Success stories: kind words from happy students and parents.

Katie and the team at Educational Advocates are amazing! We worked with them for college admissions for our son. Katie was equally adept with our teenager and with us, the parents. She really made the process simple, and as low-stress as possible. We cannot recommend Educational Advocates more highly!

Ildi from Education Advocates College Consulting was incredibly helpful in guiding our son to find the right college for him. Her support was invaluable throughout the process, starting from the early planning phase.

She clearly understood our son’s capabilities and goals and was able to help us identify colleges that were the right match. With a systematic approach and careful planning, she made the admission process much easier for our son.

To say the college process is confusing is an understatement. Choosing colleges, preparing for interviews, writing essays, completing testing, gathering transcripts, requesting rec letters, and financial aid consulting is overwhelming. Educational Advocates’ expertise in each part of the process was unparalleled. Ildi led with kindness, calmness and much needed grace. She listened to our concerns and gave us brilliant counsel and invaluable guidance on everything from helping to select the right schools for Max to helping him craft compelling essays to comparing financial aid packages. As teachers, we knew this process was going to be time intensive and there would be many questions. Ildi made herself available by every means of communication. Each essay comment helped Max showcase his personality and beliefs. We are grateful that Max is going to his top choice college. We cannot recommend Educational Advocates highly enough for anyone seeking top-notch support for navigating college admission. You are the best!

Our family was new to the current college application process and was thrilled when our daughter requested help with her college essay. A good student, but anxious to make her essay competitive and stand out. We did research on local organizations that provide support for college admissions and Educational Advocates frequently popped up with positive reviews. We called Educational Advocates and was amazed at how fast they paired us with Katie Bacon to assist our daughter with crafting her essay. Our daughter had an informal zoom meeting with Katie, and after the call felt so relieved to have someone guide her and stay on top of early admission deadlines and requirements. A schedule was set and followed with a few behind the scene conversations with ourselves and Katie. Katie was great at keeping our daughter focused and calm. She offered encouragement and helped our daughter create an essay unique to her. We are thankful that a little stress was removed from the daunting process of applying to college.

We interviewed several college consultants and we are so glad we chose Educational Advocates. Laurel Weijer listened carefully to our needs and preferences at every step in the process. She identified a set of schools that were good matches for my son’s interests and that also had sufficient supports for his learning differences—something we were struggling to figure out on our own since colleges vary on so many dimensions, not all of which can be inferred from a website. Laurel coaxed my son into writing a terrific essay, one that authentically reflected who he is. She advised us on all the little details along the way—this being our first time through the college admissions process, we depended on her insider’s knowledge about what was important to do and what wasn’t. Remarkably, we never felt stressed, we never had to rush, and our naturally disorganized son met every milestone ahead of schedule. Laurel had us ready to submit early action applications whenever possible and as a result, my son received his first acceptance in mid-November of senior year. Just knowing he was already admitted to a great college, we were able to relax and enjoy the flow of more acceptances and great possibilities. We will absolutely use Laurel again for our younger kids!

Educational Advocates provided invaluable support and guidance throughout the college admissions process. Joan provides a wealth of information about a range of appropriate college choices for each student and what’s necessary to get into them. Her calm and positive approach helped our daughter gain clarity about what was important to her. Her guidance with self assessment, essay writing, testing, college visits, interviews, and evaluating choices helped our daughter find a school that is a perfect fit for her.

When our son began his junior year we had no idea how to start helping him with the college selection process. Joan suggested that Rachel Schneider might be a good fit to work with our son. Rachel and our son clicked immediately. Her calm nature and genuine interest in learning about our son helped them connect from the start. Rachel not only helped select his senior year curriculum but also suggested numerous summer activities that would better define these interests. She was confident this plan would set him apart from other college applicants. Through assessments and numerous discussions with our son, Rachel identified a preliminary list of schools with strong engineering programs. By June, our son had identified his top three schools. When he was recruited by one of these schools to play lacrosse Rachel put us in contact with Dave, the athletic specialist on the Educational Advocates team, who was experienced in the athletic recruiting process which was extremely helpful. Rachel was with us throughout the entire process. The whole process was amazing and our son always looked forward to his meetings with Rachel. Educational Advocates took what can be an overwhelming process and broke it down into manageable steps with achievable deadlines which allowed our son to feel in control and empowered in the process. We have already recommended Educational Advocates to several friends and are looking forward to working with them again for both our daughters.

Working with Educational Advocates was a real pleasure for us as parents and for our son. It gave all of us comfort that we had covered all the bases, strategically and tactically. Joan gave my son a lot of confidence and sense of competence during what is typically a very stressful time. His final decision has turned out to be a perfect fit, and an excellent choice. Working with Educational Advocates is worth the investment of time and money. Result: priceless.

After interviewing multiple college consultants, our family chose Joan Casey to help us navigate the admissions process. We are so grateful that we did! Joan is experienced, calm, trustworthy, and has enormous integrity. We loved that from the beginning Joan understood who our daughter was as a person and encouraged her to be her authentic self throughout the entire process. It was obvious that Joan’s top priority was always what was best for our daughter. Before we started working with Educational Advocates, our daughter had given very little thought to what she was looking for in a college. Joan helped her to identify what was important to her and then to formulate a list of best fit schools. When it came to essay writing, Joan showed our daughter how to approach the questions – her feedback empowered our daughter to best represent herself without ever compromising ownership of her work. Joan set deadlines and kept the entire application process on track. From big picture strategies down to tiny details like proofreading, Joan’s input was invaluable. She can always be relied upon to give her direct and honest opinion, even when it means having a difficult conversation. Working with Joan took so much stress out of the process for our family – we truly cannot imagine going through it without the benefit of her wisdom, patience, guidance, and support!

Joan helped our son through a transfer admissions process. Our son immediately connected with her and trusted her advice and opinions. He thought she was thoughtful, respectful and smart. We found her wise, kind and very knowledgeable. She knew what was important and what wasn’t. We believe her expertise was pivotal in his success in transferring to the college of his choice. We only wish we had used her earlier when our other sons went through the admissions process.

We were so pleased to have Rachel Schneider work with our daughter on her college applications. She was very thoughtful and professional and took much of the stress out of the process. Our daughter truly benefited from her advice and insight, which made it less overwhelming for all of us.

Educational Advocates’ help in preparing our daughter for the college process was invaluable. I’m not sure that we would have been able to get through it without their help. Prior to working with Joan, we had visited several college campuses, but were having a difficult time narrowing down our daughter’s choices. Each school seemed to offer something unique and appealing. Thankfully, Joan helped us to sort through all of the information and compose a list of schools which suited our daughter’s needs and interests. Throughout the application process, Joan’s ability to simplify each step, ensured that the process be as stress free as possible. I have recommended Educational Advocates to many of our friends and look forward to working with them again with our younger daughter.