28,622Leland Reviews

I had a wonderful time working with Audrey. Bottom line, she knows what she is doing. A character of energy, motivation, and a sprinkle of wonder. I trust her 100%. If you want a counselor that gets things done when it needs to be done, a counselor that looks out for you, and a counselor that reaches out to help you in whichever way possible, you just met your perfect match.

Audrey was truly the light at the end of a very long, very dark tunnel that is college applications. Being a teen pursuing computer science in the Bay Area made the idea of applying to college daunting to say the least. I vividly remember my very first meeting with Audrey when she asked me, “What problems in the world do you want to solve?” I was under the impression that my college counselor would simply ask for my GPA and SAT score before cranking out a list of colleges for me to apply to. Audrey challenged me to explore how I could make a lasting impact on the world and learn more about myself in the process.Between all the girl talk about our latest trips to Sephora or our traumatizing experiences at the gym, meeting with Audrey to work on my college apps became the highlight of my weekends. I was genuinely in awe of how well-written my personal statement and supplemental essays were after working with Audrey and I still reread them to this day as they were just that good. Most of all, Audrey just made me feel so loved and supported and I could always count on her to bring me back to earth in even the most stressful of times.

As Audrey’s first Puerto Rican high school student, she swam through the unknown and did what I had not expected a college counselor to do: make understanding me as a person and where I come from a priority. Getting to truly know me gave her the ability to personalize every advice and correction. My favorite memory was meeting her for brunch in LA after working with her for a year. This encounter filled my heart with happiness because the experience was as if I was meeting a long distance best friend for the first time. This process is not only about finding a possible major, finding the colleges you will apply to and writing essays. This is also about learning how to do research, how to condense your note taking, learn to be extremely specific when writing, how to articulate your emotions and thoughts, and better translation from your first language to English. Which is why throughout this process with Audrey you are able to grow as a student, person, and future professional. Throughout my senior year I struggled a lot with procrastination due to my anxiety, workload and personal situations I was facing. Audrey always kept me on line structuring me when needed without implementing a fear of disappointment or failure. Instead, I felt the pressure of getting the assignments done not because I feared what she might say or do like other teachers or counselors, but because she would remind me that I deserve to do my work on time, and not feel the stress of leaving everything to the last minute.

Amidst a college application process that is as exciting as it is daunting, Audrey was my fearless guide. I knew she was the right college advisor for me when she pulled out a deck of spirit animal cards on the first day and together we picked a nonbinary whale out of the deck who we decided would guide us through this process. Throughout the journey—when finding a major, writing essays, and eventually choosing a college—we thought: what would Mx. Whale do? Guided by Mx. Whale’s emotional openness, compassion, and fearlessness, Audrey and I were rooted in authenticity throughout the whole process. I never felt categorized as a “type” of student or applicant put into a box—Audrey took her sweet time getting to know the nuances and deviations and aspirations that had been ignored or overlooked by my other guidance counselors. This meant that, not only could Audrey provide guidance on schools, majors, and programs that would appeal to me, but she could also help me find and get in touch with relevant internships and even help me turn my Bachelorette obsession into a riveting college essay topic. The great thing about Audrey’s process is that she meets you where you are, whether you come in with a dream school like my cousin did or had no idea as I did.

Audrey Hannah is a beautiful human being, in every way you could interpret that word, and this is why. She realizes the importance of numbers (grades, SAT scores, etcetera), but more importantly she values and helps bring out the most important element in any college’s admission process: YOU. That’s right, I said it. You are more important than your grades. Despite what you may think, colleges care if you eat rainbow rolls with your ex or just happen to like pans or even if you’ve done Shakespeare in drag. Whatever your own personal quirks and stories are, Audrey will help you realize just how much they define you as a person. Admissions officers are not looking for human shaped supercomputers, they are looking for real people. Also, if you ever need help with just, you know, life, Audrey is THERE for you. She doubles as an unofficial therapist and is better than anyone you’ll find in some fancy office. Audrey likes dried mangoes. I do too. Join the club.

Working with Audrey was nothing like school. In fact, our meetings were everything school should’ve been. I’ve always loved creating—whether that be writing, singing, drawing, or even filmmaking—but traditional lessons made my passions feel lifeless, and left me with a burnt-out muse that no longer had the energy to inspire. Audrey reignited that spark. She didn’t make writing feel like a chore; instead, she helped me see the words on the page as a living, breathing part of me again. That’s because she’s not just a college counselor. She’s a fellow artist, a wise and whimsical friend who edits your work like magic and validates your wildest dreams with every conversation, making you say: “Maybe I really can be an author, a Broadway actor, or a renowned cosmologist after all.” From our earliest sessions, she taught me one of the most important lessons I’ve ever learned: that I am enough. I didn’t need to mold myself into someone else to be “college-worthy”—I only needed to express my truth as fully and as beautifully as I could. Audrey helped me discover that truth.

