Founder
Colm Dubhrosa
I’m the son of two teachers and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I went to Harvard in 2009 and concentrated in Visual and Environmental Studies, with the aim of learning more about how visual tools could be used to improve educational products and services. After graduating, I worked at Squared Online (Google’s online digital-marketing program) where I designed instructional experiences for social media, advertising, and marketing professionals.
I’ve spent the last twelve years working in elite admissions consulting. I’ve mentored students from every continent, working directly with families and as a senior figure in the leading firms in the field. I launched Dubhrosa Consulting so that I could do the work I find most meaningful and which achieves the best outcomes for students: long-form mentorship of ambitious young people across several years to accomplish whatever they’ve set their sights on.
What I believe about the admissions process, after over a decade in this field, is fairly simple. The students who succeed at the top end of the global system are not the ones who worked the hardest to optimize their applications. They are the ones who built genuine intellectual range, discovered a real sense of purpose, and engaged in meaningful projects related to that purpose – while developing strong opinions about the things they cared about and learning to defend those opinions competently in conversation with adults.
My central focus is ensuring the students I work with start on a trajectory towards working on the problems they’re genuinely passionate about. I’ve found this is the most effective way to succeed in the admissions process – and the most reliable way to make sure they end up doing something they love with their lives.
I take on a small number of families each year, and I do all the work myself.
If any of this sounds like the kind of practice your family is looking for, I’d be glad to talk.
“Your guidance was far more than ‘college counseling’. You were a steady compass, pointing me back to my own potential whenever the process felt overwhelming. Because of your patience and belief, I rediscovered confidence I didn’t know I had and learned to shape the strongest version of myself.”
Students who’ve worked with Colm have gained admission to the following universities:
