It was super helpful to have someone so knowledgeable to guide me through the process. I appreciated both your honesty and enthusiastic attitude. I liked that there was a mixture of conversation and planning followed by feedback on my writing. As someone who can be self-conscious of my writing, it worked well to receive feedback via comments rather than face to face. It was also super helpful that you took notes on our brainstorming sessions so I could focus on the conversation but also could refer back to it later for inspiration. Thank you so much for all of your help this year in making this process very smooth and successful!
- Lauren, University of Washington
We were 100% satisfied with all aspects. Definitely made the process much less daunting and way more organized. Heather has so much experience and insight and really relates well to teens. She knows what realistic expectations are and has a great handle on all of the colleges. Her response time to email was always quick and very personal. She really cares and it shows!
- Luna, Bryn Mawr College
If we could have signed up all three of our kids after our first meeting with Heather we would have! She put our son first, what did he want, what were his interests, what did he care about, what were his strengths. She spent the time getting to know him, and that made all the difference. She was not building a relationship with us, she was building one with our son and they built trust and respect for one another and made our son want to achieve and complete the requirements based on the deadlines she set for him. Goal achieved, he was accepted at his top choice.
- Jessica, parent of Pitzer College student
Heather, you made the process so much easier and more pleasant than we anticipated and we felt lucky to have found someone so knowledgeable, available and helpful. We could not be more thrilled with the outcome of our daughter's applications and are confident she is going to the best possible school for her. Thank you so much!
- Helen, parent of California Institute of Technology (Caltech) student
I feel like even though applying to college isn't hard, it's scary. What you did was make the process simpler without compromising the quality of of my applications. A huge part of that was your elevated level of organization; by the end of our first meeting, you already had a schedule for the rest of the year and then some. Every part of the application process was carefully planned out (with buffer time to account for procrastination on my end), including college research, interviews, even supplemental materials.
When it comes to essays, I especially appreciated how our brainstorming sessions entertained unconventional ideas and drew out my creative side, which contributed to better content than what would have been written without you.
Overall, it was incredible to work with someone who knows not only about a multitude of colleges from around the world and what they're looking for, but also knows how to elicit the best out of every high school student, whether they're anxious or apathetic. I also really appreciated your sense of boundaries both in terms of my essays' content/timeliness and in terms of dealing with my parents. Thank you so much for giving me that kind of freedom!
- Angie, Pomona College
You’re approachable and easy to talk to, super knowledgeable, and just overall helpful. You didn’t sugarcoat anything- at one point you told me to basically just start an essay over again, which was what I did need to do, and I appreciated how direct you were. Thank you!
- Sophie, Swarthmore College
I am thrilled that we found Heather last year! She is a great balance of knowledge and time management during the craziest months prior to college apps. She was very insightful on what different colleges are looking for, making recommendations for schools that we hadn't looked into, honor programs and always being aware of our budget forschool. She assisted us with financial aid questions and timelines as well as suggesting plenty of scholarships.
Heather guided my daughter through writing essays and interviews that lifted a lot of weight from all of the pressure. It was a very long year, but in the end my daughter was accepted by one of her top schools and received enough scholarships and aid to go to school in Boston! I can't recommend Heather enough...she has a warm personality and a great spirit - I think this is key to our kids feeling like their college coach is relevant and wanting to interact with them.
- Tami, parent of Northeastern University student
Working with you was a huge success and helped our family through a challenging time. In the end, our daughter found a school that was a perfect fit, she had choices, and she was proud of the process. I feel like you understood how important money would be long before we did. Thank you!
- Ashley, parent of McGill University student
Heather was an amazing college counselor and the entire process was great! I looked forward to our meetings and was always excited about the next step. I've recommended her to many people already and will continue to! Heather was extremely personable and a wonderful college counselor. From the beginning to the end, Heather was there to help with all things college and it made the application process much much smoother :)
- Maia, Colorado State University
We thought Heather was a good catalyst for the process and because of her updates, follow up and involvement with our son, it really kept the process moving. On a personal level, we really like Heather. She's personable and communicative and was able to get us answers to any question we had. Heather's knowledge was extremely helpful to us as parents because we didn't need to do all the research regarding the schools and application process. It also removed a lot of potential conflict that may have arisen if we had tried to be more in control with our son. Having a neutral third party (and one that our son really connected with) delivered a better outcome (both process and end result) for all of us.
- Juli, parent of Gonzaga University student
Heather is super helpful all the time. She gave me good suggestions and advice, which helped me calm down from my stress. She is ALWAYS on top of things and fun to work with. I’m so glad I found her!
- Eva, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
We have worked with three other independent counselors and two different private school counselors and truly appreciate the personalized and responsive approach you take. Thank you for your excellent work and commitment. Your ability to relate to both student and parent as well as up to date and extensive personal knowledge and experience of many of the schools really helped us feel confident in your understanding of our needs and preferences in relation to the current atmosphere and expectations at various schools. Incredibly organized, on task without stressing anyone out!
- Amy, Parent of Claremont McKenna College Student
As other parents have said, just do it! You took care of the details which enabled us as parents to focus on the bigger things like visits and budgets. I'm so proud, pleased and impressed with the number and quality of schools my son was accepted by... and we credit your help in how he responded to essays.
- Jamie, parent of University of Washington student
The essay revising/editing was so helpful, as well as always having you there to run ideas by and check on due dates. You also kept me on a schedule for applying to schools and without that I would not have been able to apply so early and in response hear back early. I don't know how to thank you enough for everything you did for me! I am beyond grateful to have had you help me throughout this entire process. You have been so much help throughout this entire college process and anyone I recommend you to would be so lucky to get to work with you and receive all of your amazing guidance and help.
- Rees, Gonzaga University
I was extremely pleased with Heather's services. My student had very particular needs and specifications that required a lot of expertise and research and Heather met these requirements outstandingly. We barely made modifications to the original college list that Heather proposed. As we started writing essays, Heather really made an effort in getting to know my student, so that the writing would reflect who he was and the potential he had as a future college student. I look forward to continue working with her as my younger son starts his college search process.
- Leticia, parent of Stevens Institute of Technology student
I am so thankful I chose you as my counselor because of your dedication to helping me and how personal you made our meetings...so thank you!
- Madeleine, Occidental College
Thank you for helping us with navigating the college entry experience, Heather. Your professionalism, willingness to really hear our needs and your follow through helped our daughter feel confident in a somewhat daunting college application process. We loved your knowledge base, ability to be in rapport, follow through and willingness to listen to our daughter when she had some concerns. We appreciated you helping her draw out her abilities to transfer them to paper, you helped her be on task and you helped make the process of navigating the college entry process much easier than it was before we had your help. The best part is that she got accepted into all 6 of the colleges she applied to. Thank you so much.
– Stacey, parent of Western Washington University student
With Heather's help my son was accepted at his top University! She was very knowledgeable and provided information on application process, such as what degrees could interest my son, the application process, evaluation of transcripts, etc. She assisted with the essay and brainstormed to identify information overlooked.
– Martha, parent of University of Washington transfer student