Jalileh Garcia
College Coach
As a College Coach at Empowered Education, Jalileh supports students with essay development, career reflection, and application planning. Her goal is to help students find their authentic voice and stay on track through each phase of the college process. Drawing from her own experiences at Columbia and Oxford, she brings empathy, structure, and insight to every coaching session.
Jalileh’s Journey
Jalileh graduated third in her class from Garner Magnet High School in 2017, standing out academically among over 500 students. She later earned her undergraduate degree from Columbia University, where she served as an Administrative Assistant for the Institute of Latin American Studies and held leadership roles in several student organizations. Recognized for her academic excellence and potential, she was awarded the Harry J. Carman Fellowship, a prestigious scholarship granted to only two Columbia College seniors each year. Jalileh went on to pursue graduate studies at the University of Oxford, where she was actively involved in her college community and was selected as a speaker at the distinguished Green Feast Seminar.
Jalileh’s Educational Background
Garner Magnet High School
Columbia University
Oxford University
Professional Experience
Jalileh’s journey blends academic excellence with a strong commitment to community engagement. In high school, she led local empowerment programs for middle school students and participated in advocacy work through RESULTS, contributing to lobbying efforts for tax credit reform. Her passion for leadership and service continued throughout college and graduate school, where she consistently took on roles that supported and uplifted others.
What our students have to say about Jalileh:
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Antonella Betancourt, NYU
“Working with Empowered completely transformed my college application experience. What could’ve been overwhelming felt manageable thanks to their advice and support. From building my school list to shaping essays, they were there to help and support me. Jalileh gave me creative and outstanding advice for my essay. I’d tell anyone with big college goals to start here.”
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Maria Ochoa, Fashion Institute of Technology
“Jalileh’s personalized guidance and advice made the college application process a lot more seamless and stress-free for me. At first, I was nervous and confused about where to apply and how. The process seemed scary to me. However, from our first meeting, Jalileh made sure to get to know me and my goals in order to make the best decisions regarding my future career. My major in Fashion Business is not a common one and she took the time to do research and get information from people outside of our meetings to help me. Writing my personal essay and supplementals was one of the biggest challenges but her great skills in writing also helped me in polishing them. I would recommend Empowered to others feeling scared about this process as it will really help them gain clarity!”
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Natalia Hilsaca, University of Miami
“Empowered was a key factor in my application process. Through their guidance, feedback, and corrections, I was able to present myself as a strong candidate for the multiple universities I applied to. Jalileh’s insight in the college application process facilitated my understanding of what universities look for and how to surpass those expectations. I recommend Empowered to anyone who wants to succeed in their future college endeavors!”
