International Students: How to Ease the Transition into American College Life

I got my first taste of admissions through my undergraduate work-study at Lafayette College where, in addition to filing a lot of paper, I interacted with students and families as a tour guide and admissions panelist. However, it was only when I was away from a college environment working as a Civil Engineer that I realized how much I missed working with students at this important time in their lives. I spent the first part of my admissions career working at small liberal arts colleges on the East Coast, before joining the undergraduate admission staff at Boston College where I reviewed applications to all four undergraduate programs. After more than a decade working in admissions, I wanted to have more insight into the student experience in the college process. My curiosity took me to Northern California where I worked as a college counselor at Castilleja School, a highly selective private girls high school, helping students apply to the most competitive colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. After my time at Castilleja School, I moved to the Midwest to manage the undergraduate international admission process at a large public university, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I reviewed applications for admission to the College of Engineering. Through these experiences I’ve had the privilege of traveling across the nation and around the world (20+ countries), meeting and working with students and families to share my knowledge and expertise of the nuances of the college process.