Shalin Mehta - Amherst/Columbia University grad

Introduction: I’m a college counselor with fifteen years of teaching, mentoring, and counseling experience. Having attended both Amherst College and Columbia University as an undergraduate, I have a unique perspective in that I can offer guidance to those who are considering universities as well as liberal arts colleges. I also have a graduate degree from Columbia University‘s School of International and Public Affairs and have lived in China where I worked with high school students of all levels in helping them achieve their college dreams in the States. Some of my students have gotten into Stanford University, Princeton University, Columbia University, and Dartmouth College among others. My biggest strength in this process is my passion for education; I enjoy working with students and helping them achieve their goals and in addition to college counseling I have lived in some of the most underprivileged countries in the world, trying to give younger children and disadvantaged youth access to education. I am compassionate and having worked students from all shapes and sizes I am very easy to work with and always place the student’s needs first. Among some of the services I can provide are the following: Essays: Having an original, persuasive, and well-written essay is perhaps one of the most important parts of your college application. I can work with you in all aspects of your personal statement from brainstorming, to giving you an alternate viewpoint, to critiquing and proofreading. I will also help you in all supplemental essays you have including the common “Why our School?” essay that asks what makes a certain school especially appealing to a student. In addition, for my younger students I provide guidance in constructing essays for any summer program or extracurricular program they might be applying to. Activity Lists and Summer Plans: Having a well-crafted Activity and Honors List which both names your activity and honors and explains each individual activity is essential when completing a college application. Both the Activity and Honors List have character limits and there are many tricks that can help students write them effectively in less words. This allows more information to be entered giving the student more of a chance to demonstrate his or her achievements. For my younger students not yet in the 12th grade, I help choose extracurriculars that would best fit their interests as well as have access to various competitions and activities outside of their high school which they could participate in. This is one of the most enjoyable parts of the application for me as it allows me to really get to know the student and see what makes him or her tick. Making a school list and school selection: Having had attended multiple schools and working with students who have gone to countless schools in both the US and Canada and the UK, I can help students come up with a list of schools they want to apply to and also provide a risk assessment for each school. Further, I can guide students who wish to use the Early Decision and Early Action options in their application The above in not a full list of services as each student is different and many students have other concerns regarding applying to college and having a successful high school career that I am experienced and more than happy to help with. I look forward to working with you.