EVERYONE HAS A UNIQUE STORY AND EVERY PARAGRAPH OF MY PERSONAL NARRATIVE HAS LED ME TO MY ROLE AS AN INDEPENDENT EDUCATION CONSULTANT. As a veteran test prep tutor in my community, parents often asked me questions about college. Up until three years ago, I wasn't well-versed on the many facets of the college admissions process. But, with my daughter, Kaleigh, a junior in high school at the time an
d beginning the college process herself, it made sense to learn. So during the summer of 2015, I attended the Independent Educational Consultant Association (IECA) Intensive Summer Training Institute. It was the best decision that I ever made both as a parent and as a professional. I knew that I was born to do this work! During Kaleigh's senior year, with test prep completed, she and I worked diligently on the Common Application, personal, supplemental, scholarship and honors essays, student resume, recommendation letters, interviews, business fellows' competitions, final college list selection, financial aid forms and merit aid negotiations. Our hard work paid off. Kaleigh received Presidential Scholarships from Bucknell, Loyola, Elon, and High Point University. She got into the Honors program at James Madison University, Loyola, and High Point. She was accepted into the Co-op Program at Northeastern, and she was selected for the prestigious Business Fellows at Elon. I believe that the attention to detail on her applications and essays gave her an advantage. In addition to working with Kaleigh, I have been slowing growing my professional development; I have visited over 100 college campuses in 2015 and 2016, received my IECA Associate Membership, attended three New York Times Education Symposiums in NYC, and, last May, 2016, participated in the IECA 2016 Spring Conference in Boston. At this meeting, I met with hundreds of college admissions officers and attended numerous breakout sessions on college trends, admission case studies, the new FAFSA financial aid deadlines and the importance of demonstrated interest. This winter, I will have completed 10 of 15 credits towards my Independent Education College Consulting Certificate from UC Irvine. UCI is the only university worldwide that offers this accredited certificate for IEC's. In addition to test prep, I have advised and helped more than 100 students with their resumes, recommendation letters, personal and supplementary essays as well as their applications. As a former Marketing Director for 12 years (Better Homes and Gardens: 8 years and Food & Wine: 4 years), a certified, tenured English Teacher, SAT/ACT Tutor, Executive Functioning Coach and parent of two teens, my business background, teaching experience, IECA Professional Development. and test prep/college consulting expertise -- as well as my ability to relate to parents and teens -- make me an excellent consideration if you are thinking about using an IEC to navigate the college process. We live in a fast-paced world. Students today are more stressed than ever before. If a student and his parents entrust me to help them, I will do everything in my power to enable a student to find his or her dream school, the perfect fit, and make that dream a reality.
