“I am writing to express my gratitude to Colleen who has been instrumental to the college application of my son Sherif Bichara. My husband and I had studied in Egypt. When we decided our son should study in the USA, we were overwhelmed by the process, not having been through it ourselves. A friend recommended Colleen and she did an amazing job. Although most work was done via skype and through emails, Colleen helped Sherif research colleges, drawing a realistic list of universities to consider. We were really impressed with how Colleen was able to highlight Sherif’s strengths in his essays. She inspired him to keep improving his essays, one version after the other, encouraging him at every step. Throughout the process, Colleen kept Sherif on track, pushing him to meet deadlines, enticing him to get his reference letters, essays and scores submitted, removing that weight off our shoulders. We are lucky to have been introduced to Colleen. We were confident all along that she owned the process and was taking care of our son. Thank you very much Colleen!”
Marianne, parent of Boston University student
“Working with Colleen proved to be the most consequential decision I made in seeking acceptance from my dream school. Colleen met with me weekly to ensure that my application conveyed a personalized and authentic story that would leave a profound impression on readers. Colleen’s background as a college admissions officer gave me automatic confidence, as I knew her experience would guide me to craft an application built with an application reader in mind. She worked with me tirelessly step-by-step to optimize my essay and short-responses, distinguish my resume, and narrow an ambitious yet reasonable list of colleges to which I applied. Colleen pushed me to come up with unorthodox ideas for writing responses, and she gifted me with the ability to write effectively on personal topics that I likely would not have pursued without her counsel. Most importantly, Colleen and I had fun working together, and she truly made every effort to get to know me and my needs to put herself in the best position to help. Ultimately, my dream school accepted me, and I feel the utmost gratitude toward Colleen for playing such a defining and imperative role in the process.”
Alex M, Colgate University
“My experience with Colleen was overwhelmingly positive. Right from the beginning, she helped me select schools that were a good fit for the type of student I am. Colleen helped keep me on track throughout the summer leading up to my senior year, and I was in a good position to start editing my essays by the time that school started. This approach helped reduce stress as application deadlines approached.
Colleen especially helped me with my Common Application personal essay, which was very intimidating at the start of my application journey. She led me through an extensive brainstorming process, and I felt confident with the topic I had selected at the end. While editing, she not only gave me feedback herself, but taught me how to look at my essays myself with a critical eye. This allowed my essays to remain personal while still presenting myself in a polished and poised fashion. By the end of the college process, I gained the skillset to catch my own common errors and write clear, concise essays. Without Colleen’s guidance, I would not have been able to put together the application that granted my acceptance to Columbia.”
Alexa, Columbia University
“One visit with Colleen and the three of us was all it took to see she was the answer. She quickly came up with a list of colleges based on our input and private conversations with our son. From that point on it was all Colleen and our son. They prioritized schools, wrote (and re-wrote) the essay(s), and got some early wins (acceptances) before the holidays. The final essay blew me away! It was our son at his very best. She clearly had a rapport with our son. Immediately after showing us his first acceptance, he texted Colleen to let her know as he did with every one after that. He chose Loyola Marymount University, LOVES it, and is doing great! The best evidence of the job Colleen did is the non-contentious senior year of high school we experienced, followed by a successful freshman year in a college he loves, and not a doubt in our minds that we will use Colleen again when our next son reaches that point.”
Polly, parent of Loyola Marymount University student
“Colleen worked with my daughter on her application to Stanford and I believe was critical to her being admitted. Colleen helped her understand the environment in which the essays would be evaluated and gave her examples for how others in the past had made their essays personal and interesting. Further, when my daughter finished her first drafts, Colleen encouraged and directed her — without interfering in the actual creative or writing process — to go back to the ‘writing board’ and interject more facts, more personality, and more self-insight. Having seen the first drafts and the final submissions, I know that Colleen’s help and direction yielded a quality submission and now my daughter is a very happy Stanford freshman!”
JoAnn, Parent of Stanford student
“At first, I was hesitant to hire an outside-of-school college counselor, given my school provides each student with their own. However, once I started working with Colleen, I realized how helpful it was to set weekly goals for completing certain applications, and how easy it was to receive feedback when I read my personal essays aloud to someone in my own voice. Now that I’ve received my decision letters, I realize I would have never had the ability to gain acceptance to any of my reach schools if it hadn’t been for the step-by-step help given to me by Colleen.”
Claudia, Wellesley College
