When Chris came to us, he was already a very strong student. At first, he wasn’t considering Ivy League schools and was sure he wanted to study Aerospace Engineering.
Through our careful advising, Chris expanded his outlook and discovered how to confidently put himself front and center at highly selective colleges.
In December, Chris found out that he had been admitted to Cornell, where he plans to enroll in the fall.
This may sound like a simple success story, but when we first met, Chris presented the Colledge team with several unique challenges:
- How to introduce new schools to a student with very clear ideas about which schools and majors he was interested in.
- How to improve essay drafts that were good from the start.
- How to utilize a college visit to not just learn about a school, but enhance the chances of admission.
Because of our unique team approach, we were able to partner with Chris and his parents to translate Chris’ academic and extracurricular excellence into college admissions success. It worked because they were an ideal Colledge family: open-minded, highly motivated, and focused on their goals.
“Jenny Umhofer and her team had excellent suggestions that were ‘outside the box’ which I believe made a great difference in our application process.” – Patricia, Chris’ Mom
Are you the right family for us? Successful Colledge families are dedicated to hard work, cooperation, ongoing conversations and a willingness to take our advice to heart.
Our team carefully reviewed Chris’ strengths and identified several schools that were great fits but were outside of his initial preferences. After some consideration, Chris embraced our team’s suggestion to consider Cornell University, where he applied early.
Ashley Sim and I helped Chris take ownership of his visit to the Cornell campus by advising him to set up a meeting with the Engineering Director of Admission. He not only met with the Director, he learned more about why Cornell’s Engineering program would be an ideal school for him; he also was asked to keep in touch with the Director if he decided to apply early.
Through meaningful discussions with Ashley upon his return, Chris discovered that he was more interested in a broad-based Engineering program where he could major in Mechanical Engineering and minor in Aerospace Engineering. He also felt that he would fit in to the Cornell community a little better than he might at MIT.
James Hayashi, Chris’ essay specialist, pushed Chris to take risks and provided writing challenges that inspired Chris to think differently about himself. In the end, Chris presented his best self through several key essays: a Common Application personal statement about his passion for photography and Cornell supplements that focused on his unquestionable interest in Engineering.
Working as a team, we are able to support a wide range of students. Our collective wisdom, the intentionality of each meeting, and our vision for our students’ potential is at the core of our work. We are former admissions officers and seasoned essay experts who work together to facilitate foundational changes in a young person’s life — with college choices, career possibilities, self-discovery, and life purpose. To learn more about our team approach or to schedule a free consultation, click HERE.
