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"It was great! Sharon is relaxed yet
down to business. Chill yet focused." "I loved it! I honestly don't know how
I would have gotten through the whole process without her. I
was confident that I was always on schedule, applying to schools
that I would love, getting all the pieces of my story across
in every application." "I am so glad the college app process is done and over thanks to you ! Our child is finally starting to enjyo her last year at High School a bit. I never got a chance to thank you for all your help and guidance. You were wonderful with our child and she loves you very much. I really appreciate all you have done for her and for making my job a piece of cake. I'm so glad that you were referred to us and it was a great pleasure working with you. Parent of Student "I really enjoyed it. Sharon is the nicest
woman in the world; I felt I could be honest with her about my
problems or concerns with the process. She always respected my
opinion, and actually tailored her systematic approach to fit
my situation. I felt that she pushed me to work on and improve
my application, and yet was sensitive enough to realize when
I was uncomfortable, overloaded, or burnt out." "Sharon swooped in and saved me when I was lost.
She guided me and made me push for excellence. She's truly been
my college angel with getting me to focus and given me the confidence
in my writing and my applications." "A dream... She was so available
and seemed to click with both me and my daughter from the start.
We felt she understood my daughter's goals and would partner with us
to achieve them." "Your work with our daughter over the last summer gave her the platform on which to have emotional space to consider her interests and hopes for college. You helped her manage the work so well and I really think that she was able to follow her heart. We are most grateful!" "For us, it was heavenly to have you as
the primary person interacting with our daughter regarding college
issues. Removed a huge amount of tension and pressure from our
shoulders and allowed our parent-child relationship to remain
intact." "My son was applying to what may be typical;
3 safe, "Working with Sharon was an absolute joy.
She is organized, creative, sensitive and very tuned in—both
to her advisees and their parents. She has good instincts about
how much each student can (and wants to) handle at a time, and
tailored her interactions and the follow on assignments so that
the pressure that often surrounds the college application process
was minimized. She is an effective task master with a very light
touch, and made the research and strategy sessions fun and the
'to do' tasks straightforward and manageable. She has a knack
for empowering the students to 'own' the process, and developed
a very effective rapport with our daughter. Together they developed
a plan and schedule, and Sharon gently kept our child on task—while
making herself readily available for consultations and support
of any kind." "Very helpful, supportive and encouraging.
Also, despite the fact that I am a college professor, and know
about the process, it is different when it's your own kid and
the perspective is blurred. Sharon helped us 'to see' our kid's
strength and weaknesses and offered ways to present him objectively." "Sharon's patience, optimism, focus and experience
allowed our daughter to manage the process with the confidence
she, no doubt, would not have had if her father and I had been
allowed to muck things up too much!" "We want to thank you for all of your help with our son's college admission process. We never would have never learn about Cornell College were it not for you. We are eternally grateful for you creating the opportunity which allowed Drew to enjoy such a wonderful college experience. Parent of Cornell College Graduate "I can't emphasize enough
your ability to assess our son and 'his needs.' He gets discouraged
and depressed easily and then will shut down completely. You
were able, through tremendous support and encouragement, to keep
him on track throughout this whole process so he could reach
'his goals.' This is not usually the case." "Comforting! I knew I was
in 'good hands' and that nothing would slip by me. But it was
more than that, because I knew everything I submitted would be
my best work." "It was personal. We met
a lot, and we got a lot done. It was great working with Sharon
and I know that she was definitely a major part in my getting
in early to Davidson."
"The one thing we got from Sharon that meant
the most was our daughter's renewed confidence that she was progressing
beautifully through the process." "Sharon gave me my much-needed motivation.
I was practically burnt out by the beginning of senior year and
I had a lot of work still ahead of me. Sharon was able to lovingly
kick me into gear." "Individual Attention!!!! Laughter, enthusiasm,
incredible creativity --college visits, writing up of recommendations.
You have the right combination of kindness, humor, and support
with the push that our daughter so very much needed." "Sharon got to know me well and that awareness
helped us gel and get a clear sense of what I was looking for
quickly. Although I had ideas, Sharon encouraged me to go out
and do a little work that I hadn't yet thought of (college guides,
researching specific departments, etc.) and helped me to really
grasp the extent of the task." "You cared about our son's progress. The
cover letter was the most helpful objective thing that you did
--this task would be incredibly difficult for Michael (or me)
to do well." "You recognized something special in my son
at the very beginning and let him know that in such a positive
and supportive way. He can be a challenging personality
and the 'college application process' for him couldn't be handled
by just anyone or by the standard methods. He requires a lot
of support." "You provided a structure and oversaw
the myriad details that in turn relieved some of the (inevitable)
stress building up at home. The writing workshop with Joyce Maynard,
although not the most critical aspect of your work, was especially
creative, provided camaraderie, and got those juices flowing." "I am now keenly aware of the importance
of capturing the essence of the student’s personality,
talents, accomplishments, ambitions, and potential in a concise
packet of application materials, supplemented by interviews and
visits. Sharon’s approach is both practical and inspiring
at the same time—and all of us are convinced that because
of Sharon, our daughter was able to communicate with colleges
in a lively and engaging way. So the thing that meant the most
to us out of our work with Sharon was that throughout the entire
experience, we lived with a happy, motivated child who felt in
charge of the process and optimistic (and realistic) about the
outcome." "Our daughter got into all her colleges... Thanks for your support and brilliant advice." Parent of Walnut Creek High School Senior "The fact that our son would listen to you for advice when he would not listen to the same advice from his parents. The focus that you brought to the process by having scheduled meetings." Parent of Senior "Confidence. It's
really daunting for your whole family to go through the process
for the first time, and what makes Sharon the best is that she
instills this confidence." "You got things done,
you encouraged me to make it happen. The single most impressive
thing you did for me though was when you called Trinity for me
before I went. That meeting with the professor was really special." "I did not have to
be the one coaching, pushing, etc. which...."
