Overview: CollegeAdvisor.com Client Success Stories
Welcome to another edition of our Client Success Stories! In these stories, we highlight students who have worked with the CollegeAdvisor expert advising team. We’re so lucky to be a part of so many students’ and families’ college journeys, and we think these motivated, hardworking students deserve to be highlighted for their achievements.
Each Client Success Story tells the unique story of an individual student who found their way to CollegeAdvisor during their college application process. Whether they found us as freshmen or just before their senior year, each and every one of our students has had a journey we know someone out there might benefit from hearing about.
In this edition, we’re going to talk to Desiree Lipscomb, a motivated and passionate student and future doctor. Let’s get right to it and meet Desiree!
Getting to Know Desiree
As an ex-military child, Desiree has grown up moving from city to city. However, she has lived in Alabama for the past ten years. She has a myriad of interests that she has developed through her extracurriculars—some of which have even carried into her college life.
She says, “I did a lot of extracurriculars. I would say my biggest one having definitely been [a] competitive dance at my former dance studio. And then the last two years of high school, I decided to join my school’s dance team to get the more school spirit side … I did try out for my college’s dance team, and now I do dance in college.”
Desiree has been a dancer for all of her life. However, it’s certainly not her only extracurricular activity. She participated in other organizations such as HOSA, an organization for future health professionals. She told us, “I was the vice president for two years and then the treasurer before that. I was in Beta Club. I didn’t hold any office but I was very active.”
Beyond the classroom
Community involvement has also been important to Desiree. She worked in mentoring groups such as Leading Ladies, which also does community service work. And, she spent time volunteering with the Ronald McDonald House and American Red Cross, two organizations that are near and dear to her.
On top of all her activities, Desiree has always been quite academically motivated, particularly when it comes to her STEM courses. “I love my science classes,” she said. “Science is my thing. It’s easily understood to me, it’s nothing foreign.” However, she hasn’t let her strengths outshine her other interests.
In addition to science, Desiree also loved her health and cosmetology classes. While she has a passion for cosmetology and is even pursuing a certificate in the field, she’s mainly interested in pursuing the STEM field—specifically premed.
What made Desiree start looking for support?
Many students come to College Advisor just before their senior year when the reality of filling out applications begins to set in. However, Desiree was ahead of the game. As a ninth grader, she knew that she wanted to get extra support during her college application journey.
She recalls, “I ended up moving school districts during the pandemic. And so, the school district I was at where I was finishing out eighth grade, we did not do any online school because we didn’t have the resources for that. But the school that I was going to, their district, they had been. So I knew I was a little, at least I felt, I was behind. Even though my grades didn’t reflect that I was behind. I personally felt behind on just the whole system, because a lot of the honors, or accelerated kids, they already were several classes ahead because they were able to start taking high school credits in middle school.”
Desiree knew she wanted to be a doctor one day, and she wasn’t going to let anything keep her from reaching that goal. With all this information in her mind, she knew she would need extra help from a professional advising service. And she found her way to College Advisor.
Getting started with CollegeAdvisor
So how did Desiree find CollegeAdvisor? “I was a member of, I think it was the Congress of Future Medical Leaders,” she told us. “And they had sent this email talking about CollegeAdvisor and college advising. And so I was like let me look into this.”
After doing some research, Desiree liked what she found. “I read some of the student stories and I was like, this looks like this could be really good. I could get into my dream school, or whatever dream school that was at the point, cause I don’t know what it was at the time. But, I knew I could get into good schools.”
As is the case for many students, Desiree’s parents only knew so much about the college application process. While her mother went to business school, Desiree and her family knew that she would benefit from an expert’s advice. So, after their initial consultation, Desiree and her family decided to entrust CollegeAdvisor with helping her get into a top pre med program.
How Desiree’s advisors helped her find success
Desiree began working with College Advisor at the end of her freshman year in high school. After working with one advisor for the first year, she was rematched with two new advisors in the beginning of her sophomore year: Shannon Kennedy and Katerina Kulagina.
Shannon and Katarina helped Desiree throughout the rest of her college application journey. Desiree appreciated the consistency she found from her new advisors, especially Shannon. Desiree said, “I loved my new advisors. I met mostly with Ms. Shannon just because Ms.Katerina, she had a lot more students than Ms. Shannon. But I definitely loved the fact that once we got a schedule going… we didn’t really have to communicate. Cause during one meeting, we would go ahead and schedule the next four in advance.”
