Stellar College Consulting

10/02/2026

Rocket College Consulting, English & STEM
changed its name this past May, but the same devoted
college consultant is still here, working on dreams with
amazing students.

The old name came from the genesis of this service which focused more on elementary and middle school students - which started over 15 years ago. Over the years, as my work evolved into high school college admissions, and then med school and law school admissions for undergrads, the branding once appropriate for younger kids didn't fit as well anymore.

I am still here supporting the heroes of tomorrow, get in touch with me for a free zoom consult. Let's talk about your high schooler and their college journey.

Kate

10/01/2026

The first acceptance of the season has arrived and it's got serious prestige attached to it. I am so proud of and excited for N.H.

She's been accepted to Penn State in the accelerated Bachelor's/J.D. program. She will begin her law school journey immediately upon completing her B.S. - and she will receive the Keystone Scholars Grant at Penn State Dickinson Law for $20,000 per year for all three years of her law school journey.

She's got a lot of other irons in the fire, including Ivies, but this is a superlative accomplishment, and what I love about it is saving hundreds of thousands of dollars, and debt, with this amazing award.

This is a great start for what will be, once again, the best year of acceptances for my students yet.

09/26/2026

One of the most fun parts of the year is making the 2 min application video for Brown University

I love this one; I would have said leave out speech & debate since it's already on his activities list. But its humor and authenticity makes it a pithy and brisk ride - that does produce a powerful emotion of affection in the viewer. Winning combo.
It also helps to diss Harvard.

update 3/28/26: accepted! currently deciding between williams, amh...

09/26/2026

This is a strategy for elite college admissions; Ivy, and top 20’s – 30’s.

As a 12-13 year old are you expected to know your major, or what you want for your career? Probably not. But,
you can start getting focused on your intellect, your character, and your rigor in academics without knowing
that fact. This is when we start sculpting a unique, and the
key word is unique, persona for college admissions through exploring the world.

First, it’s time to put the video game controller and the socials to the side for the majority of your week. Replace those things with reading real books that interest you; high quality literary fiction and non-fiction. You start learning everything about historical figures from eras that fascinate you, and reading the literary giants.
Your brain centers for learning, speaking, writing, and critical thinking grow. Your confidence multiplies.

You don’t know your major, but the life cycle of the bullfrogs in the creek behind your house captivates your curiosity – take a deep dive into anything in your environment that entertains your imagination.

You know you love math. Take it all the way to the limit. Go as far and as deep as is possible. Expand outside your middle school and high school walls – you can access the heights of math just like a college student. Challenge yourself and reach for greatness. You can start collecting awards for math competitions.

Never thought much about art? Look into it, figure out the kind of art that touches your soul and explore it. If you are an artist or writer, take it past your present limits - go all in on your art form, become excellent – win awards.

Critical: if you are not already engaged in lifting up and improving conditions in your community, start now.

Follow at least 5 accounts on your socials that directly report what’s going on in your community on the daily. Find out what really bothers you, what you want to see changed, and go about changing it. Getting involved with a non-profit that benefits the area of need your care about, and doing boots on the ground work to edify those in your community who may be suffering.

Elite colleges are looking for leaders, doers, dreamers,
students who are intimately engaged in the world
around them, and who can think critically and write and
speak with talent and confidence. These are the steps
to take to get there.

09/19/2026

Absolutely iconic and unbelievable goal for UNC women's soccer. You can't make this stuff up with CGI.

Congrats Tarheels women!

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1099949719355307

09/19/2026

You're middle class or higher. The FAFSA is showing you no love.

Check these out:

5 Top Scholarships that don’t consider financial need

Taco Bell Live Mas

Coca-Cola Scholars

Cameron Impact Scholarship

Davidson Fellows Scholarship (start 2 years early – requires significant published work)

Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship

09/19/2026

Vet Your Colleges For Fit

It's that time of year when students have far too many schools on their college lists.

The first half of those colleges are just brand names that the student equates with prestige. “If I go here
I will be someone.” The second half may be reasonable colleges in their stat range, and maybe a safety or two.

No one needs to apply to more than 15 schools. The sweet spot is about 12. (UCs count as 1 schools since it's an all in one application) And those 12 schools earn a place on your list by being a lock and key fit for you academically, financially, extra-curricularly, and socially. (Why 12? The more schools you have on your list that you apply to past the ideal 12-school threshold, the more the quality of your applications starts to diminish, and admissions officers sense and see that immediately.)

Fit is everything in the admissions game for one reason. When the student feels a lock on their end with a particular school after performing in depth vetting, the admissions officers feel the fit on their side as well, which results in high acceptance ratios.

I have a 4-step vetting process I reach all my students sometime by their junior year. Those who use it, find they get accepted to more schools than those who don’t.

09/17/2026

One of my literary heroes has passed away. I often have her book "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" on my reading lists that I give my students to grow their critical thinking and literary muscles.

She wrote an indispensable book about the craft of writing called
"The Writing Life".

She is a superlatively amazing writer, and under-recognized though she did win the Pulitzer.

Rest in Peace, Annie. You will be missed.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1532272532266657&set=a.620670090093577

Annie Dillard '67, M.A. '68, beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek," has died at 81.

Multiple sources have reported that Annie died Tuesday at her home in South Wellfleet, Mass., as confirmed by her literary executor, Maggie Nelson.

Annie received her B.A. in English. The 1967 issue of Hollins' yearbook, "The Spinster," records her participation as a contributor to a reference book, "Who's Who," and a member of a campus literary society, Grapheon. She was also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and served as an editorial assistant for the "Hollins Critic" literary journal. Just a year later, in 1968, she earned her M.A. in English, having written her thesis on Henry David Thoreau’s "Walden."

In addition to finding literary success with "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek," a nonfiction narrative about the natural world near Roanoke, Dillard was also known for "Teaching a Stone to Talk," an essay collection, among more than a dozen other works.

Annie received many honors throughout her lifetime, including a 1975 New York Press Club Award for Excellence, Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts/Literature grants in the 1980s, and honorary doctorates from Boston College (1986), University of Hartford (1993), and Connecticut College (1993). On her website, Annie mentioned that she turned down multiple subsequent honorary degrees because “they take days and days in heels.”

Annie was honored with Hollins’ Distinguished Alumna Award in 2007 and, in 2014, Hollins Theatre presented the world premiere of the stage adaptation of "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek." Adapter/director Andy Belser and actor Rachel Nelson '07 joined then-Theatre Chair Ernie Zulia to devise and produce the work.

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives," she notably said. "What we do with this hour and with that one, is what we are doing.”

Read Annie's obituary, as reported by NPR, here: https://www.npr.org/2026/09/16/1138680574/annie-dillard-dead.

And revisit Annie’s work on her website, anniedillard.com.

09/16/2026

One of the easiest and fastest ways to get rejected is to spend months writing an opus masterpiece of a personal statement, only to whip out your supplemental essays as an after-thought as you speed toward the application deadline.

When admissions officers read a pretty well written and authentic personal statement, then move on to find supplemental essays that lack the same story-telling-feeling quality of your main essay, they know something is amiss. That break in continuity of quality is going to result in a rejection, because the focus was lost, and the
student got lazy, or just waited too long to write before the deadlines hit.

Put as much creative focus and attention into your supplements as you do the personal statement.