Before I began to work with Audrey, the very thought of writing was daunting. The words “college essay,” would evoke nothing but feelings of dread and a sense of looming pressure. I am so glad to say that Audrey was able to single-handedly alleviate any initial feelings of pressure that made writing college essays seem so intimidating, and transform the process into something exciting! With Audrey’s unique writing prompts that always dig out the most unexpected insight, I was able to open my mind to creative new ideas that I continued to reference in my college essays and even in my personal art pieces. Not only did my time with Audrey improve my ability to analyze my own life and identity through introspection, it also greatly improved my ability to write creatively. By taking the time each week to discuss and solidify ideas that were previously only half-baked, I was able to develop my writing voice. Over the course of a year, I noticed drastic improvements in my vocabulary usage, sentence flow, creativity, and self-expression in writing. The constant writing practice implemented in Audrey’s program made the college application process remarkably simple and continues to help me greatly in both my creative and academic writing pursuits. Audrey’s authenticity shines through in her ability to enhance and help develop your ideas without altering their meaning. She centers you, the student, and genuinely cares about your interests, perspectives, and values. I can honestly recommend her as a mentor, a moral support, and most importantly, a friend.

When I first opened the Common App and added the schools I wanted to apply to, I was completely lost. I felt overwhelmed when it came to recalling and penning my accomplishments, and no matter how hard I tried my essays always lacked voice. My best friend recommended that I work with Audrey—looking back now, that was possibly the most important decision that I made during the entire application process. Audrey was everything that I could have wanted in a writing advisor and Common App navigator, if not more. Every meeting, she was able to bring out the best in me as we worked to refine my writing skills. With her help, I was able to write stellar essays that surpassed the expectations I had in mind. Some of the lessons she taught me about writing and authorial voice carried over into my academic life, as I learned to remove passive voice from my essays and avoid vague descriptions. Every meeting I had with Audrey was driven by her ease in conversation and her extraction of the essay-worthy parts of my character (such as my multi-cultural background and quirky passions) that even I myself did not recognize. My teachers and parents were impressed with the sudden spike in my writing skills, with my father pointing out the improved sentence structure and word choice in my essays. I myself was flabbergasted by my own newfound ease with schoolwork when my writing improved. Audrey brings out your voice in writing like no other. I had encountered many times where I felt as though I could not convey the emotions and thoughts I wanted to put down on paper; however, after my time with Audrey, I am proud to say that I truly believe I have found my voice. My time with Audrey blessed me with the opportunity to attend my dream school, the University of Southern California, where I plan to major in Economics at the College of Arts and Sciences to explore the contemporary problems of economic underdevelopment in countries around the world. There are very few people in my life that I have met who I define as a person who is true to themselves, and I can confidently say that Audrey is one of those few people. I cannot recommend Audrey highly enough as a college counselor, friend, and overall person who has benefited me in so many aspects of my life. Beyond her infectious confidence in her ability to help you no matter how lost you feel, Audrey has something truly special: a genuine, curious literary spark, which turns every project she tackles into a showstopping one.

Audrey and I connected on a deeply personal level and she gave me the attention that a normal college counselor would simply not be able to. She fully engaged in our conversations, empathized with everything I said while also offering her own perspectives, and sought to understand me as a person, separately from my college interests. By listening to what I was saying and being engaged, Audrey made me feel heard and understood, which allowed me to open up and share a lot about myself (a lot of this stuff ended up in my college essays!). Ever since I was little, I have been obsessed with the Royal Family because my grandmother is English. I have stacks of magazines about Kate and William and have stood in the Welsh rain to meet Prince William. My college essay was about Princess Diana and how she’s become a role model for me. Additionally, I’ve always wanted to go to school internationally because I’ve grown up traveling with my family and have been intrigued by living outside of the United States. Next year, I am attending the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where both William and Kate went. It feels like a full-circle moment to tell people I’m going to St Andrews when I’ve spent my life drinking tea every day, obsessing over the Royals, and dreaming of going to school in the UK.

Audrey has been the guardian angel of my application process. She is a bright inspiration, a powerful but not over-imposing guide, and most of all an empathetic companion who always helped still the stormy waters of stress and illuminate a concrete path to ascend the Everest that seemingly characterized my admissions process. I started working with Audrey later than normal, but her transparency, confidence-inspiring structure, decisiveness, and beaming kindness immediately led to a special relationship that always lit up my day and empowered me–we just clicked. I never felt like Audrey was planting ideas in my mind that didn’t stem from my own thoughts, and she truly worked with me, not for me, which allowed me to find my best and own voice. As a writing coach, her numerous specific tips helped me block out third-party descriptions of myself and focus on precisely what I thought of myself alone, which in turn brought the most authentic and vivid illustrations of my life into the words of my essays. I will always cherish my time working with Audrey, the undying optimism and confidence she inspired within me, and the lessons she taught me along the mountain path we climbed together. Developing my friendship with her was the first of two highlights during my admissions process (getting into Cornell was the second)!