Advisors

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.

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 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!