ILUMIN Education

I’ve worked with ILUMIN since freshman year, and I had an amazing experience with my counselor. Coming into high school with no idea about the steps needed to be a competitive applicant for college, my counselor first helped me determine my interests and worked with me on applying to extracurricular programs that both strengthened my profile and were genuinely interesting for me. From there, my counselor helped me develop a list of schools and majors to apply to that played to my strengths, and gave me great tips on my essays and for my interviews, which I believe played the biggest role in me getting accepted into my ED school Duke! One of the best things that ILUMIN does is their essay bootcamp, which helps anxious seniors start brainstorming and writing college essays early in the summer, greatly reducing stress and the time needed to write later in the year. In addition to college applications, my counselor was someone that I could chat with about things that were happening in my life, and I feel like John was a friend to me first and foremost. Anyone who wants to get into their dream school should definitely choose ILUMIN!

One of the best things I have ever done for myself was getting an ILUMIN consultant. I can confidently say that I would not have been able to successfully make it through high school and especially the college application process without my consultant’s help and support. When I first entered high school, I had no idea how to build a competitive college resume. During our very first meeting, my ILUMIN consultant gave me an outline of what my ideal CV should look like as well as a roadmap to get there. From then on, starting my freshmen year, my consultant would routinely meet with me every 2 weeks to check up on my progress and make sure I was keeping on track. From directing me to apply to relevant and competitive research programs to giving me advice on which courses to take in high school, my consultant was always there to guide me, answer all of my questions, and provide support. Knowing that he was there gave me a lot of confidence to step out of my comfort zone and try new experiences and made me grow as a student. When it was time to start my college application process, my consultant made sure that I started early. He outlined every step I needed to take, provided a timeline, helped me brainstorm ideas, and kept me organized. We worked together to develop a thorough list of colleges that I wanted to apply to that included reach, target, and safety schools. For me, the hardest part of applying to college was all the essays. During the actual writing of my college essays, my consultant proofread and gave insightful editing recommendations and kept me motivated and on schedule. Thanks to him, I finished all of my applications and essays early and could comfortably submit them before the deadline. With the help of ILUMIN and my mentor, the stressful, confusing college application process was made so much more manageable. I am happy to say that I was accepted early decision into my first choice, Emory University. I am thankful for all the help and support of ILUMIN and my consultant.

My counsellors at ILUMIN have been with me on a long college application journey since junior year, and I can say that they have been nothing but supportive, kind, and patient all the way through! ILUMIN has expertise not only in sending their students to top schools but also in working with international students that are not based in the US such as myself. My counsellors proved adaptable and responsive, accommodating differences in my education and experiences coming from an international background and helping me weave that into a compelling and unique college application. I can say that they have minimised the stress I felt from this process and that I couldn't have done it without them! I'm happy to say that I made good friends from ILUMIN that I will treasure for a long time to come.

I felt lost entering my sophomore year. I had just been cut from the basketball team and was so confused on how to navigate the college admission process. I was a decent student but I had minimal extracurriculars and felt like I was behind everyone else. But my initial meeting with Elton helped clear the fog and gave me a direction on where to head. His advice was pivotal for me to pursue and be involved in extracurriculars, such as Coding Club and Robotics, so that I would grow my passion and interest for possible majors. In my junior year, my grades were beginning to drop and my counselor, Henry, raised this issue to my attention. He helped me get back on track and guided me on how I should prioritize my activities. During the 2021 summer and fall, the ILUMIN team has been extremely helpful with helping me with college essays. I've been helped greatly by the summer essay boot camp, essay workshops, and Henry's constructive helpful essay feedback. Although the main "heavy lifting" and work is the responsibility of the student, college counselors at ILUMIN are some of the best I know of and they have helped me navigate the college admission process. I'm very thankful to say that I’ve been accepted Early Decision to Johns Hopkins University where I plan to study Biomedical Engineering, and I have to give my thanks to Henry and ILUMIN for getting me there.

Before working with my consultant, I had absolutely no idea where to begin my college application journey. With his help however, I was able to complete it efficiently with results I am more than satisfied with. He provided me with an abundant amount of resources such as summer programs, online classes, internship opportunities, and much more which all contributed to my college applications. Besides the academic and college aspect of him, he was extremely sweet and patient as a person who always made me feel welcomed. Ever since I started working with him, he has been this way and throughout the two years we worked together, that never changed. I honestly viewed him more as a friend who I could consistently count on and ask for advice. Working with him has been an honor and I’m so grateful I got the opportunity to.

