Meet Elaine!

Elaine Calamba, College Counselor

Elaine Calamba brings nearly two decades of counseling experience—in both private and public settings—to her work with students. She has guided hundreds of students to offers of admission from a variety of colleges and universities, including Stanford, Penn, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Cornell, UT Austin, USC, Pomona, Carnegie Mellon, Boston University, Northeastern, and Georgia Tech college, always with a steady hand, deep expertise, and a gift for creating calm in the middle of the admissions storm. 

Elaine has served as a department chair and counselor at Archbishop Mitty High School, a college counselor and essay coach with Upward Path Institute, and a longtime school counselor at multiple Bay Area high schools. Her comfort with every part of the college planning process—from course selection and personality assessments to essay coaching and parent consultation—makes her a true full-service guide. 

Elaine holds a master’s degree in counseling, a pupil personnel services credential, and a chemical dependency studies certification—credentials that reflect her commitment to supporting both the academic and emotional health of students. She’s also a trained therapist and former youth counselor, which helps her create safe spaces for students to explore their identities, goals, and challenges. Elaine embodies the counseling tenet that keeps the student at the center of the work, always reminding families that college admissions is ultimately not about securing an admission to one supposedly perfect college, but rather, about helping to prepare a student for a happy and successful life both during, and after college. 

As Elaine puts it:

“College counseling is about more than deadlines and applications—it’s about helping students recognize their strengths, tell their stories, and feel genuinely ready for what comes next.”

When she’s not guiding students through the college admissions process, Elaine can be found enjoying morning workouts, finding typos on restaurant menus, and listening to Hawaiian reggae. 

Education & Experience

UC Berkeley, B.A.

Cal State Hayward, M.S. (Counseling)

Scholarship application reader, UC Berkeley

College counselor and essay coach, Upward Path Institute

Counseling Department Chair, Archbishop Mitty High School

School counselor, Notre Dame High School

School counselor, James Logan High School

Professional Organization Memberships

NACAC: National Association for College Admission Counseling