Nisha Sardella has been a Marks Education counselor since 2009 and leads our graduate school admission counseling service. She works with candidates for law school, business school, medical school, and post-baccalaureate pre-medical programs, as well as with applicants for graduate academic degrees and fellowships.
Nisha attended the National Cathedral School before going on to concentrate in Social Studies at Harvard University, where she also played as goalie for the JV and Varsity Field Hockey teams and was active as a Big Sister for a local child. She received a J.D. from Harvard Law School, serving as an editor of the Journal of Law and Public Policy and the Harvard Negotiation Law Review and as a Mediator for the Harvard Mediation Program. She also loved her clinical work in Family Law at the Legal Services Center and at the Department of Social Services in Boston. After graduating, Nisha worked at WilmerHale and Hemenway & Barnes in Boston before joining Marks Education.
Nisha is a kind and understanding graduate school admission counselor who appreciates the anxiety and stress that the admissions process can evoke. As a trained family-law and tax attorney and mediator, she also builds upon her experience counseling and educating individuals who must navigate complex issues and decisions.
Nisha has served on her local Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) Board, advocating for students with special needs and the programs and policies that affect them, and she also serves on Harvard’s Schools and Scholarships Committee, interviewing candidates for undergraduate admission. In her free time, she can be found spending time with her family and dogs; she especially enjoys walking, running and cycling in the area to explore new and familiar roads and trails.
Education/Training:
- National Cathedral School, cum laude
- Harvard University, BA magna cum laude in Social Studies
- Harvard Law School, JD
Nisha’s guidance throughout the law school process was absolutely invaluable for me from the initial stage of establishing a list of schools through deciding between multiple amazing offers. I went through the law school application process while working full time in New York City, and Nisha routinely went above and beyond to work around my busy professional schedule. From early morning phone calls to lightning-fast email responses, Nisha helped to make the process as smooth and as manageable as I could have hoped for.
Having the benefit of Nisha’s vast knowledge of individual law schools and the overall process not only made me feel that I was putting together the best applications possible, but also that I would ultimately end up at the law school that was right for me. Nisha helped me tailor a game plan specifically geared towards illuminating my strengths on each application, and I was thrilled with the offers I received as a result of following through with that plan.
— CAROLINE BOWMAN, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA LAW SCHOOL CLASS OF 2020
I have worked with Nisha Sardella at Marks Education on numerous graduate school and fellowship applications over five years and have been extremely pleased with her services. I know that both the general brainstorming of topics and also the line-by-line consideration of my personal statements elevated my applications to a higher level. I was admitted first to the postbaccalaureate program at Bryn Mawr, and later to the Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health, where I was named a Zuckerman Fellow. I owe my admissions successes in large part to Nisha at Marks Education, for helping me to present my best self through my applications.
— HARVARD MEDICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH. GRADUATE, CLASS OF 2018
I worked with Nisha throughout my MBA application journey – from GMAT prep (she recommended me to Nitin) to essay writing to interview prep to post-interview reflections. In every moment, Nisha was not only supportive but also firm, giving me the clarity and feedback I absolutely needed. She provided a perspective I know no one else could have given, a perspective that combined her experience in the field with her own personal knowledge. Working while applying for Business School can be a daunting experience, but I was able to utilize Nisha’s guidance to reduce stress and stick to a plan. All in all, I know I would not be at HBS without her help!
— BRETT ANDERSEN, HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL CLASS OF 2022
With Nisha’s help, my son was admitted to the University of Michigan Law School, his first choice. She developed a wonderful, easy rapport with him and brought a fresh perspective to the highly competitive law school admissions process.
Nisha thinks clearly and offers honest assessments, encouraging students to set the bar high and supporting them in their efforts to reach ambitious goals. With her support, my son created a tailored, strategic application plan, developing themes that would inform his “Personal Statement” and other outreach. She provided insightful feedback on essay drafts, advised on recommenders, and offered helpful advice on LSAT testing.
In short, Nisha demystified the law school admissions process, identifying the multiple components for each application and creating a timeline for moving forward. Both my son and I really enjoyed working with her!
— LAUREL PYKE MALSON, ESQ., WASHINGTON, DC
Getting the opportunity to work with Nisha Sardella turned the stressful and scary experience of applying to law school into a genuinely enjoyable one. She is extremely smart, confident, funny, and friendly. What’s more, she genuinely understands how nerve-racking the process is and is immensely supportive. Her expert experience was evident from the first meeting that we had. Marks Education improved each of my applications significantly, through editing, proofing, and very thoughtful suggestions. What’s more, Ms. Sardella and the rest of the team at Marks Education just knows how to navigate the process: they know how to break down each step, each objective, and each aspect of what applicants must deliver. This makes a seemingly insurmountable task far more manageable and really does improve the final product of each application. I also found the Marks Education team to be highly responsive to momentary needs. If there was something that needed to be dealt with very quickly, Ms. Sardella and her team always got back to me with time to spare. Ms. Sardella was also extremely flexible in making time to talk with me multiple times per week and accommodating of my full-time work hours despite her busy schedule. All around, this was a fantastic experience. It is expensive, but it is also absolutely worth it. I cannot recommend their services highly enough and would encourage anyone applying to law school to work with them.
— JOE KRAKOFF
I had the pleasure of working with Nitin Sawhney and Nisha Sardella in recent months. I was exploring MBA programs in Dallas, TX, and found one that I really liked. After some due diligence, we discovered that in order for me to apply for the program I wanted, I needed to have my application submitted in ten days, and a GMAT submitted in twenty days. At the time, it seemed like an impossible feat and that I may just need to wait for the 2016 program to start. However, with Nitin’s and Nisha’s help, we found a way. Nisha had an uphill battle with me in terms of time, but she helped me craft my application essays nonetheless. She provided me the tools necessary to create well-written, poignant, and unique essays that helped me stand out in the application pool. Mind you, I applied with essentially minutes left on the clock, so as one of the last applicants, I was in the most competitive portion of the applicant class. The stakes were high and she helped me make those essays perfect. Nitin also had an impossible task ahead of him. I hadn’t taken a standardized test, done a math problem outside of Excel, or even had the thought of the value of pi run through my head once since freshman year of undergrad. I hadn’t been asked to restructure sentences, needed to figure out where a semicolon should be, or really wondered what the author of Passage 1 intended with his argument in paragraph 2. Despite the odds, Nitin helped me succeed. I had a baseline score of 590 on a practice test, which realistically meant closer to a 500 at best on the real test…mainly because I didn’t know that I could not use a calculator and did on the practice test! To get into my program, I needed to bring my score up at least 50 points to be comfortable about getting in. 100 points would be sure to get me in. We worked hard in those three weeks, meeting over Skype for an hour twice per week to review questions and strategies. On test day, I went in hoping that I could somehow score a 590, expecting to fall a little short due to the time constraints Nitin and I faced. I walked out of the test with a 660. I would have never in my wildest dreams thought that possible, but it happened. I’m currently enrolled in the program I desired, and did so in under three weeks time. It literally would not have been possible without Nitin and Nisha. They are extraordinary teachers and they will find a way to help you learn what you need to know so that you can apply it and succeed. They are remarkable. Find out for yourself.
— ALEX CORDIA, GRADUATE CLIENT