One-on-One College Admissions Consulting
How We Partner
Find the story first. Build everything else on it.
One consultant, one student, one cohesive path from self-discovery to decision day. Here's how the work unfolds and how to choose the level of partnership that fits your family.
Every student is unique. Most applications aren't
Grades and test scores matter, but they are not what makes an admissions reader remember your student. The difference between a strong applicant and a memorable one is a clear, genuine story, and here's what a decade of this work has taught me: students almost never find that story by being asked "what should you write about?" It has to be uncovered, tested, and refined. That's diagnostic work, and it's where every partnership begins.
While I have a consistent arc, my approach with each student is tailored to fit them. Every engagement is anchored by a Story Fingerprint™ Session early in our work together, and everything that follows, the list, the strategy, the essays, the interviews, grows from what we find there.
When students know their story, they can articulate their experiences, values, and strengths with confidence to admissions officers. And that confidence stays with them long after the admissions process is over. Families tell me it's the part they didn't expect: the student who finishes this process knows themselves better than when they started.
We build the idea, not just the essay.
Every engagement includes my signature Story Fingerprint™ Session. It begins with a simple belief: every student possesses a story as unique and unrepeatable as a fingerprint, but most have never been taught how to identify it, refine it, and communicate what makes them distinct. In that session, we uncover the patterns in your student's experiences, values, strengths, and defining moments, and distill them into a clear narrative core that no other applicant can replicate.
From there, Story Fingerprint™ coaching carries that core through everything we create together. Rather than treating each essay as a standalone writing assignment, your student's personal statement, supplemental essays, activities list, and interviews all grow from the same root, so admissions readers meet one clear, authentic, memorable person. The result is not just a well-written essay but a strategically positioned student.
Same ideas, same fingerprint metaphor, same promise. But now the mark names a Session and a coaching service instead of a strategy and a principle.
Find the Right Fit
I offer three tiers of service to meet families wherever they are in the process. Each has a dedicated page with full details — click below to explore.
Hourly & Flexible Options
For the family with a specific question/service
Hourly consulting and five-hour prepaid blocks for families who need expert judgment on a targeted question or milestone, without a long-term commitment.
✓ Pay-as-you-go hourly sessions
✓ Five-hour prepaid blocks with priority scheduling
✓ Ideal for one decision, one milestone, or a second opinion
See Hourly Options →Essay Packages
For the family in the essay season
Structured packages for the Common Application personal statement, activities list, and required supplemental essays. Every package begins with a Story Fingerprint™ Session.
✓ Personal statement and activities list
✓ Two required supplementals available
✓ Built for Michigan and similar applications
Year-Long Programs
For the family that wants a guide for the journey
Full-service, unlimited advising from junior year, or as early as freshman year, through senior year and decision day.
✓ Unlimited advising and communication
✓ College list, strategy, essays, and applications
✓ Start as early as freshman year
See Year-Long Programs →
Going through the college application process for the first time as a parent, / was overwhelmed by the whole process and lost in the details. Kathy explained each step and was always available to answer all my questions. Her approach was tailored specific to my child and his goals... As parents she helped him to think more deeply on his college options and answer the question of "why". This was a very critical step in shortlisting the colleges... She was available to work around the schedule of the busy senior and always gave importance to ease our stress. I felt Kathy was the best coach we needed to help us get through this college application process.
V.S.
PARENT OF A UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA STUDENT
Not sure which option is right for your student?
Every family starts with a free 30-minute consultation. We'll talk through where your student is, what they need, and which path makes the most sense. I'll tell you honestly, even if the answer is "less than you think."
Let's Chat!