Custom Academic Coaching -

Daley Erickson

Our son was so lucky to be able to work with Nena the summer before his senior year in high school. The college application process loomed as extremely daunting and intimidating, but Nena was literally the answer to a prayer. As the uber talented founder of Custom Academic Coaching, I cannot stress enough how committed, helpful and inspired Nena is with this process. Through a series of zoom meetings, she helped our son to identify his most important strengths to highlight to colleges, helped him to select relevant majors that related best to his skill set, and educated him in which colleges would be best for him to apply to based on location, majors, interests and financial merit. Essay support provided by Nena was the most valuable, as she guided him to find his very best voice to create his own great essays. We would NEVER have known all of this on our own. The best part of the process was that once our teen crafted his list of colleges, Nena helped him to create a calendar to work through the applications. Again, this process is very difficult to do on your own. The outcomes of this process were OUTSTANDING. Our kiddo ended up with over 15 college acceptances, and all of them included generous merit scholarships , several colleges at $30,000 merit per year from schools like Rutgers, LMU, and Chapman, as well as honors college invites in many cases. Because of this process, our son got accepted to and will be attending his absolute DREAM school of UC San Diego. He also really enjoyed the process, and felt a real genuine support, valuable mentorship and treasured friendship with Nena that will last long into the future. Nena is the most well-equipped college counselor we could ever hope for, and we truly credit our son's amazing college acceptance outcomes to her! Get your kiddo to jump on board with Nena AS SOON as you can!! It is never too early to start preparing for the difficult process of finding the very best college for your teen. Our sophomore daughter is now working with Nena to roadmap her high school choices and find the best possible activities for her skill set and happiness. Nena has helped her so much! Five stars and highly recommend Nena for the most valuable and rewarding college counseling you will ever get!

Ethan Erickson

I was fortunate enough to work with Nena in the year leading up to and during my college applications and it was some of the most rewarding time I've ever spent. Beyond simply collaborating on a good plan for the entire college application process and helping me write excellent essays, Nena was able to guide me as a mentor. My only regret is that we didn't start even sooner. From her, I've learned more than any other teacher about how to communicate effectively and use my gifts as I get ready to go into the world. Navigating college applications can be utterly daunting, and anyone that has gone through it can attest to that. Having someone to hold your hand that really knows their stuff is essential. That person is Nena. If it weren't for her, my Mom may have disowned me out of frustration with the complexities of the entire process! I won't say with certainty that I wouldn't have gotten into the schools I did without her help, but it certainly would've been much harder. With applications getting even more competitive and the entire education system being such an utter mess, it is more essential than ever before that you have an expert in your corner pushing you in the right direction and giving you an edge.

david rodin

I have worked with Nena over the past two years and her work with me has been beyond amazing. My father came across her page while looking for college counselors for me, and we decided to give it a shot; that was the best decision we made. Nena for our first year helped guide me in creating a passion project, which for me was an entire non-profit organization. She helped me along with the entire project from start to finish, always giving helpful advice. Then as my senior year rolled in she helped me with all of my applications. Nena's way of college application counseling made the entire experience for me much less stressful, in comparison to many of my friends who approached the application in different ways. Nena and I worked efficiently and before we knew it finished over 16 college applications. Having her help me along with the applications really made the process significantly easier and less stressful. I wholeheartedly believe it is because of her guidance that I was able to get into my dream college (University of Southern California) for next year, and I owe a lot to her.

Arhana Singhania

It was wonderful to work with Nena. She made me feel heard and confident during the application process. Her working style is very well balanced, and we gave each writing sample lots of edits before coming to a final product. Specifically, she prompted me with questions as we were working that helped me further my ideas. Her skills in writing and communication are unmatched, and I would high recommend Custom Academic Coaching to everyone. If it wasn’t for Nena’s counseling I wouldn’t have been able to transfer to my dream school NYU Tisch !

MONICA SINGHANIA

We are very grateful to Nena for helping our daughter get in her dream school this year as a transfer student.

We wish we had consulted Nena earlier as my daughter was devastated last year after a string of rejections. Nena came highly recommended and we set up an information session to explore our options going forward. After talking to Nena for just 30 minutes we realized that we absolutely needed her professional expertise to apply for a external transfer.

Nena’s approach is research based, tailor made to suit each student needs and detail oriented. To top it all she is very organized, meticulous and a great communicator. She understands child psychology well and knows how to influence and motivate the kids to put their best foot forward . There in lies Nena’s greatest strength .

Nena kept my daughter on track throughout the application process setting goals and milestones. Had it not been for her advise and constant feedback - I don’t think we would have been able to get in .

We highly recommend her .

Vishruth Shatagopam

I used Nena for my college admissions and it worked out really well. She was very helpful in writing essays. I consider myself a good writer, but she really took it to the next level. I felt that my essays were a lot stronger due to her critique and questioning. She also helped find colleges and pick a good fit. She was very helpful and a great resource throughout the whole process. I got into NYU, UCLA, UCSD, and more amazing universities. I would highly recommend her and suggest you take a spot before it fills up. Big thanks for her for helping me get into my dream school, UCLA. Go Bruins!

Saachi Shah

I met Nena through a friend who had worked with her the previous year on college apps. From the start Nena was super supportive in helping with my college application, but also keeping it real with me at all times. I started my application process relatively late but Nena helped keep me on time and task completing applications well before they were due. I have always struggled with writing, especially the creative writing that colleges look for. Nena helped me start from scratch, we brainstormed essay topics together from just a series of questions and from there we started writing. I always felt that my writing was my own but Nena helped refine and fine tune the little things that made what I wrote perfect, helping me incorporate all the details I wanted to. Additionally Nena was there at all times to support me outside of just college apps, she was reassuring when I was stressed about my grades, always able to answer any questions I had, guiding me and helping research to ensure I picked the right major and colleges to apply to. Thanks to Nena I was able to get into USC (one of my top choices), UCLA, UCSD, UC Riverside, UC Davis and more. I am so grateful for all the help and support Nena gave me, she worked with me acting more as a friend and ultimately guided me to make the best decision. I would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for a strong college counselor who goes the extra mile!

Stuart Brawley

Nena was fantastic in every way as she guided, supported, and encouraged my daughter in the college application process. Nena's attention to detail accompanied by an encouraing and collaborative approach allowed my daughter to find her own voice in her essays while also learning from Nena's vast experience in what could have been an overwhelming experience otherwise. The result? Early admission to my daughter's top choice, accompanied by a four year scholarship worth over $280k. I am so grateful for the incredible work Nena and Custom Academic Coaching offered my daughter, and recommend her highly. Thank you Nena!