We help STEM students gain a strategic advantage for college admissions.
Meet Geeta Arora
Pursuing your passion turns your life
into a heartfelt college essay.
I am a college strategist and mentor who has helped numerous high school students discover their unique interests and build a strong cohesive resume for getting into top colleges.
In my past life, I was known as Geeta Tarachandani, All India Rank 5 in IIT-JEE, and President's Gold Medalist. Thereafter, I was a software architect at Oracle and in my spare time I coached students for Math, Robotics, and USACO competitions. My students consistently ranked high in MathCounts and AMC-8/10/12. In robotics, my students have won awards at FLL and FRC state championships. In addition, my students have reached USACO Platinum and USACO Camp. I continue to guide my students to excel at their unique talents.
I observed that the biggest mistake high school students make is to take on a crazy workload which leads to burnout and yet their story does not stand out as impressive to colleges. This led me to found Radical College Strategies.
Contact: support@radicalcollegestrategies.com
How it all began... From B's to MIT
My elder daughter was very strong in Math and Robotics, but had her share of B’s in humanities classes in middle school. She wanted to get into a top college, but didn't want to take APs in subjects she didn't care for, nor wanted to participate in the usual extra curriculars her friends were taking.
So I strategized with her, and we picked a couple of activities that she enjoyed and that played to her strengths. She gave those activities her 100%, and stood out as a definite leader! To make time to excel in these activities, she cut out a couple of APs. Her SAT score was far from perfect, yet she got accepted into Computer Science at MIT, CMU and Berkeley EECS! All this while getting her 8 hours of sleep throughout high school.
The life skills she learned during high school came in handy in college. She started a successful business while working towards her Bachelors & Masters (CS) at MIT!
A different journey to MIT
My younger daughter had different interests than her sister. Besides, by the time she entered high school, the landscape had changed. She faced a lot more competition both at school and nationally. It became clear that we would need fresh strategies.
So we expanded to a richer set of meaningful extra-curriculars. She worked hard to excel at well-defined goals in her intended major and community service, while still having fun with her social life and creative hobbies.
She is now flourishing at MIT Computer Science after getting early acceptance, enjoying the probability class as much as the Shakespeare club!