About College911
My Philosophy
There is no one road to success. Why should students follow a single recipe of AP overload and high stress as the path to college admissions?
My mission is to help you find your road, while identifying and celebrating the uniqueness that is YOU.
My Promise
Every student has unique strengths. My promise to students is to help understand that they are so much more than a statistic, much more than a GPA, and that "getting into college" is only the start of the bigger journey called life.
We will work together to bring out the best in the student, celebrate their uniqueness, and build life skills for long-term success and happiness.
Meet the Counselor
Hema Vembar
Owner & CounselorMy Story
Back in 2012, when my son was a high school sophomore, I discovered that there was fear-mongering in our school district around college admissions. High school students and their parents believed that the only path to success was to take an insane load of Honors & AP classes, an unrelenting wave of extracurriculars and expensive SAT bootcamps. My son, a gifted photographer and budding tech entrepreneur refused to accept this unhealthy state of affairs, and put forth alternate options to my husband and I.
And so I embarked on the journey of unraveling the "fact vs myth" of college admissions with my son. The more we educated ourselves, the more we learned (novel concept, I know!). Importantly, we learned the obvious - although there is a general "recipe" to the process, it is only a guideline. There are so many ways to customize it to make it work for you, and this has been validated by the dozens of successful and happy students that I've coached since then.
What I Do
Roadmap Planning
You know you want to go to college, but how do you know how to get there? We will create a personalized, structured yet flexible multi-year plan to minimize stress and help you stand out by being YOU!
College & Major Exploration
College rankings have their place, but going to college is not about what colleges want. It's about what you want, not just at college, but beyond. We will identify and explore your goals, and shortlist the majors and colleges that are right for YOU!
Life Skills Coaching
Being smart isn't enough to succeed. Students will be mentored as required on grit, persevernace, speaking up, hard work, integrity, organization, and time management skills, and more, to ensure you stay true to YOUR goals.
Finding Your Passion
Passion is important to both success and happiness. We want both. Passion gives us the motivation to get through the 'necessities' without losing focus of the larger goal (beyond college). It's what makes YOUR journey exciting and purposeful, vs stressful.
Essay Help
Colleges do read your essays - these are the stories of YOUR journey. We will brainstorm, review, revise, edit, and put the finishing touches on the stories that show your unique journey.
College Applications
Common App, UC App, CSU App, so many colleges, so many applications! Early Decision, Early Action, Regular decision. Get guidance on making YOUR applications stand out.
The Process
Roadmap Planning
- Complete "101" on the college admissions process
- Academic advising and course selection planning
- Guidance on extracurricular activities to find potential areas of personal interest
- Guidance on standardized testing (SAT/ACT)
- Fine tuning of courses based on course selection
- Unlimited phone and email assistance throughout the school year
Finding Your Passion
- Identifying, exploring, and building areas of passion and personal interest
- Exploring career options and resume building
- Identifying colleges to find right-fit criteria for both student and family
- Check-ins to help the student stay on track through the important sophomore and critical junior year
- Roadmap correction (if required) based on career choice
Apps & Essays
- Brainstorming of ideas, assistance with outlining, multiple edits and polish to craft a story that best reflects the student
- 6 essays (Common App, 4 UC personal statements, any 2 other full length essays)
- 4 supplements (50-200 words)
- Unlimited edits, revisions, and even redos (within reason of course!)
- Assistance with completing Common App, UC, CSU, and other applications
Student Successes
- Arizona State University
- ASU (Barrett Honors)
- Barnhard College
- Baylor University
- Boston College
- Brown University
- Cal Poly, Pomona
- Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
- Carnegie Mellon
- Case Western University
- Chapman University
- Clemson University
- Colorado State University
- CSU, Long Beach
- Drexel University
- Emory University
- Fordham College
- Georgia Tech
- Hofstra University
- NYU
- Oregon State Univerity
- Pepperdine University
- Purdue University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- Rose Hulman Institute of Technology
- San Francisco State University
- San Jose State University
- Santa Clara University
- Sarah Lawrence College
- Smith College
- St. Mary's College
- Stanford University
- Stevens Insitute of Technology
- Texas A&M
- The University of Texas at Austin
- Tulane University
- University of California (All UC Campuses)
- University of Florida
- University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign
- University of Massachussetts, Amherst
- University of Massachussetts, Lowell
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University of Oregon
- University of San Diego
- University of San Francisco
- University of Southern California (USC)
- University of Washington
“I was struggling to find time to help, coach, and counsel my son to give his best in his high-school and get into a good college. Since Hema started counseling him I have seen significant improvements in my son. He got very good ACT scores, better GPA, got into Cal Poly, SLO, and earned straight 4.0 GPA for the first 3 years, and got into internships at Boeing, TESLA, and Apple. I didn't think all of this would have been possible had I not reached out to Hema for help. I strongly recommend Hema's services to anyone.”
Raman Y. | Parent of student attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
“Hema’s guidance made a tremendous difference in our family’s college application experience. She has a solid understanding of the process and schools, and a wonderful ability to help students define their strengths. Finally, Hema is patient and unfailingly upbeat. We would highly recommend her services!”
