoy working with students through the undergraduate application process, helping them discover who they are and what they want in a career. I am skilled in advising students who want to pursue biology related careers, such as medicine, pharmacy, nursing, optometry, dentistry, and research. All the hard work is rewarded in the end as students receive acceptances from their dream college!

Hello! My name is Don Hatori and I graduated from UCLA in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics, and later from CSULB in 2017 with a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics. During and after my time at UCLA, I volunteered and worked for various student and professional organizations focused on supporting high school students while they navigate the college application process. I have had the privilege of working with a diverse range of students in every organization since then. I eventually became program manager of one of these organizations and worked with more high schools, more demographics, and assisted more students in applying for and getting into the colleges of their choice. After receiving my master's degree, I started teaching math and statistics at Long Beach Community College and Cypress College. While there, I have been able to apply my prior knowledge about college advising to every class I teach since many of the students are also in the process of applying to a college or university. Now I can provide college advising in an official capacity again, thanks to CollegeAdvisor. I have a wealth of experience as a STEM major through high school, college, and graduate school. I was initially inspired to start advising peers and other students on how to be successful as a STEM major due to the lack of STEM advisors I had access to. However, I am not limited to experience with just STEM majors. Over the past decade I have also had the opportunities to work with non-STEM majors, understand their value, and how to help them be successful. Nowadays, I consider myself a strong advocate for the success of every student.

Hello! I'm Favor, currently a graduate student at Princeton getting my M.Arch. My advising experience is with Matriculate; I went through their program when applying to university and became an advisor for the program at Penn! I, along with two of my peers, helped set up Penn's Matriculate chapter as the advising fellow leadership team. During that time, I advised three students through the college application and enrollment process, with acceptances from University of Miami (with a full tuition scholarship), University of South Florida, Penn State (with Provost award), Rutgers, Stony Brook, and more! I especially love essay brainstorming and writing due to my heavy writing background in philosophy and general love for crafting compelling, memorable personal narratives. I've also informally talked with students applying to the Ivies; as a Penn student, I can share my experience applying, and speak to the culture, workload, extracurriculars, etc. of an Ivy-league institution. I look forward to meeting you!

I earned my B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University, where I also studied computer science, engineering, and Chinese. It was at Stanford that I had my first teaching experience, working with international graduate students to help them communicate most effectively on their published articles and dissertations. I also spent a summer teaching beginning and intermediate English at the Guilin Engineering University in Guilin, China. These experiences sparked my passion for working with students to help them envision the future they wish to live, set incremental goals, and chart an academic path to success. Following my undergraduate years, I had a two-year stint as a project manager with a company that was automating the semiconductor manufacturing process before returning to Stanford University as a staff member in Student Housing. It fascinated me to be on the inside of such a dedicated student service operation, and I rose quickly to the position of Director of Marketing and Business Support, managing six employees and providing marketing and communication services and strategies for the award-winning $450M/year auxiliary operation that included Student Housing, Stanford Dining, and Stanford Conferences. This background in marketing, project management, and communications turned out to be the ideal preparation for guiding students through the college admissions process and preparing them for college. After eight years as a Stanford staffer, I left to pursue an MS in Computer Science and Information Technology at the California University of Management and Technology (CALMAT) and serve as their Director of Marketing and Strategic Communication. During this same time, I began a business working with students and their families to provide teaching, tutoring, college application coaching, and editing services. In the past eleven years, I have worked with hundreds of students from fourth grade through graduate school to help them create a personalized academic plan that reflects the future they want for themselves and incremental, achievable goals to move them along the path to success. In addition, I’ve had the privilege of helping many students navigate the college admissions process through school targeting, developing stories that reveal not only a student’s unique identity but also his or her academic and career aspirations. Though I enjoy working with students from all backgrounds, I am particularly experienced with high-achieving students who are targeting selective campuses or programs and students from immigrant families who need assistance navigating the American college system. I have worked with many students who plan to study arts, humanities, psychology, computer science, engineering, biology, chemistry, physics, math, and other STEM majors; pre-professional programs like pre-Med, business, and law; and nationally-ranked athletes and international students applying to US schools. I understand how to make students targeting these disciplines stand out from the competition. I strive to make every session fun and productive. Whenever possible, I use my time with students to coach them toward greater responsibility and independence–two of the most important skills for adapting to college life.

