Student Results
I left Pomona College in 2023 and began working with my first group of High School Seniors and Transfer Students shortly after. In my first year (2023-2024) as an independent college counselor, I worked with 4 high school seniors. I had 6 seniors the following application (2024-2025) cycle, and in my most recent Class of 2026 students, I increased my caseload to 14 total seniors. On this page, I'm pleased to share where they will be attending college!
Now let me be clear: my students did not get accepted to these institutions simply because they worked with me. There is no getting in without the student themself being an intellectually curious, passionate, critical, and creative thinker. However, I think an effective college counselor is able to help bring that out in their application, tell their story, and shape their profile in a way that is both compelling and strategic. And that's exactly what I did!
While this page only highlights my High School Seniors, my Transfer Students are equally impressive, securing multiple admissions to USC, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Cornell, and Northwestern (among others).
Class of 2026
· 14 studentsHarvard
This student attended high school in Diamond Bar, CA, sitting in the top 5% of her graduating class. A strong science student with research experience, rigorous coursework, and STEM-focused extracurriculars and leadership. I wanted to highlight her interdisciplinary depth throughout the application, so for her neuroscience major choice, we wrote about her passion in exploring how space affects the brains of astronauts. This level of interdisciplinary curiosity was only one part of many that really stood out throughout her application!
Brown
This student attended a private high school in Orange County, CA, and was a natural leader in her community: ASB president three years in a row, Tennis Captain, and Art Club president. Her application centered on her love for exploring the intersection of art and science, a theme that tied her profile together beautifully.
Johns Hopkins
This student attended a boarding school, and he was genuinely an interdisciplinary thinker, as his activities could have pointed him toward either a humanities or STEM major. He had strong offers from top Liberal Arts Colleges but ultimately chose Johns Hopkins for its STEM strengths and his future path into medicine!
USC
Early Action
This student attended a high school in the Chicago suburbs, and her dream school was USC, specifically the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. We applied to the top journalism colleges across the country and were thrilled to secure her admission to USC via Early Action. With strong involvement in Newspaper, Yearbook, and TV production, much of our work focused on making her writing truly stand out.
USC — World Bachelor in Business (WBB)
This student attended a local high school in Milan, Italy, with her dream being the World Bachelor in Business program at USC, an extremely competitive business program where students complete a year each in Los Angeles, Italy, and Hong Kong. I understood what it took to make her competitive and stand out but wasn't sure what to expect. She was so thrilled when she received her acceptance letter!
Pomona College
This student attended a private high school in Pasadena, CA, and was one of my very first students when I started in 2023. Pomona wasn't even on his radar initially, but after three years of working together, it was clear a Liberal Arts College was the right fit. With strategic activity planning and compelling essays we crafted together, he became the first student at his school in over 10 years to receive a Pomona admission!
Barnard College
Early Decision 1
This student attended an international school in Shanghai, China, with Barnard as her dream school. We targeted Early Decision, of course, and secured her admission with a really compelling essay about her identity and short answers reflecting on her work at her local hospital. I'm so proud of her!
Boston University
This student attended a high school in the Bay Area, CA, and was one of the most warm and relatable students I've worked with. That really showed throughout his application, especially in his writing. While his grades were below the typical BU profile (multiple Bs throughout the transcript and 2 Cs Junior year), we leaned into his exceptional extracurricular activities and let his personality lead the way.
UC Irvine
This student attended a high school in Stockton, CA, and while she had flawless grades (all As), her course rigor was a concern when we first started working together. We added AP classes Senior year and supplemented with community college courses to strengthen her profile as much as we could. I did a lot of work improving her writing quality and she ultimately chose UC Irvine (following in her mom's footsteps!).
UC Berkeley
This student attended an international school in Japan and, to be honest, had a fairly average profile on paper. We focused heavily on his UC PIQs (Personal Insight Questions), working to show his "value added", something UC readers actively look for. I was so thrilled when he received his admission to Berkeley for Math!
UCLA
This student attended an independent school in Orange County, CA. Although her academics were solid, curricular rigor wasn't quite near the top, so I made sure we highlighted her strong community service work and reflected well in her personal statement. She's so excited to be staying close to home!
Michigan — Ross School of Business
This student attended a high school in Dallas, Texas with a dual passion for computer science and business. His activities ranged from internships and independent research to MUN awards and founding his own red light therapy business. We targeted the top business colleges, and while the single-digit admit rates made it a tough uphill climb, he earned multiple offers, including UT Austin (McCombs) before ultimately choosing Michigan's Ross School of Business.
UNC Chapel Hill
This student attended a high school in the South Bay, CA, with UCLA as her dream school. Although she was waitlisted, her second choice was UNC Chapel Hill, and we were fortunate to secure admission as an out-of-state student!