"I wish I had started earlier. Despite
all of the planning we did to get all of the applications out
the door early, my WashU application still came down to the wire.
If I had started in the summer, I could have toured more schools,
and done more on location research into each of the schools I
was applying too." "Do your work when Sharon suggests! I
know it's hard but it will only make your life easier down the
road. If you can't do it exactly on time, don't beat yourself
up. Just put it behind you and try your best to catch up. Under
no circumstances is it recommended to sit in denial of the fact
that you have college applications. Also make sure to talk to
Sharon about how you're doing in school, sports, and the college
process. Once she hears where you are, she can help reorganize
the workload to help you." "It's important to work in school not
only because you want to get into college, but because you find
what you're doing interesting. Try to take classes in subjects
that interest you and make sure your extra-curriculars are activities
that you'd continue with through college, be it music, sports,
art, whatever." "Time, follow-through, and organization
--this process takes a lot of it; the best school counselors
(and we had an excellent one) are shepherding a large flock." "Talk with them first. Some counselors are abrupt
and immediately tell the kids they have no chance for a particular
school. Sharon allowed our daughter time to work the process herself." "Start early --sophomore year to just
meet and greet. Write essays over the summer. Include the school
college counselor --don't assume all needs are handled by Sharon
because while she is awesome, the college counselor writes a
very important recommendation. I know you advised our daughter
about this, but I don't know how seriously kids take it." "Sharon makes sure you apply to schools
that fit you." "DO WHAT SHARON TELLS YOU TO DO! Get organized
earlier. I had to play catch up because I was a slacker." "With so much competition for so few openings
would strongly advise outside counseling. "
"I doubt I would have gotten in early
to my top choice. I really felt like after working with her,
I had a solid package that I was very proud of and I knew for
sure that I was a good match for the school and, more importantly,
that they would see that from my application. Every angle was
covered or as Sharon says, 'we squeezed out every drop.'" "I think I would have put an OK application
out the door, but because I worked with Sharon I felt that I
sent out the best application possible. When I mailed my first
application a year earlier, I knew that I hadn't put my best
foot forward. After using my summer to take classes during my
gap year at Santa Clara University, I couldn't stand the idea
of selling short my accomplishments by not 'turning over every
stone,' as Sharon did." "If I had not worked with Sharon, I would
probably not be speaking with my parents right now. The tension
between my parents and me decreased considerably." "No doubt we would have had much more
household stress over the process and would not have been as
organized or confident about a happy outcome. As a parent, I
didn’t need to worry about keeping our child on track or
making sure that nothing fell between the cracks. The process
brought us closer to our daughter. For all the hype, it is a
very exciting and rewarding process of self discovery and personal
growth.
" "Well, I didn’t even know what a non-school-affiliated
college counselor’s purpose was until I had a meeting with
Sharon, so I don’t think I would have been nearly as successful.
I think that I would not have had nearly so easy a time figuring
out what schools I wanted to apply to and I would’ve had
a harder time getting my stuff done in a semi-timely fashion." "I don’t think our son would have been
able to complete all the work necessary to get through all that
is required to apply for college. Just keeping track of everything
is a challenge for anyone. And our son would not and does not let
us participate, or at least, very minimally. I know he needs to
'own the process,' but without Sharon’s guidance and long
term planning, he wouldn’t be receiving those college
acceptance letters!" "The process is difficult enough, but when the
parent tries to act as advisor, then along with the child's struggle
for independence, the tension between parent and child increases
and hurts everyone." "It would have been detrimental to our family
dynamics. Also, we trusted Sharon, so we didn't push our son." "Totally different. Our daughter would never
have been able to narrow down her choices without your help. In
this way she was able to apply early decision. You helped her so
much to ask the right questions and find the useful experiences.
Our high school seniors have so much going on that this process
often feels overwhelming. You are great at helping to break it
down into bite-sized chunks." "We’d be in therapy." "I try not to think of the
college process without Sharon. I would have been WAYYY more
stressed out, on all different levels: I wouldn't have done my
essays in the summer, so I would have had to cram them in during
the year. I would have probably stressed about the wrong things.
I would never have known how to present myself in the awesome
way I did." "My essays would have been
much worse and my overall application would not have been as
cohesive. You added some great college choices to my list that
made sense for me." "Much more painful and perhaps
a totally different outcome."
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