University of Texas at Austin Admissions Counseling From Former Admissions Officers

Earlanda is the Senior Associate Dean at the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine with over a decade of admissions experience. She has over a decade of admissions committee experience across multiple health professions disciplines , having reviewed and interviewed candidates for dental and medical school. For the past 10 years, she has been deeply engaged in the medical school admissions process, screening applications, interviewing candidates, reviewing prerequisite coursework, and delivering the Dean’s admissions presentation. Students Earlanda has worked with have been accepted to institutions such as Rice University, Baylor University, multiple schools in the University of Texas system, and more.

 Earlanda earned her Bachelor’s degree from Texas State University and her PhD from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She previously held the role of Associate Dean of Clinical and Applied Science Education at the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine before transitioning to Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs . In these positions, she has reviewed applications, interviewed candidates, evaluated prerequisites, delivered institutional presentations, and served on final selection panels. She began her admissions work in 2012 and has helped shape the incoming classes of several top-tier health science programs. 

As a counselor, Earlanda offers students a compelling blend of strategic admissions insight and empathetic mentorship. Serving on admissions teams across multiple health professions has taught Earlanda what truly matters in the application review process. She has gained a deep understanding of the factors that are most heavily weighted, including academic readiness, personal character, meaningful experiences, and a clear sense of purpose. She has learned how to identify the qualities that help a candidate stand out from the rest and how those attributes often correlate with long-term success, not just in gaining acceptance but in thriving through graduation and beyond. These insights allow Earlanda to coach applicants with intention, helping them present a compelling, authentic narrative that aligns with what admissions committees value most. 

Earlanda has been mentoring students since high school, and has continued to coach applicants at every level—from high school and undergraduate programs to graduate and professional schools. She is committed to providing thoughtful, personalized guidance that empowers students and families to navigate the admissions process with confidence and clarity.

Earlanda’s passion for coaching comes from her own experience as a first-generation, female minority college student and PhD graduate. She understands the transformative power of higher education and is dedicated to helping students find schools that match their values and set them on paths to success. She believes that college is a pivotal time in a young adult’s life, one that lays the foundation for a future career they’ll love and a life filled with purpose. Guiding students through the application process allows Earlanda to support their growth, help them articulate their unique stories, and empower them to make choices that lead to lifelong joy and fulfillment.

Outside of her professional work, Earlanda enjoys attending her son's basketball games, hosting dinner parties, and planning vacations and special events for her loved ones. 

Arianna is a counselor at Quad Education and has been on the admissions team at Dartmouth College. She loves being able to help guide students and lessen the anxiety that the process causes. Arianna likes to inspire students and help them reach the goals they were unsure were attainable prior.

Arianna was heavily involved in interviewing candidates at Dartmouth, leading to her greatest learning in admissions: interviewing a candidate is just as much on the interviewer as the interviewee. Later in her admissions journey, she realized how this also applies to other aspects of the application. If you search for the candidate to fail, they will, but if you have no expectation, then the candidate's performance will be their own. Arianna incorporates this philosophy into her coaching style as a consultant at Quad.

Arianna is an expert at guiding students throughout the application process. She really enjoys helping students determine their strengths, guiding them through each step in an understandable way, college list creation, and helping students discover their theme to utilize for their application and personal essay. Although she loves helping all students, she is particularly passionate about helping diverse and POC candidates, STEM, LGBTQ+, women, and disadvantaged candidates.

Arianna loves to play the violin, learn languages (she's currently working on Portuguese and Italian), and write poetry and short stories.

Kerry holds a Master’s from Columbia University and a Master’s from Carnegie Mellon University. She has served as an international admissions consultant with multiple global companies, especially those that only hire Ivy League alumni. Kerry has worked on all aspects of admissions consulting, shepherding students through admissions season or working with special cases for over a decade. She has personally coached students accepted into prestigious institutions, such as the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan, Rice University, Cambridge University, the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, McGill University, and more!

After working as an adjunct professor throughout her PhD years, sometimes teaching three-hour lectures to 80 students, Kerry realized that her one-on-one work in private tutoring and admissions consulting was her greatest passion, with real-life results always visible. She loves getting to know each student as an individual, helping them figure out how to stand out and their brand, who they are, and who they want to be. Kerry loves leading students through the process, helping make it fun, alleviating anxiety, and watching their admission acceptances roll in.

Kerry excels as a coach due to her ability to navigate substantial work and pivotal life plans with a blend of humor, infusing the admissions process with genuine enjoyment and excitement. Her strengths lie in authenticity, characterized by honesty and diplomacy when offering advice and openly sharing her successes and setbacks in admissions consulting. Thanks to a rich tapestry of life experiences in academia, journalism, diverse careers, and extensive travel, Kerry possesses a unique perspective that enriches her coaching approach. She also excels in her ability to read students well for what makes them unique and how to make them stand out in the admissions process.

Furthermore, Kerry's expertise extends to a comprehensive knowledge of various schools, programs, admissions intricacies, and effective strategies. Over her years as a private admissions consultant, Kerry has learned the intricacies of the systems of the various schools. She has also learned how best to help students depending on their personalities, profiles, goals, and strengths and to let them take a lead role in their own admissions process so that they can grow into the best versions of themselves.

Moreover, as an international writer with over sixty publications in both scholarly and popular outlets, Kerry offers students an unusual opportunity to collaborate and edit with a working writer. 

As a journalist and digital nomad who has lived around the world, Kerry has an immense amount of knowledge to share about places, schools, degrees, and just about anything else, too. When she’s not working, Kerry enjoys studying languages and art. Kerry is extremely into fitness and training, and the gym is her happy place for stress relief.