I am so grateful to have worked with my Ilumin counselor for the last couple of years. Throughout my time as a high schooler, my Ilumin counselor has always been super helpful with applying to summer programs, time management, writing essays, and navigating the application process. During our weekly meeting sessions, my Ilumin counselor would help me discover interesting summer opportunities to further my interest in my intended major. Given that my major isn’t a very popular subject, finding summer programs that matched my interest was no easy feat. He also taught me useful skills such as pros/cons charts to help me make decisions and making a timeline with specific deadlines for my summer program essays. Each following meeting, we would check that I was on schedule, and he would give me feedback on my essays. my Ilumin counselor was unique in that he made himself available outside of our meeting time by texting me about my progress every couple days. His proactiveness also encouraged me to take ownership of my essays from early on, which made me well prepared for applying to college. my Ilumin counselor also worked hard to understand each of his student’s unique interests. When brainstorming, we would talk about my previous experiences in my intended major and why I loved the subject. By the next meeting, he came with other facts that fascinated me that I could tie to my work experience. Because of this, I feel like I got to know my Ilumin counselor not only as a college consultant, but also as a friend and mentor. When it was time to start preparing to apply to college in early 2021, I realized how my Ilumin counselor had already helped me create first drafts for my college apps when applying to summer programs. Whether it was with writing essays, filling out the common app, or something else, I was confused and had no idea where to start. my Ilumin counselor was there to get me on my feet and fine tune my personal narrative that was the basis for all of my essays. He always did everything he could to make himself available to help me by zooming with me late at night many times and always being quick to answer my questions over text. my Ilumin counselor is a knowledgeable, friendly, and honest college counselor who has been one of the most important people in my life so far. Without him, I would not be the person I am today, and I would probably not have gotten into Stanford, where I will be studying next year. If you are looking for a college counselor, I strongly recommend him and Ilumin Education.

ILUMIN has been great for my two boys. Yes, their counsellors helped them think strategically about their high school course options and extracurriculars; motivated them to prepare for the SATs and ACTs by setting up a practice schedule and sticking to it; and keep their application ducks in a row. But the most valuable thing the counsellors did, was to listen to their interests and strengths, and then to encourage them to plan for success in college and beyond.

I have worked with my counselor at Ilumin since I was a Freshman. I am now a senior and am so glad that I chose Ilumin for my college counseling needs. My counselor helped me get out of my shell and not only helped me apply to colleges, but also discover my major and my professional interests. Ilumin Education helped me find extracurriculars that helped me grow as a person and accomplish my goals. Working with my counselor weekly on my Essays took a lot of the stress of college applications off of me and allowed me to truly write the best essays I could.

I couldn't have made it through my college application experience without my Ilumin consultant. As the oldest child in my family, I had no idea what I needed to do in order to start my college application process, and same with my parents. Every meeting, my consultant would always check up on how I was doing and asked about highlights and lowlights of my week--he was a great friend in addition to being my consultant. Sophomore year, he helped me figure out which major I would like to pursue in order to start applying to summer programs that fit my academic interests and helped strengthen my profile. He gave me many suggestions as to which summer programs I should apply to, as well as helped me format and edit my summer program application essays the techniques and strategies he taught me from summer program applications significantly helped when it came to writing college applications!. From labs to research internships, the programs contributed greatly to the content of my college application essays. Even though he had many suggestions for me, he always gave me freedom to choose what I wanted to do if I didn't want to apply to a program that he suggested, he would still be extremely supportive. When it came time to start my college application essays, my consultant brainstormed outlines with me and made specific suggestions to my drafts. I could always text or email him about any questions I had throughout the process. He also guided me on how to fill out the applications, as sometimes it got confusing. I'm thankful that he was always supportive and constantly told me how proud he was of my hard work--it definitely kept me motivated. Thanks to my consultant, I'll be attending Cornell University College of Engineering. I highly recommend Ilumin!

I started with Ilumin Education at the end of my junior year. Like everyone, I was completely lost on how to navigate the college application world, but more importantly I didn't know what they were looking for. However, through the help of my counselors I learned how to highlight my individuality and hone my skills. They kept me on track and we got everything done well before the due dates. Now I am headed off to UCSD and I couldn't be happier with all the options I got to choose from. I could never have made it without the guidance provided to me by my amazing counselors and I can't thank them and Ilumin Education enough! Amazing experiance overall!