How Admissions Officers Evaluate Your Application
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About this livestream
Join Samara Watkins to get an inside look into the college admissions process. Samara will break down the criteria that admissions officers use to evaluate your application and tips that can help you stand out to them.
Advisor
Samara Watkins
Education
Cornell UniversityBio
Samara has spent seven admissions cycles helping students best represent themselves as both individuals and applicants in the elite college admissions process. As an alumna of Cornell University and child of 2 Harvard alumni interviewers, Samara is familiar with the Ivy League's rigorous academics and application process. Using her academic foundation in communication and Fortune 100 PR and brand management experience, Samara collaborates with her clients to craft narratives that best represent themselves to admissions committees. The wit, candor, and strategy Samara brings to collaborating with clients has been highly effective. Her clients have gained admission to Columbia, The University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, UC Berkley, NYU, and Boston University, among others. She looks forward to adding your student’s successful admission to this impressive list!Specialties
BusinessEconomicsPsychologySociologyHistoryLawPolitical ScienceInternational RelationsCommunicationsJournalismTheaterDesignComputer ScienceEngineeringBiologyMathPhilosophyLinguisticsCreative WritingPublic PolicyStatisticsStudents with ADHDEnglish LiteratureStudents with Learning DifferencesMedicineGifted and Talented Students
Undergrad College: Georgetown University '21
Major: History; Minors in French and Russian
Work Experience: The college applications process is all about responding to one question: who are you? I am passionate about helping students craft a creative answer. I have been helping students gain admission to the T25 schools of their dreams since 2018, when I first started working for CollegeVine as an Applications Consultant, and later, blog writer. Soon after graduating from Georgetown, I started my own company to make college advising my career. I currently mentor students through one-on-one consulting sessions and essay editing.
My Admissions Story: My admissions journey began with a desire to dive into the humanities and have an adventure of self-discovery. I applied to East Coast liberal arts schools that value creativity and specialize in teaching languages, history, and international affairs. One thin deferral letter came in the fall, a thicker envelope came in the spring, and with that, I was accepted to my dream school — Georgetown University!
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