First, this kind of consulting simply means
having knowledge of the practical matters.

Someone who knows the application season from July to February, who will build manageable goals, plans, and workflow with the student week by week– as they keep up with all their current schoolwork and activities, too– up to essay writing season and beyond. 

Someone with encyclopedic knowledge of the different schools, requirements, all the procedures and strategies. 

Now add someone who’s also deeply empathetic, warm, kind, and welcoming with students. Over time, I realised my own personality– as someone fun for students to work with, someone who really listens to them so they feel safe, and someone with a gazillion life stories and experiences of my own that I share with them (including my own admissions wins and losses!)-- made me a good fit for helping to tackle this so-very-important moment in their lives.

Finally–let’s go back to that “working writer, editor, and international world traveler as your consultant” profile. This means I’m especially adept at interviewing any student, so we can “find their brand”. The interdisciplinary threads of their talents, skills, record, and interests- that are going to come together to make them stand out from quite literally thousands of other equally top-tier students.

From this, they are able to write authentically about who they are. And that goes a very long way in a sea of applications and essays that can all look the same. 

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The bottom line is this: there are a lot of approaches to the admissions process. Some people can keep a student organised. Some people can edit their essays. But without heart and really getting to know the individual, essays become cookie cutter- they can harm and not help. 

In some countries, admissions consultants are even writing essays for students. And then, they’re poorly written, impersonal, and plagiarised! My approach couldn’t be more opposite. 

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My admissions students keep in touch with me, and write me on their progress from freshman and sophomore year at university. The clubs they’ve joined, and classes they’re taking- how they’re even taking part in activities first suggested in our sessions. That means a lot to me. 

In fact the real goosebumps moments, for me, are when I hear a year or a two later that the branding we did for a student– something I was able to see about them that they maybe couldn’t see yet about themselves– not only got them into their dream school- but actually became the path they did take. 

That is nothing short of powerful. And each time, I’m honored to have been such a part of this big moment in a student’s life. So it's really my privilege to do this work. 

I’d love to talk with you, and meet with both student and parents, to see if this is a journey we might go on together.