New York University

As a full-time college counselor and the proud owner of a small independent counseling business, I get to live my passion every day: helping students navigate the exciting yet sometimes overwhelming world of college admissions. With over 25 years of experience in both high school and higher education settings, I’ve had the privilege of working closely with students, parents, and college representatives alike to create smooth and successful paths toward higher education. Currently, I’m thrilled to serve as a College Counselor at private high school in New Orleans, where I bring my expertise in every facet of the college application process. From crafting personalized essays to guiding families through campus visits and application timelines, I make sure each student feels confident and supported every step of the way. I even created a comprehensive 4-year college counseling curriculum that ensures students start strong and stay on track throughout their high school journey. Before this role, I spent an incredible 10 years at an all-boys high school as their College Placement Counselor, where I became known for my personalized approach and my knack for making the whole process feel less like a marathon and more like a sprint toward success. I also had the privilege of organizing large-scale college fairs and helping students with everything from resume building to strategic essay editing, not to mention writing highly effective letters of recommendation that helped students stand out. My career started in college admissions, where I managed application reading, transfer credit evaluations, and even planned recruitment events. These years in higher education gave me a behind-the-scenes look at how colleges make their decisions, knowledge I now bring to my counseling clients to give them a real edge.

Whether I’m leading a college tour for juniors, advocating for students in the admissions process, or brainstorming essay topics that showcase the unique strengths of each student, I’m all about making college admissions not just manageable, but exciting! My track record of successes speaks for itself, but at the end of the day, it's the students' growth and accomplishments that bring me the most joy.

I worked for Stanford University's undergraduate admissions office for 5 full cycles, 3 as a territory manager overseeing applications from San Diego County and the state of Oregon. For 2 cycles, I worked as a part-time seasonal reader and read applications from the Midwest and South (in addition to San Diego County). Prior to working at Stanford, I worked for 3 years as a Counselor for Collegiate Directions, a college counseling nonprofit in the DC-area serving low-income and first-generation-to-college students. I helped my students with everything from determining which standardized test to take, when to take it, strategizing high school curriculum & extracurricular activities, building best-fit college fits, essay editing, financial aid applications, and, most importantly, deciding where to go to college! Personally, I spent my first year of college at Santa Monica College, a community college in the Los Angeles area. I then transferred to the University of Chicago where I obtained my BA in Sociology with Honors. I obtained 2 graduate degrees. First, I went to the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) and obtained my Master of Public Policy, concentrating in social policy. Second, I went to the University of Virginia (Go Hoos!) and obtained my Master of Business Administration, concentration in strategy consulting and entrepreneurship/innovation. As a proud "scholarship kid" (I received full tuition scholarships at all 3 of my institutions), I am a firm believer that a little grit goes a long way!

In my free time, I am a passionate endurance athlete and have completed 6 marathons and 1 triathlon. I'm currently training for my 7th marathon and my first full-distance Ironman. I also enjoy thought-provoking television and movies, my adorable cat Winston, and my new-found passion for plants.

With over 20 years of experience in education, Erica is bringing her thoughtful, student-centered approach towards the college admission process to CollegeAdvisor.com. Having worked on both sides of the desk in college admissions and college counseling, she has built relationships with many admission officers and college counselors around the world. After graduating from Fordham University in the late 1990’s, she began her career working as an admission counselor in their Office of Undergraduate Admission. Her experience working there was not just limited to her alma mater. Being part of a larger network of Jesuit colleges and universities helped her learn and grow to understand the importance of relationships in the college admission world. Getting to travel around the US and visit hundreds of high schools every year helped her grow and expand her knowledge about the college search and college admission process as a whole. Working with the tour guide program at Fordham helped her become an expert on what students and parents were looking for in a college visit, and she often led panels and discussions on how to help a college build a better tour guide and student visitation program. Her quest for knowledge and a different perspective led her to pursue a position on the “other side of the desk” in college counseling. She spent five years working at a boarding school in Rhode Island where she helped hundreds of US and International students navigate the college search and admission process. The students and parents she worked with appreciated her behind-the-scenes knowledge of how an admission office would read and evaluate applications for admission. This led her and her colleagues to create an annual “Mock Application Workshop” for students at her school and a neighboring boarding school a few towns away. Deans and Directors of some of the most prestigious universities in the US would drive or fly-in to participate in this workshop. Each Dean and Director would lead a small break out group, and help their group read and review five student applications and present their cases to the admission committee. This annual workshop was instrumental in helping students understand the process, and how to present their best self in their own college application. Her students applied to and enrolled at a wide variety of different schools across the globe, but what mattered the most is that all of her students found a home, a place where they could grow and become the best version of themselves. Most recently, as a seasonal application reader at a large research university in the Mid-West, she has seen first-hand how universities post-COVID are relying less on the SAT/ACT, and aims to help her students navigate an always changing college admission landscape by keeping up to date on college admission trends and practices.

