Customized College Counseling: Real Stories of Targeted College Counseling Success
At Lantern, the cornerstone of our work is comprehensive college counseling of high school students applying to college. However, I also work with families through targeted advising, providing consultation to parents guiding their high school student’s college search process.
I’m frequently approached by parents who have not hired an independent educational consultant (IEC) and are guiding their own child’s college search process. Typically, they are directed, organized, and knowledgeable through past experience or significant research. However, they seek specific expertise. Likewise, I’ve guided families who have strong support through another counselor yet are seeking additional expertise.
1. Parents Guiding a Younger Sibling Applying to Study Engineering
What They Needed
A year ago, I was contacted by the mother of a junior at a private high school who was referred to me by another IEC. The family had helped their older son with his successful college search and application process, so they had some good experience to lean on. However, their older son had applied to study liberal arts at small liberal arts colleges, so the family had little knowledge of the types of schools that would be a good fit for their younger son, who wanted to study engineering. The family had contacted the other counselor seeking help identifying colleges with engineering programs that would be a good fit for their son as he began the college application process. After their conversation, the other IEC felt they would benefit from a counselor who specializes in students interested in engineering and shared my name with them.
How We Worked Together
The family had already developed a college list on their own and asked for my feedback about the schools, especially regarding fit to their son’s interests. They also sought guidance about the application strategy (early action (EA), early decision (ED), regular decision (RD)) to maximize his admission chances. We set up a few sessions where I helped them shape the college list and strategize about the schools' application plans. Later, I reviewed his completed common application, including the personal statement, and gave them my feedback.
Student Outcome
In December, I was thrilled to learn he was accepted to the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown University through their early admission plans. He is awaiting further outcomes and will surely have some other exciting options!
2. Independent Educational Consultant with a CS-Interested Child
What They Needed
This September, a fellow IEC and college professor recently wrote to me requesting a consultation regarding her junior CS-interested son. She attended my workshop at the IECA Fall 2022 Conference in San Diego, where I presented on Navigating the Computer Science Landscape, based on my article Navigating the Competitive Landscape of Computer Science Admissions: An Expert’s Approach. She said that he was not open to working with anyone but that she was “looking to consult with an expert to help (her) help him get ready for next year.”
How We Worked Together
We set up a one-hour consultation during which we discussed his academic credentials (GPA, course selections, standardized test scores), activities (CS-related and non-CS-related), and initial thinking about schools and what might be a good fit. I also helped her understand the differences between the majors of electrical engineering, computer science, data science, and computer engineering and recommended resources for her to share with him so he could learn the differences between these majors.
I’ve also worked with other IECs more expansively. Last month, I met with an IEC for an hour to review her sophomore CS-interested son’s course selections and transcript, resume, activities, and testing plan. We agreed that I would provide ten or so hours of support to them throughout his application process via a conversation each fall and spring until senior year and then by reviewing his application in the senior year.
3. Student with Medical Conditions Applying to Study Engineering
What They Needed
I received an enthusiastic inquiry from a mother who was heavily engaged in guiding her son’s college application search process. They had developed a list that they were settled on and were fully organized, and his first submitted application would be to MIT. They asked if I would review his complete application package for MIT before submission.
How We Worked Together
After reviewing this student’s application, my main feedback concerned his essays. He had chosen not to write some optional ones, so he missed opportunities to share information with admissions officers, most notably about his research. Also, out of concern for drawing attention to his medical challenges, he chose not to address them and their impact on his life and application components, particularly how the extracurricular activities he could access were limited. I was concerned that, as written, his application would leave readers with a vague sense of him and lingering questions. I encouraged him to be forthright and do his best to help admissions officers fully understand him as an applicant.
Student Outcome
I checked in with them months later and was so pleased to hear that he had experienced extraordinary outcomes, with his mother writing to me that I gave them “the confidence to move forward and apply to all of the schools on his list, to not leave words on the table, and for him to submit his research as part of a maker’s portfolio.” Ultimately, this student chose to attend CalTech.
4. Late-Comer Senior Applying to Study CS
What They Needed
Last August 30, I received an email inquiry from the father of a senior applying to college to study CS. He apologized for reaching out so late, saying he had only just come across my profile. He acknowledged that I likely didn’t have space for comprehensive counseling at such a late date and asked if we could arrange a few targeted conversations because he believed they could benefit greatly from my expertise.
How We Worked Together
I was pleased to be able to share my online course, How to Write a Standout Computer Science College Application, with him. After signing up for it, we arranged to augment the course with four personalized, targeted hours of consulting. He was particularly eager to get my perspective on addressing that his son switched high schools and repeated 10th grade. He was also anxious to get my advice about how to best position his son’s main extracurricular activity, Esports, with strength. In addition to these topics, we discussed his son’s admission chances as a prospective CS student, and I made recommendations for schools to consider beyond their list. I also helped him strategize about CS-tangential majors for his son to consider.
Student Outcome
As of this writing, the student has been accepted to several schools to study CS including Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and the University of Utah and is awaiting further decisions.
5. Student working with a Counselor who is not a CS and Engineering Expert
What They Needed
I recently spoke with a family whose CS- and engineering interested daughter, a junior, has a strong working relationship with and support from her school counselor. However, the family was concerned that the school counselor did not have the expertise needed to help their daughter navigate the fiercely competitive CS and engineering admissions landscape.
How We Worked Together
I was happy to be able to share my online course, How to Write a Standout Computer Science College Application, with the family. The daughter has signed up for the course and is particularly excited by the personal statement and supplemental essays modules, which teach how to approach writing the personal statement and common supplemental essays as a CS and engineering major. The personal statement module (11 lessons) contains guidance and brainstorming exercises for identifying powerful personal statement topics. It also includes examples of actual personal statements my students have written, each followed by an explanation of why the essay works well. The supplemental essays module (15 lessons) contains guidance and brainstorming exercises for writing common supplemental essays as a CS and engineering major and examples of actual essays my students have written. In addition, the course includes over 40 lessons about other important aspects of applying to college as a CS and engineering major.
Meet Dr. Jennifer Stephan
For the past eight years I’ve served as the Dean of Academic Advising and Undergraduate Studies for the School of Engineering at Tufts University, where I oversee undergraduate advising, student success and retention, and the sixteen undergraduate engineering degree programs offered by the School. Before joining Tufts, I spent over two decades serving as a dean and a professor of Computer Science (CS) at Wellesley College. At Wellesley, I served on the College’s Board of Admissions, reading and evaluating approximately one hundred transfer student applications each year, and collaborated with colleagues at MIT and Olin College of Engineering to support students pursuing engineering. As dean at both Wellesley and Tufts, one of my core responsibilities has been holistically mentoring students to envision their future, accomplish their goals, and thrive.
My leadership roles in higher education give me a unique appreciation for how students may have rich college experiences and how institutional priorities are reflected in admissions decisions. I regularly employ insights from these experiences to help students identify good-fit colleges, develop their college lists, and shape competitive, authentic applications. As founder, owner, and principal at Lantern College Counseling, I specialize in counseling CS and engineering students, students who are undecided about their major, and transfer students.
To get in touch about how we can support your student’s college application process, contact jennifer@lanterncollegecounseling.com.
