Where your story is the strategy.
No perfect stories. Just real ones, powerfully told.
Authentic Admissions
Hello - I'm Ashley.
I'm an essayist, humorist, poet, and storyteller who's been writing since I could hold a pencil. But more importantly, I've helped many students turn their messy, brilliant lives into powerful, personal statements—not by focusing on what the reader wants to hear, but by helping them figure out what they need to say.
Before founding Authentic Admissions, I spent over a decade as a pediatric nurse, raised two kids of my own, and built a successful freelance writing career that landed me in national publications and on stage telling true stories. (Ask me about the time I accidentally allowed my son to start a bacteria farm in our basement. Spoiler: the essay got him into college.)
What I bring to this work is more than strategy. It's listening—really listening to your kid. It's guiding them through the creative process until the threads of their story begin to emerge. Then we pull on those threads. That's the kind of truth-telling that makes good writing great—and great writing unforgettable.
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If that is the kind of mentoring you're looking for, you're in the right place.
Let's find out if we are a good fit.
Mission
To help ambitious students craft college applications that reflect who they truly are—not who they worry schools want them to be. Through storytelling and mentorship, they gain the clarity, confidence, and skills to speak in their own voice.
Vision
Authentic Admissions exists to create a generation of applicants who don't contort themselves to perceived expectations, but instead present their whole selves with confidence—through a process rooted in reflection, clarity, and courage, and where students are seen, not screened.