Overview: CollegeAdvisor.com Client Success Stories
Client Success Stories are our favorite way to highlight the incredible students we have the privilege of working with each college admissions cycle. Over the years, CollegeAdvisor has helped to guide thousands of students and families through the college application process. Whether a student comes to us in middle school or September of their senior year, our advisors do everything they can to make sure students submit their best application possible.
Our Success Stories showcase the incredible accomplishments of the students we work with. Each student has their own unique story and path to higher education, and we love being a part of it! These stories are our opportunity to share students’ successes, with the hope of inspiring those about to embark on their own college admissions journey.
In this Success Story, we spoke with Jenessa Velazquez about her path to enrolling at the university of her dreams.
Meet Jenessa
Jenessa is from Auburn Gresham in Chicago, Illinois. As the second oldest of five children, she wasn’t a complete novice to the college application process. Jenessa’s older sister is currently a junior at Roosevelt University.
Before embarking on her own college journey, Jenessa spent time exploring varying interests and participating in plenty of clubs and extracurriculars. She told us, “I’m the president of Marketing Club, a member in National Honor Society, a member in Sisterhood Club, the president and founder of ASL Club, [and I was a] Chess Club member and a Baking Club member my sophomore year. I am currently in student government…I was in Rock the Street Wall Street, and I here and there go to video game and anime club.”
Extracurricular activities offer fantastic opportunities to discover and nurture your interests while taking on leadership roles. However, sometimes, with so many extracurriculars on their resume, students may find it difficult to create a cohesive application narrative. So, while Jenessa knew she had plenty of activities to list on an application, she wasn’t quite sure of how to display them in the most advantageous way.
How did Jenessa feel going into the college admissions process?
Many students don’t know where to begin when it comes to the college admissions process. Jenessa felt the same way.
“I was very overwhelmed, I would say. It was a lot of information that I had to take in, and I didn’t know exactly where to start. I’ve been, you know, told a couple things about college [and] the application process in general, and how that looks. And I knew I had what I needed to successfully get to the dream school that I wanted to be in… But I didn’t know how to apply that to get into the school, or how to use my whole story and everything all together to make the application as good as possible.”
Even though she had been so involved in extracurricular activities throughout high school, Jenessa started to second-guess herself, worried that it wouldn’t be enough. She said, “It was a lot of pressure that I had beforehand on myself…to feel like, ‘Do I have enough? Am I doing enough? Are there things I have to do more outside of school in general?’…I was kind of lost with actually applying, and especially with the essays part.”
Feeling overwhelmed and at a loss of where to begin, Jenessa began searching for professional guidance. That was when she came across CollegeAdvisor.
Getting Started with CollegeAdvisor
Jenessa found CollegeAdvisor in an online search via Matriculate, a nonprofit that connects low-income juniors and seniors to professional college advisors.
She explained her decision to work with CollegeAdvisor, saying, “I looked at CollegeAdvisor because it was the most interesting, and you get an actual mentor. This was probably around maybe June or May of my junior year, and I felt like I was kind of behind. I didn’t have a personal statement that I was proud of. I didn’t have any of my essay layouts at all… I definitely felt like I wasn’t going to be on the path that I want to be on if I didn’t get help.”
Feeling as though she needed support, Jenessa looked further into options at CollegeAdvisor, hoping to find something affordable. Thankfully, she found CollegeAdvisor’s Scholars Program — and decided to apply.
Applying to CollegeAdvisor’s Scholars Program
CollegeAdvisor’s Scholars Program aims to make college advising accessible for all students, no matter their income level. Jenessa decided to complete the application.
She remembered it as a straightforward application process. “I think the whole application was pretty easy itself,” she said, “just copy-pasting my resume…it was nothing too difficult where I was lost at all. But it was something that I think started that process of thinking about what I want to actually put on an application.”
Jenessa also mentioned having to complete a short essay for the program. She told us, “I was worried about how I was going [to do] that, because I didn’t really have anyone look over that essay… But I remember looking for ‘who’s the best person who would look over this and [know] ’Oh, this looks like you.’ Because that’s what I’ve heard a lot of people say, that you need to talk to someone who knows you through an essay. And I was kind of scouring everywhere on who to ask, and I just ended up asking my sister.”
In the end, the passage she wrote helped her gain acceptance to CollegeAdvisor’s Scholars Program. From there, she was ready to get started with her advisor, Natalie Rivas.
Pursuing Her Dream School
Unlike many students, Jenessa had a clear vision of her dream school from an early age.
She told us, “I remember when my science teacher in sixth grade, she kind of encouraged me to join a program called Girls for Science. And in that program, we went on a tour at Northwestern, like a mini tour, but really it was just to go to the women’s basketball game. It was in 2020, so I was in sixth grade. And I remember going on that tour and I saw a little bit of the science lab, and of course I saw the game, and I was just really amazed. It was my first experience on a college campus, so that probably, you know, swayed me more towards Northwestern.”
