Elena S.
5.0
Knight-Hennessy Scholar | MPA/MPP Admissions Expert | Fellowship Coach
Studied at Stanford University
Worked at Refugee Investment Network
Available tomorrow at 2:00 PM UTC
Questions? Start chatting with this coach before you get started.
Elena's Coaching Offerings
Comprehensive Master's Application Package — Land Your Dream Program
End-to-end support for your Master’s program applications
Starting at $1,50020h+ of coaching
Craft Powerful Admissions Essays
Craft winning Master's essays through brainstorming, drafting, and editing
Starting at $3605h+ of coaching
Master's Final Application Review
Expert review to perfect your master’s application before submission.
Starting at $2253h+ of coaching
Pay as you go
Get help with Financial Aid & Scholarships, Editing, and .
Elena’s Master’s Programs Qualifications
Elena has helped clients get into these schools:
As a first-generation American and first-generation college student, I know what it means to navigate elite academic and fellowship spaces without a roadmap. I was named a Knight-Hennessy Scholar and was a finalist for the Marshall Scholarship, and have been admitted to fully funded MPA and international policy programs at Stanford, Yale, Princeton (SPIA), Oxford (Blavatnik), and LSE. These experiences not only deepened my understanding of the admissions landscape, they fueled my commitment to helping others break into it. I focus on coaching applicants to top-tier MPA/MPP programs and prestigious fellowships like Knight-Hennessy, Fulbright, and Marshall. I specialize in helping purpose-driven candidates craft authentic, high-impact applications, especially those from nontraditional or underrepresented backgrounds. Whether you need support structuring your essays, preparing for interviews, or making strategic choices about where and how to apply, I bring both personal experience and a clear, collaborative process to help you succeed.
Elena can help with:
Financial Aid & Scholarships
Editing
Interviews
School Selection
Application Strategy
Essays
Resume
About Elena
I’m a first-generation American and college student, raised in a working-class immigrant family in Brooklyn. I didn’t grow up with connections to elite universities or fancy mentorship programs. Yet, I’ve learned how to tell my story and land incredible opportunities nevertheless. When it came time to apply for graduate school, I was determined not just to get in, but to do it without debt. I researched obsessively, drafted and re-drafted, and built a strategy that helped me earn admission (and full funding!) to some of the most competitive public policy and international affairs programs in the world: Stanford, Yale Jackson, Princeton SPIA, Oxford Blavatnik, and LSE. I was named a Knight-Hennessy Scholar and was also a Marshall Scholarship finalist. Now, I coach others through the same process I once faced alone. Whether you’re applying to top MPA/MPP programs or fellowships like the Knight-Hennessy, Rhodes, or Marshall, I’ll help you cut through the noise, find your voice, and submit an application that’s both strategic and authentic.
Why do I coach?
I coach because I know how many smart, capable people don’t apply to top programs - not because they can’t get in, but because they’re overwhelmed or unsure they belong. I’ve been there myself. As someone who had to figure out this process largely on my own, I understand how hard it is to navigate without clear guidance. Coaching is a way for me to make that path more transparent for others, to share what I’ve learned, ask the right questions, and help people present themselves with confidence and clarity.
Work Experience
Senior Africa Associate
Refugee Investment Network
May 2023 - June 2025
Project Founder & Manager
Projects for Peace Awardee (Peace Authors)
January 2022 - December 2022
My project, Peace Authors, aimsed to address the psychosocial needs of Ukrainian refugee youth (13-17) by providing programming focused on building creative writing, peacebuilding, and communication skills and creating a space for self-realization and reflection. Developed in tandem with Dignity Space: the Ukrainian Centre for Non-Violent Communication and Reconciliation, Peace Authors aims to support the next generation of Ukrainians in becoming ambassadors of peace and understanding while meeting the need for trauma-informed programming for refugee youth. Peace Authors is a 2022 Projects for Peace awardee, as selected by the Davis Foundation, and a Summer Scholars Project supported by the Georgetown University Social Innovation and Public Service (SIPS) Fund.
Policy and Advocacy Intern
International Rescue Committee
January 2022 - May 2022
SIV Processing Staff
International Rescue Committee
September 2021 - September 2021
Refugee Resettlement Intern
HIAS
August 2020 - January 2021
Education
University of Oxford
Refugee Studies Centre Pathways Program, Refugee Studies
Stanford University
Master's Degree, International Policy
2025 - 2027
I will be a Knight Hennessy Scholar, with a concentration in Governance and Development.
Georgetown University
Bachelor's degree, International Politics, International Development
2019 - 2023
At Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, I was selected for several of the university’s most competitive honors, including the Paul F. Pelosi Scholarship and the Landegger Community Service Award. I served as Senior Representative on the SFS Academic Council and was chosen as an Undergraduate Scholar in both the Global Human Development Program and the BMW Center for German and European Studies—two flagship academic initiatives for students pursuing international policy careers. Through the Center for Social Justice, I led the DC Schools Project, coordinating English tutoring for newly arrived immigrant youth in Washington, D.C.
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Overall Rating
5.0
Elena has helped clients get into these schools:
Elena has helped clients get into these companies: