Testimonial Tuesday: Accepted to UCLA & UC Berkeley

Last winter, I had the honor of working with pro bono students at Leadership Public Schools in Richmond, California, where 95% of students come from low-income families and 80% of students qualify for a free lunch.

I was impressed with Beto, an activist inspiration, from the start. To perfect his essay, we focused on removing typos, cliches, wordiness and repetition so that each word made an impact and providing follow-up questions to help him elaborate on his hardships and, more importantly, how he triumphed despite them. We also worked on mastering the tone so that he never sounded too negative or complaining, but instead came across as triumphant, grateful and impressive. And we improved the opening and closing statements to be more powerful and evocative, since they are the first and last impression. I was so happy to hear that his essay was a resounding success!

"I am a high school senior who will be attending UC Berkeley next fall. My academics and leaderships made me a competitive candidate, but my personal insight questions, edited and shaped by Yelena, is one of the top reasons I will be attending the #1 public university in the world next fall. In terms of my writing, I had strong arguments; however, they were not so coherent and well structured. Then, Yelena came along and took my writing from good to near perfect.

Her amazing work even caught the attention of school officials as I was asked to read my personal statement during a school assembly. Thanks to Yelena, I believe that grades and academics do not reflect a person's qualities as well as a well-written essay. She has the power to turn a potential applicant into an admitted student, take my word for it.

I definitely recommend Yelena to individuals who need feedback or additional support in the application process. You will not regret it. The results speak for themselves, the professionalism is on point, and the feedback is off the charts. I am really thankful for her service and I am keeping her in high consideration for future academic endeavors."

—Beto, accepted to UCLA, UC Berkeley & more