Guidance for the full journey to and through college.
A Deep-Fit™ approach across:
college admissions
college success
academic recovery
Grounded in decades of experience as university professors, deans, advisors, and admissions professionals.
A developmental approach to college admissions and student success
Most college counseling focuses primarily on helping students gain admission. Lantern’s approach is different.
Drawing on decades of experience as university professors, deans, advisors, and admissions professionals, we understand not only how students are evaluated during admissions, but also what helps them thrive once they arrive on campus.
Our work is grounded in the Deep-Fit™ Framework — a philosophy that views college not as a single admissions outcome, but as a longer process of intellectual growth, direction-finding, and personal development. We help students identify environments where they can engage deeply, build confidence and agency, develop meaningful mentorship, community, and connection, and pursue transformative educational experiences that shape their long-term academic, personal, and professional trajectories.
This perspective connects Lantern’s work across admissions counseling, college success coaching, and academic recovery guidance. Whether families are navigating the college search process, supporting a student through the transition to college, or responding to academic or personal challenges during college, our goal is the same: helping students build thoughtful, sustainable educational paths that support long-term growth and success.
Explore the Deep-Fit™ Framework.
Guidance across the full college journey
College Admissions Counseling
Strategic, individualized admissions counseling grounded in our Deep-Fit™ Admissions Approach. We help students explore academic and extracurricular interests, develop authentic, compelling applications, build thoughtful college lists, and navigate admissions processes with clarity and integrity.
Explore College Admissions Counseling
College Success Coaching
Structured, dean-informed support for students transitioning to or enrolled in college. We help students build momentum, clarify academic direction, strengthen executive function and self-advocacy, and make the most of their college experience as they grow academically, personally, and professionally.
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College Crisis Support
Experienced support for families navigating academic probation or dismissal, leave of absence, transfer pathways after academic difficulty, or other significant college challenges. We provide institutional insight and thoughtful guidance during moments when clarity and direction matter most.
Deep expertise in STEM and engineering pathways
Much of Lantern’s work centers on students pursuing engineering, computer science, AI, mathematics, and other technical pathways — informed by Jennifer Stephan’s background as a computer science professor and engineering dean — though we also work with students across a wide range of academic interests.
We understand not only how highly selective STEM and engineering programs evaluate applicants, but also the academic environments, cultures, and support structures that help students thrive within them. Our students pursue a broad range of educational paths, but many families seeking thoughtful guidance in STEM and engineering are drawn to Lantern’s combination of technical expertise, institutional perspective, and developmental approach.
A perspective shaped from inside higher education
Lantern College Counseling was founded by Jennifer Stephan, a former university dean, professor of computer science, and admissions professional with more than three decades of experience working with students across the full arc of the college journey.
Jennifer holds a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and spent fourteen years as a computer science professor before moving into academic leadership roles at Wellesley College and Tufts University. Her work has included undergraduate advising, engineering education, student success initiatives, admissions evaluation, academic policy, program development, and support for students navigating complex academic and personal challenges during college.
This broader institutional perspective shapes Lantern’s approach. We understand not only how students are evaluated during admissions, but also the academic, social, and developmental experiences that shape student success once they arrive on campus — and what students should be looking for as they evaluate college environments.
Lantern’s team also includes experienced college success and advising professionals who have served in leadership roles at institutions including Harvard University, Wellesley College, and Tufts University. Together, we bring experience from inside higher education systems that most private college counseling practices cannot offer to inform our guidance.
Our work is grounded in the belief that successful college planning is about more than admission. It is about helping students identify environments where they can engage deeply, grow intellectually and personally, and pursue transformative educational experiences linked to long-term success after college.
Thoughtful guidance. Meaningful outcomes.
Our students pursue a wide range of educational paths shaped by their interests, goals, learning styles, and values. Over the years, Lantern students have earned admission to selective universities, liberal arts colleges, engineering programs, honors colleges, and specialized programs across the United States and internationally.
But our work is about more than admission. We believe the most meaningful college outcomes happen when students find environments where they can engage deeply, build confidence and direction, develop strong mentorship and community, and pursue opportunities that support long-term academic, personal, and professional growth.
Our students’ outcomes reflect not only successful admissions outcomes, but thoughtful educational matches grounded in the Deep-Fit™ Framework.
What families value about working with Lantern
Start the conversation
If you would like to explore whether Lantern may be the right fit for your student and family, we invite you to schedule an introductory consultation.
