“We think our daughter should major in finance or plant biology,” Alicia’s mom announced during our initial meeting a few years back. Hmm, I thought to myself, other than AP Bio on her transcript and some casual foraging activity while camping, I saw no strong case for plant biology. Same for finance.

“What do you do when you don’t have to do anything?” I asked Alicia, thinking the answer might provide insight into her unique admissions path. “I’ve been creating designs for virtual pet games since I was 12. I’m now designing wireframes for a new site,” she replied.

That’s all the information I needed to help Alicia develop an application strategy highlighting a very impressive resume of digital illustration and user interface design experience. The result? Admission to Carnegie Mellon’s Information Systems program and two years later, acceptance to the Human Computer Interface (HCI) program, exactly as we’d mapped out in her application.

If Alicia and her mom hadn’t signed up for a Strategy Consultation, they wouldn’t have stumbled upon this winning and authentic strategy. In fact, Alicia’s mom tried to hide her daughter’s virtual pet activities, considering it immature and irrelevant. With my guidance, she was able to see the pre-professional promise in this teen leisure activity and our new creative approach.

As I’m sure you already know, there’s no set formula for successful college admissions. So guess what you face as a parent? Not knowing what you don’t know. How could you know that volunteering for voter registration over the summer is admissions gold, or that choosing American Studies as a major might be your child’s ticket to a dream school? That’s where the Blue Stars Strategy Consultation comes in: to set you and your child on an innovative, authentic path leading to best-fit schools and a promising adulthood for your child.

The Blue Stars Strategy Consultation is the foundation of our life-coaching-style college planning service. This is where your child’s profile gains initial definition. It’s the launching pad.

With a Blue Stars Strategy Consultation, you will:

• Go from confusion to clarity on what top schools look for (it’s not what you think)
• Gain a clarifying vision of how your “present teen” will become a “future adult”
• Discover ideas you didn’t know existed leading to results beyond expectations
• See your child become comfortable with the idea of college planning

Without a Blue Stars Strategy Consultation, you:

• Won’t know how to discern conflicting advice and opinions
• Won’t be able to guide your child in a calm way with a coherent, yet flexible vision
• Won’t have a clear and creative college planning path
• Will feel anxious

It’s never too late to gain that coherent, yet flexible and winning vision for your child’s future. Just last year, while working with a junior who had impeccable grades and test scores but no unique definition to his profile, I guided him in creating and launching a mobile app connecting teens in need of work with adults in need of assistance with chores. This fall, he’ll be attending UC Berkeley’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) program.

The path to your child being admitted to their dream school begins with an effective strategy. If you’ve read this far, you might be feeling that you don’t know what you don’t know. Frankly, it’s not about knowing any key fact about admissions, because every student and every admissions case is different. The key is understanding how to identify and activate a student’s greatest interests and strengths. This is the core of my practice, and I love sharing my approach with families who are prepared to take the leap into an accelerated path to winning in admissions. If you’d like to keep up with current college planning news, you can sign up for our newsletter below. If you’re interested in a Strategy Consultation, contact us to start the journey!