Over her career, Erica has traveled to hundreds of different colleges and universities around the country, and has enjoyed the opportunity to tour and see different college campuses first-hand. As a mom of four, with her eldest daughter currently in the tenth grade, she can empathize with parents as she is about ready to go through this process for the first time as a parent. She aims to help her daughter build a strong academic foundation in her early high school years, all while exploring new things and going beyond her comfort zone. She encourages all students to have a growth-mindset, and use the college admission process as a path of self-discovery.

Hi! I’m Ris, a recent graduate of Yale University with a BA in Film and Media Studies. With a strong background in filmmaking and content creation, I’m passionate about guiding students interested in the humanities and arts. I am dedicated to helping students craft standout work, develop career plans, and create their own opportunities — skills that are crucial in today’s competitive environment. As someone whose family had no experience with the US college admissions process, I am especially interested in helping students in similar situations. I know firsthand how lonely it can be to feel completely lost even in the first steps of deciding where to apply and strive to be a reliable, supportive resource in this complex journey. My goal is to help students feel that as stressful as this time can be, it is also an exciting one! In my free time, you can find me watching films, making music, and reading.

I have a Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Berkeley. More specifically, my degree is from the College of Natural Resources. I majored in Conservation and Resource Studies with a concentration in Climate Science under the Environmental Science, Policy, and Management department. As an undergraduate student I was a Program Facilitator at the Lawrence Hall of Science and I interned for the National Science Foundation, performing climate science research in conjunction with meteorology and ecological anthropology faculty at Penn State. In addition to this, I worked part-time for a bay area nonprofit focused on the conservation of California's old growth forests. After graduating in 2021, I decided to go in a different direction than my field of study. I accepted a role as a corporate recruiter for the top data science and analytics recruitment firm in San Francisco. I quickly promoted to Senior Consultant, but confirmed my suspicion that corporate life was not aligned with my interests. As a result, I left this position and became an independent contractor. I find working with students in an advising capacity fulfilling, because I know the impact high-level support can have on a student's journey through the application process. I vividly remember how important acceptance into a fitting program felt when I was in that stage of life, so I have a lot of empathy for students who are currently applying to universities. I understand the path is not always straight forward or easy. I pride myself in my attention to detail and my wide range of knowledge. Over the past eight years I've developed a significant level of expertise in regard to recruitment trends and process, and I've developed unique insights from both personal and professional experience.

In terms of my educational background, I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Asian American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Later, I became a double Bruin, and received a Master of Arts degree in Asian American Studies. Recently, I completed a Master of Fine Arts degree at New York University (NYU) in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Fiction. Between my undergraduate career and graduate career, I gained nine years of professional experience in Student Affairs at UCLA – serving in different capacities at the Student Retention Center. During my first three years, I was the Project Coordinator of the Southeast Asian retention project (SEA CLEAR), a program that provides peer counseling, skill-building workshops, and mentorship opportunities to support underserved students. In this role, I helped students with strategic course planning, goal setting, and campus resource referrals. In the following three years, I served as the Program Manager of the UCLA Writing Success Program (WSP). WSP provides 1-on-1 counseling to help undergraduates brainstorm and revise academic essays, graduate admissions materials, scholarship materials, and job applications. My experience in both roles led to my promotion to the Retention Advisor position from 2017-2020. As Retention Advisor, I supervised the overall operations of the UCLA Student Retention Center, including its seven retention programs, study hall services, and campus wide events. Over the years, I have interacted with hundreds of students, administrators, faculty, and community members, which allows me to work with people of diverse ages and backgrounds. Following my nine years in Student Affairs, I continued to gain experience in writing instruction during my time as a graduate student in UCLA’s Asian American Studies Master’s program, where I worked as a Teaching Assistant (T.A.) during the 2021-2022 academic year. I was assigned to the Asian American Studies writing courses and taught a weekly discussion section focused on developing writing skills and helping students critically discuss classroom material. During my time in the MFA program at NYU from 2022-2024, I worked as a Graduate Assistant at NYU’s Preprofessional Advising Center, which helped me gain familiarity with the academic support structure at NYU. In this capacity, I gained experience working with pre-med and Post-baccalaureate students. In addition, I taught an undergraduate introductory course to poetry and prose, which has given me exposure to syllabus planning, undergraduate instruction, and administrative tasks as it pertains to classroom upkeep.