Karen M. | Parent of student
“Applying to college can be a very intimidating task to begin. Hema made this process as comfortable as possible by organizing a list of colleges and creating a well-defined plan of attack to maximize my chances into getting into them. There is a lot of value gained in this, as time I didn’t have to spend organizing lists of colleges and doing data collection I spent studying for the ACT/SAT and improving my GPA. I would definitely recommend Hema for those that are looking for some additional guidance in the college application process.”
Anish Y. | Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
“We had the good fortune to have Hema Vembar as our son's college Counselor. She is very knowledgeable on college options for students of all calibers & grade levels. She is very communicative, patient and an adept at dealing with high-school students. We really appreciated her knack of being firm in driving home the key points, during counseling sessions. Even after the counseling period, she has provided continued support and her opinions on various college options. We would highly recommend her services to anyone looking for college counseling and academic advising”
Vijay V. | Parent of student
“We will be referring you to other freinds in my neighborhood. You came as a very big help and your excellent help was very instrumental in getting our daughter's application to stand out. In fact, applying to Purdue was your suggestion, and it is now our top choice. To anyone considering college counseling, I would highly recommend Hema.”
Praveen G. | Parent of student attending Purdue University
“I really enjoyed our meetings, it was very well organized and the essay aid helped a lot. Deciding which colleges to pick (and which not to!) was also very helpful with your insight. Overall, I really enjoyed the process and thought it was very useful. I'm very happy with my choice of college.”
Bharath S. | Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
“I got into UCSD, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis, with a Regents scholarship at both SD and Davis. Thank you so much for your help with the essays. Couldn't have done it without you. I really appreciate it!”
Vipula | UC San Diego
“Hema was extremely helpful in the essay writing process. Brainstorming with her helped me approach my essays from interesting angles, while encouraging me to develop my own perspective. Overall, Hema had a lot of insight into the college application process, which made writing less daunting. ”
Katherine M. | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
“Late July in senior year, we approached Hema for help with College Essays for our son. After speaking with her a couple of times, we were convinced that Hema was the right counselor to help our student with the essays. What set her apart from other counselors was that her service is highly personalized with live interaction (vs 4 to 5 skype meetings and rest via email). With Hema's help, our student was able to portray his true self and achievements in meaningful ways. The result: Admission to Stanford University, top UCs with Regents scholarships and several more across the nation. Thank you Hema for all your help! You worked with our student like he was your own and you both were an excellent team. ”
Shiva K. | Parent of student attending Stanford University
“I am from Canada and felt that my son needed guidance and direction on writing essays for his application to McMaster University, Ontario. Hema came highly recommended from one of my friends and after connecting with Hema, I was convinced that my son would really benefit from Hema’s expertise. My son had a great learning experience and grew in confidence as he continued having work sessions with Hema. Now that my son has submitted his university application, he is confident that with Hema’s help, he has been able to put his best foot forward. Thank you, Hema for all your help and guidance. Kabir is fortunate to have you as his mentor. ”
Vishal G. | Parent Of Student
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the process work?
We start with a short phone conversation, followed by a no-obligation, no-cost meet and greet with the student and parents. We will start with my the background and experience behind my passion for this work, briefly learn about your student's unique needs, and discuss how my services can be personalized to help them be successful on this journey.
Do you accept students of all abilities?
Absolutely. Every student can be successful if we believe in them, and guide them. There are several roads to success and my job is to help them find the road that will work for each unique individual
What school districts do you work with?
I am very familiar with all school districts in the Bay Area. When it comes to college counseling, the school district matters mostly from a course selections perspective. Beyond that, the college admissions process itself is generic across the country.
How many students do you work with?
My focus is the students and to ensure I am available to provide the personalized mentoring that my students and parents value most. As such, I only take a few students each year in order to be available for them as much as possible and give each of them the individual attention they deserve.
Do you offer advice on extracurriculars?
Yes, I will work with your student's interests, as well as help them explore new areas if they are unsure of what they want to do
What colleges have your students been accepted to?
I am proud of every single one of my students who have worked hard to get into good schools that are the best for them (not just 'the best/the top') be it an Ivy league school, a UC/CSU, out of state college, or a private school. My goal is to help guide them to get into the college that is right for them - where they can thrive, be happy and be succesful. See student successes for a list of colleges my students have been accepted to.
When is the best time to start?
The roadmap planning which is the foundational element to college admissions is best started toward the end of 8th grade. However, important skills such as time management, organizational skills, and writing skills should be encouraged as possible.
Where is your office?
My office is in San Ramon, CA.
What do your charge for your services?
We will discuss the charges at our first meeting since students may sign up at any time. That said, since this is something I am very passionate about, I do not charge 'business prices'. Many of my students are referrals from past students. To quote many parents, "You worked with my student as if they were your own".
How can I learn more about your services?
Please review the information on the process, and give me a call or send me an email to setup a time to discuss.
Contact Me
Drop me an email or give me a call, and let's meet to see if my counseling and mentoring services are what you are looking for!