Melissa Meltzer Warehall
Director of College Counseling
Daystar Academy (Beijing, China)

 

What drew you to the world of college admission counseling?
I discovered the admissions profession through my prior career in arts administration, which I did immediately following college. After graduating from Northwestern University (IL), I stayed in the Chicago area because of the city’s wealth of arts, advertising, and publishing industries — professions in which I was interested. From my work at the League of Chicago Theatres, I discovered an opening for an admissions coordinator, and then director of admissions, at the Theatre School, DePaul University (IL), a position I held for 16 years. That was followed by four years as assistant director of admissions and director of publications at the Office of College Admissions at the University of Chicago. I transitioned to the high school side of the desk when I joined the college counseling team at UChicago’s Lab School and that is where I found my true calling: Drawing back the curtain, so to speak, on how selective universities evaluate applicants, thus demystifying a process that can feel daunting and incomprehensible for students as well as parents. Along the way, I earned a law degree. I enjoyed the analytical aspects of law school but not the day-to-day work of a practicing attorney, so, instead of becoming a lawyer, I used that terminal degree to teach theater history and Shakespeare, part-time, at DePaul.

What is your favorite part of the job?
Helping students discover, or enhance, their passions. In addition to building their college lists and coaching their essay development, I also encourage my students to pursue interests, even if they think they’re inconsequential. It is through discovery of interests, strengths, and talents that passions arise, and universities — especially those in the U.S. and U.K. — want to know about applicants’ passions.

How has NACAC played a role in your career?
I started my involvement with NACAC through the Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling (the other IACAC 😊) thanks to the encouragement of a colleague at DePaul, Brian Lynch (of blessed memory). Brian convinced me to attend an IACAC conference back in the late ‘80s and I quickly became hooked on the networking, as well as the sharing of resources, that abounds through NACAC and the regional affiliates. NACAC and IACAC have helped my career to flourish through the professional connections I have made and skills I have honed.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing our profession today? 
AI. Specifically, applicants’ use of AI that erases their voice. Students default to using AI for their essays, which is detrimental to them, as English language learners, as well as university applicants. Before AI, as an admissions officer, I could tell when an essay wasn’t written by the applicant. Not to date myself, but when I started reading applications, they were hand-written, and I used to joke that I could tell the difference between a 45-year-old’s handwriting and vocabulary and a 17-year-old’s. Now, the use of AI (or, because the agent culture is pervasive in China, outside agents or consultants) in writing essays drains the applicant’s personality out of the words. Though we have a “no AI” policy in our college counseling department for essays, kids try to sneak them past us, despite our warnings that colleges will immediately recognize the writing is not genuinely the applicant’s, especially when they have TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo English Test writing samples to compare to the application essay. I include in-class essay brainstorming exercises in grades 10 and 11 to give students practice with self-expression and to have exemplars to use when I am proofing applications before submission.

When you aren’t working, what do you like to do?
Travel! Since I moved abroad, I have traveled more in the last five years than in the prior 50+ years combined! Before moving to China, I had visited a few countries in Europe, as well as Mexico and Canada. Since COVID travel restrictions were lifted, I’ve been to Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Egypt, Qatar, Spain, Thailand, Greece, and Turkey, and I’ve visited Poland three times to see friends whom I met in China. I have also traveled extensively within China, including a road trip with a friend/former colleague two summers ago. We started in Beijing, drove west through Inner Mongolia and Gansu Province and south through Qinghai Province, then finally east and north through the Sichuan, Shanxi, and Hebei provinces, returning to Beijing after about two weeks. A highlight of that trip was seeing Qinghai Lake and visiting with a Buddhist monk and his family. Other than Beijing, my favorite cities in China are Dalian, Chongqing, Suzhou, Xi’an, Dali, Shangri-la, Pingyao, Datong, and Harbin.

What five words would you use to describe yourself?
Compassionate. Persistent. Curious. Analytical. Friendly.

 

Published Aug. 3, 2026