Penn Parent

“I have two sons who attended the University of Pennsylvania. The older one graduated with a degree in Biological Engineering and is now enrolled in medical school.  

My younger son was interested in applying to the M&T. My son was fortunate enough later on to be offered a spot from the prestigious and competitive M&T program. January was very organized and knowledgeable discussing/counseling with him even when we were on vacation overseas. I can tell the major difference between the two sons by the arrangement and preparation even before school started. The counseling services provided by January were genuine, valuable and nerve calming considering all the new environments (academic, social and everything else) freshman students encounter.  

She is the best student advisor we ever had. We were sad when we heard about her departure from the program.  

With her prior various different positions at the universities, I know she is more than knowledgeable but caring enough to give students (and parents) great advice and encouragement.  

I wish her many success in her future endeavors, but selfishly I would rather have her back to the M&T program.  

I would say the more “elite” the colleges are, the more the reason one would need more quality hands on student advising other than to just fulfill a scheduled time on the calendar. Colleges nowadays are getting more expensive, more competitive vs collaborative, more polarized politics, more tribalism environments, it creates more confusions and pressure for students. Making caring student advising more pressing and valuable.  

My son at UPenn now is doing great and enjoys many different facets of his college life. I think M&T did make the difference and so did January.”.