Education
University of Missouri – St. Louis: M.Ed., Counseling
Washington University in St. Louis: B.A., Psychology
Personal
In her free time, Sara loves taking advantage of Colorado’s beautiful landscape by hiking and skiing. She also enjoys reading, writing, photography, singing, going to concerts and plays, and traveling. For ten years, Sara served on the regional board of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). She was part of the 2019 cohort of the Roots and Branches Foundation and is a former member of the Denver Center Theatre Company’s Young Professional Advisory Board. One of Sara’s life goals is to be on Jeopardy!
About Sara
Experience
Sara Zessar, M.Ed., brings her experience as a high school counselor to the world of independent college counseling. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis, Sara began her career as a Teach for America teacher in St. Louis, where she taught high school English. Through this experience, Sara discovered that she had a passion for helping students prepare for post-secondary education.
Sara holds a Master’s degree in counseling from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. She worked for six years as a high school counselor in private, public, and charter schools, where she helped hundreds of students with the college search and admissions process. Sara connects with students and enjoys spending time getting to know them in order to provide them with the best possible advice as they plan for their lives after high school. Because of her counseling background, she is able to help students and families with the emotional aspects of college admissions in addition to the academic and procedural ones.
As a college counselor for both schools and non-profit organizations, Sara gained the expertise to guide students in college selection and admission. For example, she created a college planning program for 9th and 10th graders to help them understand the college admissions process early in their high school years, so they could be better prepared for and have more options in higher education. She also designed and taught an ACT prep curriculum to help students succeed on standardized tests.
Sara has visited dozens of colleges throughout the United States, where she has met with admissions officers to learn about their schools’ approach to the admissions process. Additionally, she has attended many professional development workshops and conferences dedicated to college counseling.
As a member of Washington University’s Alumni and Parents Admission Program, Sara interviewed undergraduate applicants and wrote evaluative reports for the university’s admissions office. She also volunteered for College Summit, a non-profit organization focused on increasing college enrollment rates among low-income students. Sara is a member of the Higher Education Consultants Association (HECA) and presented sessions at HECA’s 2021 and 2022 conferences. She is also a member of College Consultants of Colorado (CCC), for which she served as Chair in 2017 and was on the advisory board from 2019-2021.