Emory
This student attended an international school in Singapore. I'll be honest, she was my most worrisome student of the cycle due to her procrastination. It was challenging, especially with the time zone differences, but I made her lock in during the final months with daily texts and meetings. It was a struggle to cross the finish line, but she was rewarded with offers from Scripps, Barnard, Tufts, UCSD, and UC Irvine, among others!
Class of 2025
· 6 studentsUPenn — Wharton
Early Decision 1
This student attended a large high school in Las Vegas, NV, with top-notch academics and rigor. His biggest challenge was presenting a compelling version of himself in the application. As a math and logic-driven thinker, reflective and creative writing didn't come naturally. Our strategy focused on his writing, presenting him as a community connector with a genuine desire to uplift his community through financial literacy education for immigrant communities. Ultimately, he was admitted to his first choice via Early Decision!
USC
Early Action
This student attended high school in Arcadia, CA, and was a strong all-around academic performer. Her biggest challenge was the writing, as her educational background was heavily rooted in rote memorization, making reflective and creative writing a hurdle. The question became: how do we make her stand out? We worked on her Common App essay the summer before Senior year and wrapped up all of her short answers in the Fall, applying to 20 colleges in total. Though she was denied from her first choice Early Decision 1, she was admitted to her second choice of USC via Early Action!
Harvard
This student attended a competitive high school in Calabasas, CA, sitting at the very top of his class with a rigorous course schedule and extensive extracurricular background: MUN, volunteer work at a free health clinic, tennis, and strong leadership throughout. He was admitted to many of his top schools, though with a few surprising rejections along the way. It's a good reminder that college admissions has too many variables outside of our control, though it really only takes 1 college to admit you to make it all worth it!
UCLA
This student attended a charter high school in Granada Hills, CA. She was academically solid with mostly As and 8 total AP classes, but was very light on extracurricular activities with little leadership to speak of. We worked on adding meaningful activities during the summer and Fall while polishing her existing ones, writing them in a compelling way. She's a natural writer, so the reflective side came easily. We applied to a range of schools for her primary interest in Biology (pre-med), and she was ultimately admitted to UCLA, USC, Scripps, Boston College, Boston University, UCSD, and UCI (among others).
UC Berkeley
This student attended a high school in Pasadena, CA, with a rigorous curriculum though a few Bs scattered throughout his transcript. His original goal was the US Naval Academy, so our plan was to focus on Navy while ensuring he had solid backup options through regular decision applications. With Nuclear Engineering as his competitive first choice major, he was ultimately admitted to UC Berkeley, UCSD, Northeastern, UCI, and UCLA (among others). We took a chance applying Engineering first choice, and while there were some rejections along the way, I'm happy to report that it all worked out in the end (he plans to reapply to the Naval Academy in the future).
Pomona College
This student attended one of the largest and most competitive high schools in Manhattan Beach, CA, and was one of the first students I worked with since starting my counseling business! A mature and thoughtful thinker beyond his years, his academic performance was solid though not at the very top of his school's competitive group. Our strategy focused on differentiation: he took on 2 jobs and unexpectedly stepped into leadership roles as Choir president and Asian American club president. I was so happy when he was admitted to one of his top choice colleges - Pomona College!
Class of 2024
· 4 studentsHarvey Mudd College
Early Decision 1
This student attended a high school in Orange County, CA and was in the top 10% of her class. While her GPA and test scores were solid, we needed something more. To highlight her diverse interests, we collaborated to create a college application that showcased her abilities in both engineering and art. We shaped the narrative from one that was academically talented, to a candidate who valued interdisciplinary thinking and problem-solving. We ultimately decided to target Early Decision 1 - and she got in!
Boston University
This student was an international student who attended a large, public high school in Los Angeles County. While academic performance wasn't at the top of his school group (middle 50%), we were able to leverage his extensive experiential experiences. This was a case where we wanted to provide context for the middling academic performance with all of the time he spent doing community-oriented service work.
Pomona College
This student attended a high school in Taiwan, with her dream school being Pomona College (I can't think of a better student-to-counselor match!). For her, our work together mainly focused on 2 aspects: multiple essay revisions/edits and application strategy. With my background in Liberal Arts Colleges, we brainstormed and talked about the themes of her essay and short answers, specifically how best to showcase and tell her story. And with her being an international applicant, there's a lot of strategy that goes into her application (financial aid, major choice, institutional priorities, etc.). I'm so glad it worked out for her!
UC Berkeley
This student attended a high school in Diamond Bar, CA, where many of her peers apply to similar selective colleges at a very high rate (with over 90% of her peers going on to 4-year colleges). It's competitive, to say the least. While her 'dream school' was UCLA, through our time together, I think she began to see more of what life could be like outside of Los Angeles. While she had many great options in Southern California, I'm so happy to see her taking that leap and getting out of her comfort zone by moving up North!