Inspired by the students, atmosphere, and campus, Northwestern stayed in Jenessa’s mind from that point on. However, it wasn’t until high school that she truly committed to it being her number one school. She said, “I think it wasn’t until maybe my sophomore year where I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m not going to go anywhere else. This is where I need to be.’ And then that was the whole plan from then… I just keep on falling in love with [Northwestern] every time I hear about it, talk about it, see it online or anything like that.”
Crafting College Essays
With a clear goal in mind, Jenessa and her advisor Natalie got to work on creating the best application narrative possible. A big part of that process were the essays. While Jenessa had an idea of what she wanted to say with her essays, Natalie really guided her in honing the topic.
Jenessa said this on her essay work with Natalie: “The first thing we tackled was I believe my essays… I remember having a Zoom meeting with [Natalie], and we were just talking the whole time… I was trying to explain to her, ‘This is what I want to say, but without saying this.’ And she would just start shooting ideas… It was really helpful because I feel like with me, I’m very picky about what I want to say in my essays… I want to make sure that I emphasize one specific topic without talking about another topic that’s a little sensitive for me. With [Natalie], she knew how to do that.”
With a knowledgeable and compassionate advisor in her corner, Jenessa was able to confidently draft meaningful essays that would stand out to admissions officers while staying true to herself.
What was Jenessa’s favorite part about working with CollegeAdvisor?
Jenessa appreciated the way her advisor was able to understand her and her way of working. She explained their unique way of tackling her applications.
“[There were] moments where I’m asking questions that could be completely not related to exactly what we’re talking about, but are related to college. And [Natalie was] able to switch the topic, like, ‘Oh yeah, let’s talk about that real quick.’ And then we bounce back to the conversation that we were on.”
The ability to ask questions freely, and have them clearly and promptly answered in the moment, was one of Jenessa’s favorite parts of her advising experience. She confirmed, “She took the time to really explain it to me. I think that was the best part about having a college advisor.”
Jenessa’s Admissions Results and the Road Ahead
Since Jenessa was crystal clear on her dream school, she fully committed to making those dreams come true.
She told us, “I applied Early Decision, knowing that I could potentially not get matched through the Evans Scholarship, but I wanted to take the risk. And I knew doing early decision could raise my chances of getting in, so I’m like, ‘I really want to do it.’ So I talked it over with my mom a lot. We were kind of wondering, ‘Should we not? Should we maybe look at other schools?’ But I really wanted to go [to Northwestern], so I ended up applying early decision, and now we’re here.”
Did Jenessa’s decision pay off? Yes, it absolutely did! She confirmed what she had manifested from her early high school years: “I’m just really happy that I got in… It’s so surreal.”
With a clear vision of her future, the best option for Jenessa was to apply early decision to her dream school. We couldn’t be more thrilled for Jenessa as she looks forward to starting at Northwestern University in the fall.
Jenessa’s Advice for Future Applicants
Students who have already been through the college application process tend to have the best advice for those just starting their admissions journeys. With the experience so fresh in her mind, Jenessa was eager to share some advice for future college applicants.
“It’s okay to be overwhelmed and feel all those emotions. But as long as you know where your heart is and you know what you want the application to show, how you want people to view you through what you’re saying, just follow what you believe in your heart.”
Jenessa stressed the importance of showing who you really are in your application, which may sometimes mean filtering the advice of others. She said, “It’s your path, it’s your story, and you know yourself best. So it’s okay to not use everyone’s advice or everyone’s help, because sometimes it’s not for you… I remember putting Minecraft and Roblox as my hobbies on my application. I think it’s completely okay to put whoever you actually are. That’s the whole point of the process.”
Why CollegeAdvisor?
Jenessa knew where she wanted to go to school, but wasn’t sure what it would take to actually get accepted. By committing to the process with her advisor, Jenessa earned her acceptance to Northwestern University, a true dream come true.
For her, applying to college was a self-learning exploration, and she recommends that students about to embark on the application process view it as such. As she reflected on the experience, she said, “It’s going to be a long road of having to really understand who you are and how you are as a person, like what made you this person… It’s going to be a lot of emotions, and that’s completely okay.”
While the process may not be easy, having an experienced advisor to guide you through it can make applying to college less stressful. So, if you’re getting ready to start the college admissions process, remember: you don’t have to do it alone! CollegeAdvisor’s experts help hundreds of students and families through the process each year. Whether it’s through one-on-one personalized advising or our library of free online resources, CollegeAdvisor has what you need to get started.
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.
