What is AdmissionsMom?
How it all began
It’s kind of crazy to think that AdmissionsMom started on a subreddit with only about 8000 members. I am, in fact, a real-life mom as well as AdmissionsMom. I went through the college process with my three amazing, but very different kids, and I lived to tell the tale.
My youngest is actually the one who suggested I join Reddit (I’d never even been on the site before), so I could find a community of college-bound kids and their parents asking the kinds of questions I might know how to answer about essays and how to approach college admissions without experiencing all the stress. After spending the first few months lurking, just reading and learning, I finally started writing, and not too long after, I knew I’d found my writing home. I was pleasantly surprised by how receptive and inquisitive the community was. People genuinely wanted to know my thoughts and that inspired me to keep writing, to keep helping. And it’s fueled what I’m doing to this day, even now with closing in on half a million subscribers to our subreddit, r/ApplyingToCollege.
Before AdmissionsMom
Before I became AdmissionsMom, I was a teacher for 30 years. I also work as an independent educational consultant (IEC), which is a fancy way of saying that I’m a private college consultant.
Working as an IEC and even before as a teacher and as a mom, I’d always been bothered by the stress of the college admissions process, from the pressures students put on themselves, as well as what’s coming from their parents and their community. Working one-on-one with students to improve their experiences and get them to the right schools is great, but I wanted to do more, and I wanted to reach more people than was possible as a teacher or an IEC.
I also wanted to honor the legacy my own mom had left me with her dedication to college access, so in part, AdmissionsMom is in memory of her. You can read more about my amazing mom and the influence she had on my Admissions Mom journey here.
And, just FYI, I hold UCLA College Counseling Certificate, and I’m a member of IECA, HECA, NACAC, and TACAC — all professional organizations for college consulting and counseling. If you would like to learn more about my “beyond AdmissionsMom” life as an IEC, you can check out my website at admissionsjourney.com.
My Philosophy
Here are three bold statements about my college admissions beliefs that have guided my philosophy from the start:
1. The person you are when you apply to college should be the person reflected in the application.
2. The right school for you is probably not the one everyone tells you that you SHOULD be going to.
3. You are more than your college applications.
Pretty out there, right?
I believe the college experience is all about finding who you are. These are some of the most transformative years in a person’s life. And if you have to pretend to be someone else to get there, chances are it’s not the right fit.
The right school for you might be a school you hadn’t even thought to consider. That’s where I come in.
Using mindfulness and honesty, I’ve helped loads of students and their parents rethink the traditional “college process” and let go of all the social pressures and stress associated with it. I help students learn to understand themselves and what they actually want, not what someone else has told them they should want. Only by reaching this level of understanding can we then start to explore the schools that actually make the most sense for you. And guess what? When you’re doing it for you, all that stress and pressure starts to fall away and the college admissions process actually becomes enjoyable. Imagine that!
