A great consultant is one who offers you a solution you didn't realize you needed.
I initially approached Dr. Ash to scope out her services on essay editing. Yet, from the start, she was able to provide a holistic view of my positioning and offer a different perspective that would ultimately expand and shift my selection of target schools. Given her ability to pinpoint the most critical components in the application, she made what was initially an overwhelming process manageable. Her quick turnaround times and actionable feedback helped significantly in pushing through the process - and gave me confidence when I needed it most. Her soft demeanor, coupled with her pragmatism, network and wealth of expertise, make her an extremely valuable advisor to work with.
I am at a loss for words when I think of how I might describe how much of an impact Karin Ash has had on my being admitted to my dream program, Cornell University's MEng in Computer Science. With my undergraduate degree in a social science from a public state school, the odds of my getting into Cornell's CS MEng program (ranked 6th in the country) were very low. Thanks to Karin's amazing consulting, I was able to submit 2 very strong applications to Cornell's main campus MEng program and Cornell's NYC campus (Cornell Tech) MEng program and I was ultimately admitted to both!
I will note that, for the application season, I did an exhaustive consultant search, considering over a dozen firms and at least 50 consultants, with the intention of hiring the best of the best. I ended up hiring two different consultants from two different firms (in order to benefit from both of their perspectives). Both consultants (including Karin) were highly experienced (having adcom experience from top schools) and from top consulting firms. This testimony will highlight the areas in which Karin has outperformed in comparison to the other consultant.
Among the many enormous benefits that I have gained from Karin, perhaps the most valuable has been her ability to connect with me, understand my unique experiences/challenges, and help me best frame my story of both overcoming adversity and discovering my passion for computer science. Her admissions committee experience at Cornell gives her an authoritative ability and vision into how to craft an essay that inspires the reader to recognize my intellectual potential at their school, addresses any/all concerns the reader could have, and hits home on every point that an admissions officer from a top program may look for in the essay.
Beyond her exceptional essay advising and editing skills, Karin has vastly exceeded all of my expectations in her ability to provide expert advice including choosing which schools to apply to, how to tailor my application to each program, how to approach my faculty recommenders, how to best reach out to and communicate with Cornell's admissions staff, and how to make the (very difficult decision) of which of my admission offers to accept. For several particularly challenging decisions (including how my fit was for both Cornell programs, and how certain sensitive topics should be addressed in my essay), Karin had--on at least three occasions--gone out of her way to reach out to several of her other distinguished colleagues at Accepted AND reach out to several of her high-ranking contacts at Cornell (including the Director of Admissions at the Cornell's engineering college and the Associate Dean of Cornell Tech) to get me the most comprehensive and well-informed advice possible.
Lastly, I will highlight the general experience I feel that I have had in working with Karin. I purchased two different packages from her, for my applications to both of the Cornell programs. If you are serious about your graduate school applications, ordering one or more package from Karin is an absolute must because Karin fully leverages the freedom granted by the package option to put in as much time as she determines is needed to help me produce the best possible application, no matter how many revisions or emails or calls it takes. Between both packages, I have had 7 calls with her (totaling 4.1 hours), I have received at least 22 essay revisions from her.and we have exchanged hundreds of emails (176 from her). Although the package rate promises a 2-business day turnaround, it has almost always been the case that I would receive her essay revisions the same day within hours (or first thing in the morning at around 7AM). Karin has also, very generously, made herself available during evenings and weekends to accommodate my schedule.
In the realm of graduate admissions consulting, Karin is surely among the most qualified, insightful, motivated, creative, and resourceful that I could ever have hired. She has done everything in her power to help me produce the best applications possible, and I am forever beyond grateful to have been admitted to my dream school, which could not have happened without Karin!
