Homeschool Support: Supplemental Learning Today, Success Tomorrow

Jeannie earned a BA from Cornell University and currently serves as a Research Assistant at the University of Michigan. She has helped students get accepted to college through her work with Matriculate, an organization that helped underrepresented high schoolers succeed in college admissions. In this role, she helped students build college lists, craft essays, and apply for financial aid. Students Jeannie has coached have been admitted to top schools, including Cornell, the University of Michigan, and Georgetown.

Jeannie has also served as a teaching assistant at the Ross School of Business. While in college, she led a group of more than 120 women as vice president of her sorority and led a club called StartUM, a student-run incubator at the University of Michigan, where she helped students develop their business ideas from ideation and development to pitching.

 Jeannie excelled in the college application process by leveraging her strengths and crafting a powerful narrative showcasing her true identity. This experience ignited a fire within her—a passion to help other students achieve the same results. Jeannie wants to empower students to identify their unique potential, navigate the complexities of the application process with confidence, and overcome any hurdles they encounter.

Jeannie's coaching style is student-centered and strengths-based. She believes in meeting students where they are in terms of knowledge and motivation. The first step is building a rapport and uncovering their individual goals, strengths, and areas where they might need additional support. This personalized approach allows her to tailor her guidance and identify growth opportunities. Once she understands a student's potential, she likes to challenge and motivate them to reach high. She fosters a growth mindset and a sense of ownership over their journey by celebrating their successes, big and small. Ultimately, her goal is to guide students toward achieving their goals and priorities.

One strategy Jeannie finds particularly successful in keeping students motivated is creating a clear timeline with specific goals. This visualizes the journey, allowing students to see their progress and celebrate milestones like finishing an essay draft or securing a recommendation letter. Motivation also thrives on recognizing strengths. She can build confidence and showcase their competitiveness by highlighting what each student excels at and connecting those strengths to specific colleges or programs. Additionally, Jeannie strives to make the entire process relevant. By helping students visualize how their hard work translates into reaching their dream college and achieving future goals, they can see the bigger picture and stay focused on the end goal.

At her core, Jeannie is a highly empathetic listener who is naturally encouraging and optimistic. Having conducted hundreds of student interviews on college campuses through her series called Gen Z Mentality, she understands that every applicant comes from a unique background with their own challenges. She creates a safe space where students feel comfortable sharing their experiences and concerns.  She sees her role as a counselor not just as a guide but as a champion who motivates students to approach the application process with their best foot forward.

In her downtime, Jeannie runs Gen Z Mentality and interviews students about topics ranging from careers, passions, and relationships to money. She also loves spending time outdoors at the beach, traveling, listening to podcasts, trying new foods, and watching The Bachelor.

Robert earned his Bachelor of Science from Yale University. With five years of tutoring experience and two years of peer mentoring for college readiness, he has successfully mentored over 150 students. His tutoring journey started out of a genuine passion for educating students about the sciences, particularly physics, and understanding the dynamics of the world around us.

Robert's passion for tutoring comes from the deep satisfaction he gets from helping students access a vast body of knowledge and easing their anxieties about homework and tests. He aims to prove that physics can be relevant and interesting to anyone. His tutoring is guided by the metaphor that every beautiful mansion is built upon a boring, plain, but sturdy foundation. He specializes in ACT and SAT prep and tutors physics at every level, including AP and IB, and AP chemistry. 

As a tutor, Robert strikes a balance between being engaging and laid-back. He aims to captivate students' attention so they can fully immerse themselves in the subject matter. By making the content relatable to their lives or breaking it down into simpler terms, he enhances their understanding. Moreover, he believes in alleviating students' academic anxieties to foster a more receptive learning environment and improve their grades. Simultaneously, he values students' individuality and space, allowing them the freedom to engage with the material in their own unique ways.

Robert excels at tailoring his teaching methods to match each student’s unique needs. Whether they learn best visually, tactilely, or through another approach, he crafts an environment that caters to their learning style. Embracing a "go with the flow" mentality, Robert believes in the power of adaptation, likening it to water carving great canyons. By adjusting to what works best for each student, he leaves a lasting imprint on their education. Additionally, Robert adeptly navigates through students’ obstacles by revisiting fundamental concepts one by one, identifying misunderstandings, and addressing them effectively.

Outside of tutoring, Robert is a musician. He’s played the piano for 20 years and loves Baroque music (huzzah for counterpoint!). He is also a bell nerd; he plays the carillon, a keyboard instrument connected to an assembly of bells typically located in church clock towers or civil buildings.

Pratishta graduated with a Bachelor’s from UCLA and a Master’s from New York University. Professionally, Pratishta is the Assistant Director of Beyond Akeela, where she oversees a residential summer college readiness program for neurodivergent teens. She has led numerous workshops on mock interviews, resume development, writing an effective college essay, and creating a road map from high school to college. She has helped 30+ students get accepted to the University of California Berkeley and New York University, among others. 

Pratishta’s passion for admissions counseling comes from her belief that every person has a unique, awesome story waiting to be shared. However, she acknowledges that effectively presenting these strengths can be challenging. Pratishta’s affinity for admissions counseling stems from her own journey of navigating the process alone. She gained invaluable insights, and it brings her immense joy to pay it forward by guiding students toward realizing their aspirations.

Pratishta’s teaching style focuses on strengths and building a strong relationship first. She is easy-going and loves having fun and getting to know every person she connects with. Pratishta thrives on structure and loves letting applicants take the lead while providing a lot of scaffolding. As a coach, Pratishta believes in meeting students where they are and helping them reach their best, helping them hone in on what they want to improve, and offering clear solutions to make progress together. Pratishta excels at breaking down tasks effectively into smaller steps, getting the difficult tasks out of the way first, and building in short breaks and fun activities during sessions. 

Outside of coaching, Pratishta loves to box, cook, hike, kayak, and discover amazing restaurants. She’s also an avid adventure sports fan and has been skydiving and bungee jumping.