Emily Sena: College Admissions Counselor
Hi, I’m Emily Sena! I grew up in San Mateo and live there now with my husband and three high school-aged kids. I have been working on various sides of the admissions world for nearly two decades. I have recently been through the college admissions process with my twin boys (Class of 2019) and am now embarking on it with my daughter (Class of 2022). These have given me new insight into both the parental and student perspective of this exciting time.
I attended Connecticut College where I received a BA in Anthropology, and then to the University of Pennsylvania, where I earned an MSEd in Higher Education Administration. I worked in Law School admissions at Penn, then transitioned to Higher Education Consulting for Coopers & Lybrand post-graduate school.
I began working for Achieva College Prep Centers (where I met Purvi Mody) in 1999 and worked there for many years on a full-time, and then part-time basis after having children. For most of the past 17 years, I worked part-time as an admissions reader for the Stanford Graduate School of Business. I also worked for a few years as the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Sea Crest School (K-8) in Half Moon Bay.
My favorite aspect of college counseling is helping students discover more about themselves than they expect. The college admissions process is so different than anything most 17-year-olds have done, and I love to see the growth that comes when students learn about themselves along the way. I believe there are many great colleges for every student and love to help students in that discovery.
Outside of work, I am obsessed with travel, and run a small business bringing groups of women to Southeast Asia. I spent a year traveling the world with my children when they were younger, and miss life on the road daily!
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OUR COUNSELORS
What Are Insight Students & Parents saying?
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I liked the structured method by which Zach approached the whole admission process. First, there was research into colleges to make a list, then a rigorous back and forth on the essays and finally meticulous approval on the final application. My son learned a lot from Zach and we are hoping he will apply these […]
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Priya was absolutely amazing to work with! We are thrilled that our son got into his top choice for college at LMU for the undergraduate business program. We couldn’t have done this without Priya and Insight’s expert guidance and support.
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Thank you so much for helping me formulate my thoughts into words and help me write my essays. I got into Ut Austin for biology – still waiting for the Honors decision. I also got into Drexel undergrad – still waiting for the BSMD decision.
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I just wanted to thank you again for your help during the college admission process. My family and I have been scrambling to figure out the process for years, and especially coming from an immigrant family and being the first in my family to go to college in the US, there was a lot of […]
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I really couldn’t have gotten to Harvard without you. In shock. Thank you x10000000000000! I have the best college counselor in the world!
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I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time out of your day to organize a meeting with me and help me in writing my summer program essays. Your feedback really helped my writing and me as a writer.
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I just got my SAT scores on Friday, and I am happy to let you know that I scored an 800 on both the Biology-M and Math II tests. Thank you so much for your help and constantly encouraging me. Also, please thank the rest of the Insight team for me for providing complimentary practice […]
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Our ACT instructor methods were so helpful and wonderful to have.
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Zach, thank you so much for helping me become a confident and successful writer
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We were extremely happy throughout the process – got much more than what we invested in Insight counseling.
