Fayelah Johnson, College Counselor
During her tenure at Collegewise, Fayelah's students have been accepted to over 100 colleges, including the nation's most selective schools like UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, Stanford, MIT, and Duke, Scripps, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley, University of Michigan, Northwestern, University of Southern California, University of Chicago, and NYU. As a first-generation college graduate herself, Fayelah brings a deeply personal understanding to her counseling work. She was the first in her family to graduate high school and go to college, and that challenging experience shaped her career goals: to ease the college exploration and application process for as many students as possible.
Fayelah's counseling approach centers on building strong relationships with her students and families. She describes herself as a "compassionate cheerleader" who excels at building student confidence throughout the college exploration and application process. Families consistently praise her ability to make their students feel confident, safe, and supported, while building strong rapport with their children. As a relationship-centered counselor, she celebrates the small wins her students make along the way.
Fayelah thrives in the self-reflective aspects of college counseling—major exploration, exploring fit factors, and essay writing. She feels most in her element when helping students be introspective and connect that personal growth to their college admissions process. With a holistic approach to counseling, she understands the importance of getting to know her students and families as people first, challenging them to stand in their vulnerability, embrace their strengths, address areas they can improve, and learn more about themselves while doing it.
At Collegewise, Fayelah has made significant contributions to the broader college counseling community. She delivers local and national webinars, most recently presenting "Conquering the Common App: How to Avoid Rookie Mistakes." She serves as a contributing editor to Collegewise's Common App Guide and wrote the blog post "Navigating the College Search Process for LGBTQIA+ Students." She also collaborates with nonprofit and community-based organizations through College Access initiatives and is a member of Collegewise's IEA (Inclusion, Equity, and Access) Committee.
When she is not supporting students, you can find Fayelah doing all things crafty (sewing, journaling, painting), or cuddling up with her kitten to watch reality TV.
Education & Experience
U.C. Irvine, B.A.
College Access Coordinator, Simon Scholars Program
College Bound Coordinator, Girls Inc. of Orange County
Program coordinator, UC Irvine Division of Undergraduate Education
Professional Organization Memberships
NACAC: National Association for College Admission Counseling
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