The reliable support helped Desiree a lot. First, Shannon was able to trim down Desiree’s extensive college list, helping her find schools that would truly fit Desiree’s needs. Desiree says, “She helped me look at what things I need to consider. Definitely for one going pre med but just two, my needs, both personally, but also in relation to ethnically. So she wanted to make sure that they also had the right resources that could fit me as a person.”
Planning and goal setting
Her advisor also helped her take the necessary classes during high school. She helped plan her schedule, making sure she was taking AP classes and electives that made sense with Desiree’s future academic and career goals.
Desiree was also concerned about writing essays—a common concern for students embarking on the college application journey. However, Desiree’s advisors helped her stay organized and motivated until the end. She told us, “I love Miss Katarina because she helped me not only know it’s okay to have dreams and aspirations, but she also helped me see the realistic side of college admissions. She definitely became a big help when it came close to the deadline submissions and she would read over all of my essays.”
With two great advisors in her corner, Desiree was able to work through her applications feeling confident she had the support she needed to succeed.
What was Desiree’s favorite part of working with CollegeAdvisor?
Desiree had plenty of favorite parts of working with CollegeAdvisor. However, the most important part of her experience was having someone to rely on throughout the college admissions process. “I would definitely say my favorite part of working with College Advisor would definitely be the ability to meet with former college admissions officers,” she said. ”Because it definitely, it took a weight off my shoulder.”
Of course, staying on track to meet deadlines and getting help with essay writing, including the personal statement, were also important to Desiree’s advising experience. Her advisors knew how to help her write the best essays possible, that were genuine but that would also make her an ideal candidate to each school.
“If the essay was, ‘write about who you are,’ my advisors helped me to literally write about who I am,” she told us. ”[They helped] make certain parts of me shine through, so when you were reading you could definitely be like, ‘Oh, yeah I know that’s Desiree. … Even if she doesn’t put her name on it, even if she literally puts nothing about her physical identity on there, you could still tell that’s her personality and who she is.’”
Apart from her one-on-one advising, Desiree also benefited from CollegeAdvisor’s other resources. She says, “I really, really love all the webinars. Because those were definitely very helpful. Especially the ones about scholarship and financial aid, because I don’t know what I would’ve done without that. And I also really liked all the pre med ones with the current pre med students…those definitely helped me a lot.”
However, even with all the support in the world, every college applicant still faces difficult challenges.
What challenges did Desiree overcome during the application process?
Thinking back to her applications, Desiree told us the essays were particularly tricky for her. She found it challenging to connect her interests, especially those that she felt didn’t necessarily go together, such as dance and premed. However, her advisors’ support allowed her to hone her essays and tell a compelling and honest story.
Beyond the actual application or essay writing, she told us, “The most challenging thing was trying not to get stressed out and…unmotivated. ‘Cause especially with me, a lot of the schools I applied to had an average of three to five essay questions, whether they be short answer, long or, just writing in general. For me, it was definitely hard not to get bogged down and not feel overwhelmed, stressed. Especially with all that on top of my coursework for senior year.”
This is a common challenge for students applying to college. Juggling classes, extracurriculars, and college applications can be stressful. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and lose motivation. Of course, having advisors to help you stay organized and motivated can help to minimize the stress of the process.
Desiree also mentioned another common challenge: “Getting my first rejection.”
“I have to say that was also pretty hard, especially considering that was my dream school,” she shared. “It was definitely hard on me, and I definitely say I probably didn’t cope with it the best way, by applying to more colleges in response to it. But, I definitely say that [it was hard] to get my first rejection. Just because I thought I really had it.”
Many students going through the application process will likely identify with these challenges. So, let’s learn a bit more about how Desiree worked through these difficulties and eventually found success.
Minimizing stress and staying motivated
Desiree’s advisors were key in helping her overcome her challenges. When it came to feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and unmotivated, they helped her organize her schedule, allowing time for herself as well as working through her applications. “[Shannon] also definitely helped me not get bogged down and demotivated,” she said. “She was like, ‘You know what? Definitely use all of your school breaks because I know you’re going to want to just keep working, but you have to take your breaks.’’