I hold my BA from the University of California, Berkeley (2016) where I majored in English Language and Composition and also finished my "Pre-Medical" pre-requisites on the side, while also working 30+ hours a week. I took the MCAT and was set to attend medical school but decided ultimately that I wanted to pursue a scientific (as opposed to a medical) profession instead. Thus, I pursued my Master's in Public Health (MPH) at Boston University (2020), where I double-specialized in Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Health Policy and Law. Currently, I am finishing my PhD in Epidemiology at Columbia University, after receiving 2 years of training from UCLA, where I specialize in trauma, violence, and mental health research. I am also double enrolled at John Hopkin's University, where I also specialize in a doctoral curriculum for Health Policy and Management. As you can see, my experiences have been varied and I've followed both the conventional and unconventional path towards understanding where my true passions lie, where I can contribute the most positive progress to our world, and where I know best reflects all my skills and person, not just what I could simply "succeed" in. Therefore, previous students of mine have developed confidence and adaptability, skills that are both necessary in school and life. As a mentor and advisor, I focus on building a sense of clarity in my students, a deep understanding of where their passions lie, and most importantly, joy and pride in themselves that they are doing the best of what they can provide to the world. Previous mentees have gone on to pursue various professions, such as medical, dental, law, and nursing school, at the schools they first set their eyes on. Other mentees learned how to understand themselves more and adapt their passions for new journeys, and pursued professions in veterinary school, legislative policy, neurobiology research, clinical psychology, award-winning architecture, and being a large business owner in technology and media, to name a few. I believe in helping my students highlight their best abilities and be someone beyond their known imaginations, while pursuing joy and passion. I've worked with students domestically and internationally for 8+ years and operate from understanding that support and mentorship can be a safe, imaginative, and exciting place to learn not only about what students are capable of currently, but what they can grow to be in the future.

Hello, my name is Kyana Brubaker, and I graduated from Johns Hopkins University in May of 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Visual Arts. While at Hopkins, I was involved in clinical research, was the vice president of the all-female a cappella group on campus and was a math tutor. I also served as a first-year mentor for two years in which I supported a total of 33 freshmen throughout orientation and their first year at Hopkins. I was also an advising fellow for two and a half years with Matriculate, a non-profit organization, where I supported 5 high school students with their college applications. In these roles, I nurtured a passion for supporting students at various levels of their college experience. Now, as a nursing student, I have gained an even deeper appreciation for how valuable supportive mentors can be. Having applied to both college and nursing school without much outside support, I understand how overwhelming and confusing the application process can be. I am also a member of the Essay Review Team with CollegeAdvisor, which has given me more experience with reading and editing essays - one of my favorite components of the application process. I look forward to guiding and supporting students as they navigate this process!

Over the last decade, I have served students in various capacities in the K - 16 system. I work professionally to support students to and through college degree completion.

As an experienced application and essay reader, I have supported students to successful admission and matriculation to various T-20 institutions and into their dream school. When students work with me, they get an advisor who wants to know them as a whole person, someone who cares deeply about their well-being and future, and support both during our time together and outside to ensure they are as well prepared and informed as possible.

Some of my interests are photography, reading, writing, and building wealth through investing.

Greetings! I am a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where I was a Psychology major, African American Studies minor, and a Ronald E. McNair scholar. I earned my Masters in Counseling Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (D.C. campus). For the past 10 years, I have worked in secondary and higher education as both a college access and mental health professional. I spent two years serving in the College Advising Corps at one of North Carolina's largest public high schools and spent a year as the lead Academic and College Advisor at a private International Baccalaureate (IB) academy in Northern Virginia. During my career, I have assisted more than 700 high school students from diverse backgrounds in navigating the college admissions process with acceptances to universities including Yale, Emory, UNC-Chapel Hill, Georgia Tech, Duke, John Hopkins, Howard, and many more. Most recently, I spent four years at a liberal arts university in North Carolina serving as an Academic, Financial Aid, Graduate, and Mental Health Counselor where I also assisted undergraduate students in applying to graduate school programs. I am excited to bring a holistic approach to working with you during this critical period in your academic and personal journey, and serve as a dedicated resource to you as you pursue your dreams!

Hi! I look forward to working with you! My name is Ashley Whitley, and I hold my B.A in English and Government from Cornell University.

I've previously served as an Advising Fellow for the non-profit organization Matriculate, an organization that offers free, pre - college advising services to low income, high achieving, High School students. I was later hired by Matriculate as a Summer Support Advisor, during the height of the COVID- 19 pandemic, where I mentored a caseload of 122 students during their transition from High School to college. While in this role, I also co-authored a student success handbook for matriculating freshman, that covered a variety of topics like: "How to Set Up a Virtual Learning Space," and "How to Understand Financial Aid Documents."

I am passionate about education access, as well as aiding students in the pursuit of their academic goals. I understand that the college admissions process can be stressful, and at times demanding work, but I aspire to bring joy to this process. It is important to me that the students I work with feel inspired to bring their personal best to their applications, while maintaining a positive outlook and healthy mindset.