We’re grateful to all the students and parents who’ve made us a part of their college application journey!
UCLA '24
Northwestern '23
UC Berkeley '24
NYU '24
Brown '23
Brandeis '24
What our students say about us
Working with Ileshaa on college essays is the biggest favour any aspiring college student can do themselves. The sessions with Ileshaa are excellent brainstorming opportunities, and she has the unique ability to find topics for essays from genuine heartfelt conversations. Each step of the process is a collaborative effort, and when broken up into the structures she provides the essays become significantly less intimidating. She is extremely dedicated to correcting and editing essays, and you can always count on her to personally give you feedback. All in all, it’s an amazing experience and I am extremely grateful for all her help.
- Keya Kilachand, Brown ‘25
My experience writing college essays with Ileshaa was truly rewarding. I felt extremely comfortable sharing ideas and she aided a lot with brainstorming topics for essays. I honestly believe that my final common app essay topic that got me into UPenn in the early decision round was quite unconventional and I owe her for assisting me to formulate the idea.
I think more than anything, Ileshaa helped bring out my own voice. She interestingly made me learn more about myself as I was able to tap into different sides of my personality and interests, and she greatly helped in letting all these aspects of me come out in the essays for universities to see. I had a wonderful time working with Ileshaa.
- Rohan Mehta, UPenn ‘25
Navigating college applications is a time-consuming, nerve-wracking, brain-numbing exercise. The college essay, that critical component of the application, need not be so agonizing… thanks to the uncommon essay guru… Ileshaa! She has a knack for bringing out those hidden aspects of your child’s personality that colleges are looking for in their search for that unique applicant. Her gift and play with words brings the “je ne sais quoi”, that unidentifiable pulse of your child, into the exceptional, the extraordinary, the unconventional, the weird, and quirky - to help your son/daughter’s college essay stand out and apart from the rest. Thanks, Ileshaa - for showing me a side of my son I never knew, for easing our college application process, and for the ease with which you handled our concerns. I’m forever grateful!
- Trupti Patel, Parent UMich ‘24
With Ileshaa’s help, I was able to write multiple essays that I was genuinely proud of. The creative way of representing what might be considered mundane experiences was the fine art that I learned from Ileshaa, and consequently, this changed my own perspective on these events. I began to view something that used to nag at me and annoy me every day as a source of inspiration. Ileshaa not only helped develop essays into ones worthy of top colleges, but also helped me develop into the person I am today, and for that, I am extremely grateful.
- An Uncommon Student, UC Berkeley ‘24
Ileshaa doesn't just meticulously edit your essays, brainstorm on your ideas, enhance your language and structure but takes the time out to truly get to know you and understand where your essays are coming from. Particularly for my common app, there were times wherein I would completely blank out as to how to frame a certain idea, however, Ileshaa patiently suggests multiple ideas, allowing you to further build on them as well. The flexibility of working with her along with her experience of writing essays for all the major institutions is something I would highly, highly recommend to anyone and everyone. I am so grateful to her for support right from the morning to late at night - and had an absolutely great time working with her!
- Adya Rajpal, Duke ‘25
Working with Ilesha has been perhaps the best part of my college application experience. During a time fraught with exams, projects, and more, it was difficult to channel my creativity in order to write an essay in which I could truly express myself. Ilesha made the process so organic that I forgot about time constraints and the ideas just flowed. She helped me connect various extracurricular activities and interests to form a cohesive application for each college. Her eye for detail enables the essay to truly stand out and be ‘uncommon’. Thus, I truly recommend working with her. You will not regret it!
- An Uncommon Student, Stanford ‘24
Khushi found Ileshaa to be a wonderful mentor, with whom she could communicate easily and comfortably, thus bringing out the very best in Khushi. As parents, we thought Ileshaa was effectively adept at understanding Khushi’s true personality as well as identifying her achievements, thus highlighting her passions in the most honest manner.
- Anand Kabra, Columbia Parent ‘23
It was a wonderful experience. My daughter has not only gained the admission of her dreams but has also gained the confidence and the strength to know that hard work and dedication if channelized well can take you far in life. We thank you for that Ileshaa. Most grateful for your time and patience and for believing that Daneesh could come through for all of us. On a personal note, I would just like to thank you for everything and it has been lovely knowing you. We are looking forward to a long association in the future.
- Rashna Mehta, Parent Babson ‘23
Working with Ms. Khatau on the essays made the process simple and less stressful. Her creative ideas during discussions and her passion for writing infused a sense of enthusiasm and excitement in the essay-writing process that I had initially dreaded. She not only provided the most valuable inputs in the editing stage but also patiently guided me in the process of realising what I wanted to write about.
- Samiksha Hiranandani, Cornell ‘23
“Ileshaa is such an incredibly creative, talented, fun person, and my meetings with her were easily one of the highlights of my college application process. I genuinely looked forward to our chats. Her office starts to feel like home very quickly and going there has the added perks of very good music, valuable life advice, exceptionally yummy popcorn (not to mention Ileshaa’s great personality and ability to make brilliant puns.) Ileshaa helps you navigate daunting choices, develop your ideas better, and edits pieces to make them read better. With her guidance, I learned how to portray myself both effectively and authentically to admissions officers. I’m grateful to have had her support.”
- Maya Singapuri, Pomona ‘25
“My son worked under Ms. Ileshaa guidance for his college essays and I’m happy to say that it was one of our best decisions. Not only did she devise a systematic method to decide the topic of the essay, she gave her invaluable inputs every step of the way which gave the essay an extra edge. Her guidance was so systematic, we as parents did not need to interfere even once. Comparing the first draft and the final draft of every essay, the difference was monumental and her guidance led my son to get into his dream college. We can not be thankful enough for her help.”
- Mrs. Shah, Parent Northwestern ‘23
Our son had just started working on his common app essay and with great difficulty came up with a draft. He had too many converging ideas and at the same time was not keen to discuss with us. That's when we were referred to Ileshaa by a friend. After a few sessions of brainstorming, the essay took shape. The supplementary essays were a breeze after that as he got the knack . He loved his sessions with her, and they used to discuss all kinds of topics. It also helped that she was from University of Chicago, his dream college. We felt that the entire process was more of a self discovery process for him, rather than just one of writing college essays.
- Arun Nagarajan, Parent UChicago ‘24