Empowered Access College Counseling
At the Intersection of Adolescent Development and Selective Admissions
Empowered Access College Counseling
At the Intersection of Adolescent Development and Selective Admissions
Welcome to Empowered Access
College counseling at the intersection of adolescent development and selective admissions.
Empowered Access provides expert, personalized guidance for families who want more than résumé-building — they want a process that supports their teen’s growth and positions them strategically within a competitive admissions landscape.
Who I am:
I’m Lizette Paredes, a college counselor with nearly two decades of experience working directly with teenagers and inside the admissions world.
I understand how adolescents develop — how motivation works, how identity forms, how executive functioning evolves — and I understand how selective colleges evaluate applicants.
My work bridges the two.
What I do:
I guide high school students and their families through the college admissions process in a way that builds clarity, ownership, and strategic direction.
From shaping a thoughtful college list to crafting cohesive, authentic applications, I help students translate who they are into a compelling narrative that resonates with selective institutions.
Students I’ve supported have been admitted to schools such as Princeton, Yale, Johns Hopkins, UCLA, USC, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UT Austin, and more.
How I do it:
Through my signature four-step framework, The Empowered Path:
Discover — Identify strengths, interests, values, and goals
Explore — Research extracurricular opportunities, majors, careers, and campuses that align
Plan — Build a personalized roadmap for high school + college applications
Achieve — Execute with structured guidance, accountability, and support
Every service — from the six-week intensive to comprehensive support — is grounded in this student-centered, confidence-building approach.
Why Families Choose Empowered Access:
Families choose to work with me because they want both depth and strategy.
They want someone who understands teenagers — and understands admissions.
They want clarity without hype.
Structure without micromanagement.
Strategic positioning without résumé engineering.
They want their teen to grow through this process — not just get through it.
Contact Me
How can I help?
I understand that each student's situation and needs are unique to them, especially when it comes to college counseling and college preparation. Tell me more about what you're looking for, and I will get back to you soon with some ideas for educational guidance.
