Courtesy photo Nashua High School South students Samuel Greenberg, Joshua Gao and Srisahith Korandla recently founded a company aimed at making counseling easier and more affordable for those seeking some assistance while applying to colleges.

NASHUA – Three local high school students have set off on an entrepreneurial venture that refines how people go through the college admissions process.

Joshua Gao, Samuel Greenberg and Srisahith Korandla are a group of incoming juniors at Nashua High School South who in May co-founded a company called Spark that offers a different approach to aiding and counseling students who are applying to colleges. Their program pairs college applicants with students who have recently been admitted to top schools such as Dartmouth, Harvard and Princeton.

Each of the counselors working with the company specializes in a specific area that is critical in the college admission process. Spark Academy’s flagship program, “SEAMS,” uses five central themes and works to tailor an individual experience to what the client wants.

“SEAMS” stands for storytelling, extracurricular, academics, materials review and standardized testing – all areas in the curriculum which counselors can provide education and guidance.

“With our core tenants we try to shape the student into a top-tier applicant because honestly, every student has the opportunity to attend an Ivy League school,” Korandla said. “We like to say they have all the cloth within them and then we help stitch it together.”

Greenberg believes what sets Spark apart from other college admissions services is a combination of the counselors, the personalization of the course, the pricing model and philanthropy. He said that all of the counselors are top notch and all got into top schools.

George Eid and Sahil Mahendraker are two of the counselors working with the company to provide these services. Both are graduating seniors of the Class of 2020 at Nashua High School South. Mahendraker is an incoming freshman at Columbia University and Eid is an incoming freshman at Dartmouth College.

Having just gone through the experience, and being close in age to the clients, they are providing one-on-one mentorship sessions, trying to establish a stronger connection than other admissions services. The pricing model is also different as the three have embraced a philanthropic approach.

“We want everyone to have a chance to participate in this great service no matter who they are, where they’re applying to – we really want everybody to be able to get advice from these great counselors,” Greenberg said.

Gao said that there are people paying upwards of thousands of dollars to speak with someone who was admitted to colleges years ago. Given that, the founders want to provide advice from current students at a low cost.

The company offers financial aid, finding an affordable price or in some cases subsidizing the entire cost. Half of whatever revenue the company generates is donated to the Spark Foundation to help purchase and donate laptops for students in need or to pay for the base price of a course at no cost.

The idea for this company had been in the back of these students’ minds, but they did not take tangible steps toward turning the concept into a reality until the quarantine hit with the coronavirus pandemic. Once the three had a bit of extra time on their hands, the whole process to launch the company took a month or two before launching in May.

Having been operating for about a month the company has had two people participate so far – one as a beta-tester to run through the program who was an eighth grade student. Greenberg said she went through two sessions, which drew great feedback and helped the company improve the program. Recently, the company had its first real customer who paid for the program.

More information on what the company offers and its counselors can be found online at, www.sparked.academy.

Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.