28,096Leland Reviews

I was struggling with the transfer admissions process and its highly selective acceptance rates, but with thorough review Kelly, we were able to make a strong case for my transfer applications and I learned how to stand out in a sea of similar profiles. Working with an experienced counselor who has been behind the scenes making admissions decisions is the only way to navigate this challenging process and I greatly appreciate Kelly's professionalism, clear communication and expediency!

Kelly successfully guided me in my graduate school application journey, with expert tips to make it smooth, organized and producing a solid application to submit to my schools of choice - I was accepted to all of my schools thanks to her.

I was so impressed with Kelly's insights, ability to explain complexities of the admissions review, and help my son bring out his best self in building a compelling and successful college application and personal statement essay that he felt confident about! And he will now be attending his dream school this fall.

Highly educated, knowledgeable and friendly counselor! My kids had college counseling and essay review with Kelly, who is very knowledgeable about the admission process and gave my kids great advice. Both of my kids were accepted to their top 3 choices and we couldn't have done it without Kelly!

She is able to effectively highlight the weaknesses in the application, be realistic with where to apply and show an AO perspective.

To put it simply: Audrey helped me achieve my dream since second grade. She allowed me to translate the jumbled-up mess of thoughts and ideas swirling around in my brain into a story that was both creative and compelling, and most importantly, presented the best version of myself without failing to maintain honesty and authenticity. Audrey is extraordinarily kind, an excellent writer, a creative thinker, and an artist with words; but most of all, she is an empathetic human being with a big heart. She knows you don’t have to be a nationally ranked mathematician or a musical prodigy (spoiler alert: I wasn’t either of those) to get into the college of your dreams. The best part about Audrey is that she wholeheartedly believes in you, cares about everything that makes you you, and knows that you can succeed regardless of how many accolades and accomplishments you have or don’t have.

I decided to work with Audrey for my college applications since she was everything the other college counselors were not: focused on my personality and interests over just grades, invested in my extracurriculars for my own enrichment rather than just for impressing college admissions (though she still knew how to make them stand out!), and wholeheartedly interested in knowing who I was as a person. She is the holistic admissions process personified, so her students get a head start in knowing what admissions offices are looking for. She helped me translate my best qualities onto paper for my college essays: her writing practice assignments might seem really random, but actually helped me narrow down the topics I was most invested in, and honed my writing skills in a more fun, creative, grade-free environment. Over the four semesters I worked with Audrey, I always felt completely confident in the work I was doing with her. I would trust all her recommendations: from helping me pick the best topics for my Common App essay to the best vegan doughnut shop in Los Angeles!

I’ll start by noting that Audrey is one of the best all-around human beings I have ever met. I connected with Audrey relatively last minute in the middle of college application season (not the best way to leverage her talent), as I was feeling completely overwhelmed by the chaotic tornado of ideas and personal traits that I had to somehow channel and structure into a compelling essay (well, many essays). From the first time I talked to her, one thing became very clear: she knows exactly what she’s doing and does it exceptionally well. In addition to her invaluable help with my essays, she offered great insights into which schools would best fit me and was able to make me truly excited about other top-tier schools I hadn’t really considered before. She also showed me how to paint the best picture of myself on everything in addition to the essays (Common App activities and honors). With Audrey, you’ll get completely distracted and talk for thirty minutes about something as random as her crazed washing machine, only to realize later you’ve given yourself a plethora of topics to write about without having to go through the excruciatingly dull—and very difficult—process of thinking about what makes you unique. Those gems come out simply by talking to her. Having a conversation with her is a wild ride—she gets you to open up by telling you something completely weird and random about herself, so that by the end of a few sessions you’re talking to her like you’ve known her for years. Yet it’s truly genuine. Despite her amazing track record, it may come as a surprise that in no way does Audrey write essays for you. Rather, she has an extraordinary talent for getting you to realize what makes you unique without her writing a single sentence. She REFUSES to use previous successful essays as an example because she realizes the idiosyncrasies that every person has; to attempt to gain inspiration from another would only result in confining yourself (this is my favorite policy of hers, by the way). Not only do you craft original and authentic essays, but the constant practice and feedback she provides makes you such a better writer and thinker. I looked at some of the writing I had done shortly before I worked with her and it was unrecognizable. Most importantly, Audrey is a true, authentic, kind and incredibly interesting person. She possesses a real desire to see you succeed and will do everything in her power to help you get there. She won’t offer “counseling” that makes you nothing more than a cookie-cutter applicant, but will fully invest herself in you and support you writing essays that memorably portray who you are. Because of this, I am beyond honored to call Audrey my friend and unconditionally give her my highest recommendation. She helped me truly discover myself, revitalize a lost love for books, get every Sunday started with an hour of constant laughter, and to accomplish what was amorphous ambition just a few months ago. Audrey believes in you, she will go the extra mile for you, and she knows what it takes to get into the school of your dreams (hint: it’s not Math Olympiads and a 4.0 GPA). Working with Audrey will be one of the best decisions you will ever make.

The way that Audrey went about everything was honestly amazing. It never really felt like we were doing work—it was all inside jokes and her picking my brain, and the essays would just come together in a way I never thought I could write before. She is amazing at helping you find your personal voice in a way that creates essays far better than anything I ever thought I was capable of. At the beginning of the process, I sort of thought it was one of those “hire this person to write your essay for you,” but as we went on through the process, every single idea and word on the page (but maybe not every single punctuation mark) came from me. Audrey has this unique, incredible ability to make it seem like absolutely no work is getting done until BAM! All of a sudden you have everything you need to write an essay that really makes your personality and creativity shine through, even about the most mundane topics like “Why do you want to go to our school?” Never in a million years did I think my Common Application essay would really be about my first love—the Charlotte Douglas International Airport—but while all my friends and family told me that it was a ridiculous topic, Audrey grabbed onto the idea and it ended up being a phenomenal way to get my philosophy on everything from hats to life to the best meals a person can eat (toast with grape jam obviously). Audrey helped me to put myself into perspective, which in turn helped me write essays with a personal touch that I could not have written with anyone else. I can’t thank her enough for everything she did for me.