Throughout my education, I have worked as a freelance tutor, guiding students in reading, writing, SAT Verbal preparation, and college admissions essays.

My journey in higher education started at my undergraduate institution, Stony Brook University, where I worked as a tour guide for 3 years. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Immediately after, I earned a Master of Arts in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. I have over 7 years of experience working in both undergraduate and graduate admissions. While completing my Master's program, I simultaneously worked at Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science. I have also worked at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, Baruch College, and Vassar College. Through my roles, I have always been a champion for increasing and retaining students of underrepresented backgrounds. I served on various committees for diversity recruitment and pioneered campus-wide programming highlighting the unique aspects of each institution. Outside of work, I like to spend my time with my family. I enjoy traveling, visiting quirky bookstores, and trying new food. I've been to 17 countries so far. I'm a native New Yorker and can tell you without a doubt, we have one of the best food scenes around! My goal is to equip students and families with quality and valuable information to make the best decision regarding college selection. This is an exciting time, yet it can also be overwhelming. I work hard to demystify the admissions process to make it as seamless as possible. In my role, I will assist you in finding the college that best aligns with your values and goals, and preparing the best application that best represents you.

I earned my degree in Electrical Engineering from Howard University, with Magna Cum Laude Latin Honors, finishing my program in three years. I am currently a PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) department. My research focuses on the field of physical electronics, particularly optoelectronics. Optoelectronics is widely considered a sub-discipline of photonics, which refers to the study and application of the physical science of light.

My Passion for Advising Students:

In my own undergraduate college journey, I was accepted to over ten universities with $1 million USD in financial aid. Similarly, for my graduate school process, I was accepted to top universities for engineering with fully funded offers to pursue my PhD. During this process, I was on my own researching and applying to my schools of interest. I believe that my vast experiences in engineering will enable me to assist anyone to create their own story and achieve their collegiate dreams. This can be a difficult process to navigate, with many different hidden hurdles involved, and I am passionate about leveraging my experience to help students. Below, you will find a summary of my engineering experience!

Undergraduate Academic Experience:

During my three years at Howard University, I completed various hardware electronics projects. For my senior capstone project, I worked with The Aerospace Corporation on a project titled, “Machine Learning Based Sensing for Autonomous Robotic Manipulation”. I was also amongst a group of 30 students selected for a Google program called Hardware Product Sprint. In Summer 2022, I had a great experience working with Google engineers to learn about consumer electronics. Additionally, I have experience conducting undergraduate academic research projects in quantum materials science. In Summer 2023, I was one of three students selected for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Global Quantum Leap International Research and Training Experience Program at the National Institute of Materials Science in Japan. This project was supported by Cornell University. In Summer 2022, I was a research intern at the NSF Center for Integrated Quantum Materials at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Both these research projects had applications for advanced computing with the long-term goal of developing next generation electronic devices.

Engineering Leadership Experience:

Aside from my academic experiences, I am very involved in engineering leadership. At UC Berkeley, I am the professional development chair for the Black Graduate Engineering and Science Students, which is the graduate chapter for the National Society of Black Engineers. I also serve as delegate in the EECS Graduate Assembly, which is a student government that advocates for EECS graduate students. At Howard University, I was a resident assistant in a freshman dorm, I was the campus ambassador for Raytheon Technologies, I was the membership and academic excellence chair of the Howard University Chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, I was the programs chair of the Howard University Chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and I was the diversity representative of the Howard University College of Engineering and Architecture Student Council. Additionally, I am an initiated member of the DC Alpha chapter of Tau Beta Pi, which is an engineering honor society for students at in the top percentile of their academic year group.

I am a proud former first-generation college student who is now a first-generation professional. I have 6+ years of professional experience working with students and their families to navigate the higher education system. I recently (within the last 5 years) obtained a master's degree in education with an emphasis in Student Affairs from UCLA. I attended University of California, Berkeley for my undergraduate education and my major was Psychology with a minor in Chicano Studies. My passion is to assist students and their families on their higher education journey. A skill I feel I have while working with students is truly listening to their wants and needs and adapting my advising from there. I approach my work by honoring my students' lived experiences. On a one-on-one basis I’ve assisted with creating college school lists, academic road mapping, how to choose and change a major, financial aid, and career prep. Outside of student affairs I enjoy reading, cycling, and spending time with my family and friends.