personalized private coaching as you need it

Hi, I'm Kiara. I provide personalized advising to students with a unique style. I cover all-things-college (test preparation, high-touch activity advising, essay coaching, etc.) (grades 9-12)

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Following a formula of what has gotten others admitted in the past doesn't work. Successful applications copy no one else—they are unique because a student has successfully encapsulated their unique self.

When a student meets with this tutor here and goes to that test prep agency there and these extracurriculars over here, they end up with a network of many people who know them somewhat well, but no singular person who is overseeing the whole picture and who can actually help them capture their unique self.

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I'm Kiara, an MIT '21 college consultant. Previous students I've worked with have been admitted to MIT, Harvard, Georgia Tech, BU, Olin, Georgetown, Tufts, and others. I guide students in the following ways:

  1. ACT/SAT tutoring that is significantly more effective than typical tutoring methods. I don't teach a "correct" method of solving; I notice subtle patterns in the way a student is currently solving, and I refine from there
  2. build-out of a strategic plan with passion projects, entrepreneurial pursuits, summer research opportunities, etc., always rooted in a student's unique interests — this can start at any point from 9th-11th grade.
  3. guidance on making the most of a student's activities: if a student runs a company, why not apply for an incubator and start manufacturing a product? If a student leads a CS club, why not run a hackathon for college students?
  4. coaching for essay writing that is highly personalized based on how the student's mind thrives — this leads to niche stories that make admissions officers pause
  5. support obtaining non-generic recommendation letters by strategically building relationships
  6. intensive interview preparation so that students come across humble, passionate, and well-informed about the school at hand
  7. answering questions about anything by text 24/7

Interested students should apply to join my cohort here and I will reach out for a consult!

The Way in Which I Work with Students

I take on a group of students each year, mentoring and teaching them closely. I build very strong relationships with every student in the small cohort I’m leading, which I've found to be a unique approach to college advising. I am available always for students' questions about what new leadership position to aim for, what summer research role to shoot for, how to market their T-shirt company. I’m young myself, funky and bold in the way I coach and most of all outrageously personalized in my approach - none of the cookie cutter stuff that the uber-expensive college advising companies use.

I am also here as a person; I build relationships with students where they often end up comfortable sharing whatever is bothering them, which is necessary to have energy to keep working hard.
ESSAY MASTERY

so you have great grades and extracurriculars. that's great!

but do you know why you're good at what you do? what about the way your mind works makes you an unparalleled coder?

could you describe the force at your back driving you to wake up every morning and succeed? many people are ambitious. but few can articulate why they are the way they are.

i help students understand themselves. I'll draw connections between who you are and what you've done, pulling out the threads within you that make you a standout.

this process takes time and commitment. it's an investment in understanding who you are at a younger age than most. yes, this process will breed successful essays. it will also enable you to start college actually knowing how you want to use that time (tuition is too expensive and college too short to let it slip by without deliberate intentionality.)
HIGHLY TAILORED STANDARDIZED TEST EXCELLENCE

I teach towards the SAT and ACT in a way that is different than even the top-name tutoring companies that parents send their children to. They will teach in a formulaic way, because they are large institutions and with scale comes decreased quality. This tradeoff is inherent to growth.  

I have capped the number of students I coach per year, and so I teach in a way that is highly tailored to the mind of the individual student I am coaching (ie. noticing subtle patterns in the way a student thinks and where they're going wrong) whereas any SAT company or group will be much more standardized in the way they teach (ie. just teaching a framework for how to solve the problems but not so much paying attention to the mind of the individual student).
BOLD AND CREATIVE EXTRACURRICULAR GUIDANCE

Aligning Where A Student Spends Their Time: I draw connections between who a student Is and what they do with their  time, so that thy can be intentional with that time. If a student is innately curious, we find spaces where they can play with that curiosity. Whether they are artistic, a problem-solver, or an empath, we focus their energy on bringing the best sides of them to life.

Optimizing How A Student Spends Their Time: Once we’ve focused in on where to spend a student's time, I mentor on making something incredibly bold and outrageously unique of each of those activities. If a student runs a company, why not apply for an incubator and start manufacturing product? If a student leads a CS club, why not run a hackathon for college students?

There are so many resources at my fingertips that students can take advantage of. It is a joy to see them do things most professionals in their 50s haven't done.