Diana graduated from Bowdoin College and specializes in helping students gain admission to highly selective universities and liberal arts colleges. After discovering how much she loved guiding her students through the application process as a college essay coach, Diana has been counseling students for over eight years.

How We Help

Guiding Academic and Personal Development – Our mentorship program prepares students to succeed by exploring their interests and helping them develop the skills to achieve their aspirations. We support our students to develop leadership in their extracurriculars, confidence by executing their capstone projects, and independence by creating meaningful summer experiences.

Explaining the Intangibles – For “reach” or “near reach” schools, it is incredibly important to communicate a student’s non-academics accomplishments and experiences in an incisive and compelling way. We can help students effectively use essays, recommendations, and supplemental materials to build a strong application.

Advice Tailored to the Student – We pride ourselves in developing a genuine connection to our students so we can better help them succeed, whether their goal is to get a PhD in philosophy or go into fashion design. We customize strategies to the student so that we prepare them to succeed by exploring their interests and helping them develop the skills to achieve their aspirations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Won't My High school COunselor Help me?

Guidance counselors can be an important resources for students, and, ideally, they will represent students well in recommendation letters. However, even at many well resourced high schools, counselors have challenging work loads which prevent them from being able to engage with students in-depth, concentrate on the precise details of each application, or refine line-by-line edits of personal statements and supplemental essays.

We spend the time to focus on your educational and personal development goals, research colleges to match you with great fits, and help you craft a compelling and authentic story that showcases your personality, accomplishments, and potential contributions.

When might students benefit from working with an Admissions Consultant?

Applying to highly selective schools
Student’s strongest assets may not be GPA, test scores, or other “hard” quantifiable measures
Identifying schools that are compatible with a student’s goals, strengths, and academic background
Students whose family has limited familiarity with the American higher education system such as first generation students or students from immigrant families
Overwhelmed by the process and need guidance managing tasks and deadlines
Unusual circumstance (illness, family situation, learning disability, etc.) that affected student’s academic performance or provided them with unique opportunities
Intimidated by or uncertain about personal statements, supplements, other essay questions, or admissions interviews

Can I still work with you if I Don't Live in Los ANgeles?

Yes, the initial consultation can be via Zoom or conference call. We can continue working by email, phone, or Zoom as needed. If necessary, we can arrange travel to your home location.

When Should We START?

Depending on student motivation and needs, we can start in 9th grade. We advise students on course selection, curriculum and academic planning, testing schedules, and extracurricular activities, but the focus for students in 9th and 10th grades is on personal development and enrichment opportunities.

By the spring of junior year, we help students initiate comprehensive college research and build a personalized list of schools compatible with their strengths, values, and interests. Based upon student and family preferences, our level of involvement varies from comprehensive, long term, intensive engagement throughout high school to simply essay work (i.e. brainstorming, drafting, revisions, and final editing) concentrated heavily in the summer prior to and the fall of senior year.