College Planning & Applications
From building a college list to strengthening essays and understanding financial aid, we help students and families make thoughtful decisions—with guidance shaped around the student’s goals, circumstances, and stage in the process.
Meet Your College Advisors
Amanda Miller and Katherine Hiteshue were chosen for their expertise, careful judgment, and commitment to students’ best interests. They help families consider admissions and affordability together, with guidance tailored to each student.
How we can help with college planning
College Search & List Development
Explore colleges based on the student's academic interests, goals, preferences, opportunities, and financial considerations—and develop a thoughtful, balanced college list.​
Application Strategy
​Make informed decisions about application timing, testing, activities, recommendations, and how the different parts of the application work together.
Applications & Organization
Create a manageable plan for deadlines, application requirements, supplemental materials, and the details involved in applying to multiple colleges.
Essays & Personal Statements
Help students identify meaningful topics, develop their ideas, and strengthen their writing while preserving the student's own experiences, perspective, and voice.
Financial Aid & College Costs
Help families understand college costs, financial aid, scholarships, and affordability—and make sense of financial considerations as they compare college options.
College Decisions
Help students and families thoughtfully compare college options, financial-aid offers, and other important considerations when deciding which college is the right choice.
Start with the student, not a formula
Every student brings different strengths, interests, goals, and circumstances to the college process. We begin by understanding the student, the decisions ahead, and where experienced guidance would be most useful.
Together, we identify the support that makes sense—whether that means planning across several stages or focusing on a college list, application strategy, essays, or a particular decision. Our recommendations reflect the student’s needs and the family’s priorities.
Finding the right college means looking at the whole picture
​Choosing a college means considering where a student can thrive, how to present a strong application, and what the family can afford. We help families consider these questions together.
Academic & Personal Fit
Explore colleges that match the student’s academic interests, personal priorities, and goals—including the learning environment, campus community, and opportunities that matter to them.
Application & Student Story
Develop an application that helps admissions readers understand the student’s interests, experiences, and contributions, with essays and other materials that reflect the student’s own voice.
Financial
Fit
Consider costs early, explore financial aid and scholarships, and compare what different colleges may actually cost the family.
A strong college essay is more than just good writing
A student can be a strong writer and still find the college essay difficult. Admissions writing asks the student to do something different from most school assignments: choose experiences worth sharing, decide what those experiences reveal, and communicate something meaningful that may not be apparent elsewhere in the application.
Our approach begins with the student's ideas and voice. We help students brainstorm possibilities, evaluate topics, develop their stories, and revise thoughtfully. The objective is not to turn the essay into something written by an adult. It is to help the student produce stronger work that still sounds unmistakably like the student.
Experienced guidance can also help students recognize when an otherwise well-written essay relies on a familiar topic or misses an opportunity to reveal something more distinctive about the student.
When should college planning begin?
There is no single year or moment when every student needs to begin college planning. Starting earlier can provide more time to think about coursework, activities, testing, college interests, and affordability—but beginning later does not mean that thoughtful planning is no longer possible.
A ninth- or tenth-grade student may need broad guidance about choices that will matter later. A junior may be ready to explore colleges and develop a testing and application strategy. A senior may need focused help with a college list, applications, essays, deadlines, or final decisions.
What working with us looks like
We begin with a conversation. We want to understand where the student is in the process, what decisions are ahead, what has already been done, and where the student or family would value additional guidance.
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to sign up for help with the entire college process?
No. Some students benefit from ongoing guidance, while others need support with a specific part of the process. We begin by identifying what would be most useful for the individual student.
Can you help with college essays?
Yes. We can help students brainstorm topics, develop ideas, organize their writing, and revise effectively. The student's experiences, ideas, and voice remain at the center of the essay.
Can you help us build a college list?
​Yes. We can help students explore options and develop a balanced list based on academic interests, goals, preferences, opportunities, financial considerations, and other factors important to the student and family.
Can you help with financial-aid questions?
Yes. We can help families understand college costs, financial-aid requirements, scholarships, and affordability; think through financial considerations earlier in the college-planning process; and make sense of financial-aid offers when comparing college options.