With strict orders from her advisor and even her mother, Desiree unplugged for Thanksgiving break to recharge. She recalls, “Thanksgiving break, my mom, literally, she took my computer away. She’s like, ‘You’re not working on anything. You’re going to chill out. You’re going to come out your room and you’re going to engage.’ Because she felt I was disengaged.”
“My mom and my advisors, they definitely helped me not get stressed out.”
Tackling countless college essays
Most students apply to anywhere from 5-15 colleges. Desiree had a much longer college list. She ended up applying to 36 schools. More applications meant more essays, so Desiree had to get a lot of writing done in a short amount of time.
Desiree’s advisors helped her write her best essays possible, supporting her through the process and getting her to write as her most authentic self. Of course, time management, motivation, and focus were all key when it came to tackling that many essays.
Desiree said, “[My advisors] were definitely a big help on staying motivated. Because I know at one point I was trying to work on, I think, 10 essays at once. They definitely told me, ‘You know what, instead of doing that, we’re going to work at one school at a time. You’re going to work on this school for this week, and the next week you can work on another one. But you’re not going to work on three different schools at once because your mind’s doing too much shifting.’ So they definitely were a big help.”
Handling rejection
Learning how to deal with rejection is a valuable life lesson. After all, handling rejection is something you’ll need to deal with long after college. However, after putting in countless hours of work into your applications, receiving a rejection letter can be devastating.
Desiree leaned on her support system to get her through her first rejection letter. She recalls, “I talked to Miss Shannon about it over email and she was like, ‘I’m really sorry to hear that, but at least now you know … [and you] have a sense of how the process will be with all your regular decisions.”
Shannon also encouraged Desiree to review her applications that were still in process. Rather than feeling deflated by the rejection, they took action to make the next applications and essay even better. Desiree mentions Shannon’s advice: “‘So now all we have to do is just get back to work…We could take the writing that you had, let’s look back through it. Think about what we could maybe improve on and add to give it a little bit more pizzazz.’ So [Shannon] definitely helped me through it.”
Desiree’s admissions results and the road ahead
Out of the 36 schools Desiree applied to, 27 accepted her—an impressive feat! So, what are some of the schools that admitted her?
“I got into Cornell…that one definitely shocked me the most because it was in my top twelve,” she said. “I got accepted into Rochester Institute of Technology…I applied to that one really quick, but I really liked it. And then recently, I got off the waitlist at Wake Forest. But, I didn’t accept the offer because I was already committed…And then I got into my state schools, like Alabama, Auburn, Troy. I got into Florida. I also got into Georgia, Clemson, North Carolina State, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and yeah, those are just some of the big ones.”
With so many great schools to choose from, Desiree had one more difficult choice to make. But in the end, her choice was clear, and Desiree decided to accept her offer of admission from Cornell University.
What will Desiree major in?
Desiree is excited to be heading off to an Ivy League in the fall. And, knowing she wants to become a doctor, she already knows what her major will be. “It’s going to be biological sciences, but I’m going to concentrate in microbiology.”
In addition to fulfilling the requirements for her major, Desiree will be on the pre med track as well, where she can set herself up to one day apply to a great medical school.
Desiree’s advice to future applicants
It’s helpful to get firsthand advice from someone who has been through the tedious college application process. After applying to over thirty schools, Desiree gives us her advice for future applicants.
She says, “My number one piece of advice would be that if you feel that you’re not getting the help and support that you need from your school, it’s okay to branch out to someone else. Because there’s always going to be someone who’s willing to help you.”
Why College Advisor?
Desiree knows the importance and value in getting the support you need when embarking on the college journey. College Advisor has a team of experts and ex-admissions counselors who can help you craft your best application possible. Whether it’s staying motivated or writing essays, our advisors know how to support their students with what they need.
Taking Desiree’s advice, we can’t emphasize enough how important it is to reach out for help when you need it. You never know what doors an advising service like College Advisor can help you open. “It’s definitely one of the main reasons why I am going to college,” Desiree said, “and why I’m able to go to an Ivy League and go where I can afford it. Because honestly, I don’t know where I’d be without CollegeAdvisor and the advisors.”
We are thrilled that Desiree found success in the college admissions journey, and we’re excited about her bright future!
This article was written by Sarah Kaminski. Looking for more admissions support? Click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. During your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how CollegeAdvisor.com can support you in the college application process.
