UCEazy Alumni Spotlight
My name is Shivani Gupta, and I graduated from Monta Vista High School and UCEazy in June 2020. Just a few years ago, I was in your shoes and was starting to hear more about the college application process, whether it was in my day-to-day conversations or from my teachers and my parents.
For many students, being formally introduced to the college application process can be quite overwhelming, especially because there is so much to do so fast. From requesting letters of recommendation from your teachers to determining what kind of major you would like to pursue, it can be stressful to even think about in addition to schoolwork. I was lucky to have my counselor at UCEazy and the resources of the organization to help guide me.
Having seen my older sister’s struggles with the process, my parents and I decided to start working with UCEazy in my sophomore year of high school. On top of working with other UCEazy students, my counselor was a high school guidance counselor, so she had lots of experience working with high school students. We quickly developed a friendship.
My counselor got to know both me and my parents and understood what we wanted to receive help with. We gradually determined traits of my personality that were relevant to the colleges I would be applying to (at the time I was very social, so applying to a school with a strong student life was important to me) and other factors relevant to the application process such as what standardized test would fit me best, extracurricular activities I would be interested in, and more.
My counselor created a solid foundation for me to work with and ensured that I was on top of my game by creating a to-do list and having routine check-ins with me. She helped me realize that college is so much more than your degree and that it’s important to truly like where you attend since it will likely be your home for a number of years. Throughout my sophomore and junior years, we would have meetings every one to two weeks. In my senior year, we spoke every week to check in on my progress with my work and how I was feeling mentally. There was not a moment I felt alone or misunderstood.
At this time, I can imagine that you are feeling intimidated by the college application process, one reason being that it has never been entirely virtual. UCEazy has been virtual from the start, so they are, and always have been, the experts at connecting digitally. Another benefit of this was that I had the opportunity to work with two counselors in addition to my main counselor, one to help me develop my creative writing skills for my essays and another to work with me from start to finish on my Common Application essay.
Having diligently worked with UCEazy throughout high school, I am grateful to say that I am pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism at the University of Southern California. There were times when I doubted my ability to be accepted into college. After you have completed your college application process with UCEazy, I can promise you that you, your family, and your counselor will be in a place that you are all proud of.
I wish you good luck for the rest of your junior year and for the start of your college application process. You can do anything you put your mind to.
Sincerely,
Shivani Gupta
UCEazy Class of 2020