Testimonials

Shelley H., 2020

Leslie is a quintessential professional and I highly recommend her.  As a single parent with twins, I was rather daunted by the college application process.  Leslie was the perfect antidote.  She met with my son and daughter, quickly established a comfortable relationship with each, and helped them launch their personal-discovery journeys, and college research.  Leslie is extremely dedicated and takes the time to get to know her students well.  also conducts thorough research, providing supplemental information tailored to the student’s unique interests and goals.  She is knowledgeable, adept with feedback on essays, and her incredible organizational skills help the students meet important deadlines.  My son and daughter wound up with wonderful choices and they were each very grateful for Leslie’s assistance, as was I.  Leslie is a gem.

Paula S, 2017

We are 2 for 2 with Leslie's counsel. Our first child required a specialized search and she found the ideal school for her needs (with a substantial merit scholarship), which had not even been on our radar. With our second child, Leslie believed more strongly than we did which choices would be both a great match and reachable. Her gifts are really listening to each student (great rapport with adolescents) and deeply understanding the college landscape. A champion of kids, yet a realist, full of ideas and directions, while also responsive and collaborative. Leslie makes the process very student-focused, which is as it should be. Expect the student, not the parents, to be her main point of ongoing contact (less stress for you).

E. Nozick, 2017

I can’t say enough about how wonderful Leslie is.  She takes an individualized look at the student and does not try to impose a “one size fits all” approach.  Her interaction with my daughter has been very organized, but also low pressure.  After their first essay meeting, my daughter came home full of enthusiasm about how helpful it was.  Leslie then sent her an insightful, lengthy email summarizing their conversation on each of the  possible essay topics and suggested probing questions to guide my daughter’s thinking.  She provided helpful edits and thoughts on each essay draft and kept the process moving along, and was instantly responsive to our various, random questions about the application process.  Having Leslie takes the pressure off what can be a stressful parent-child dynamic around college applications.  I highly, highly recommend her.  In fact, I have already recommended her to multiple friends, whose kids are very different from each other, and they all rave about her as well!

Stephen, Laura, & Andrew, 2019

We cannot emphasize enough how appreciative we are of Leslie’s work with our son!  From the beginning, she worked directly with Andrew to understand him and his unique talents and experiences.  He did not come into the process very confident but Leslie spent time helping him recognize what truly makes him special and develop a compelling and authentic story about his life and interests.  She then worked with him to identify great schools that matched his strengths; colleges he never would have considered or known about but for Leslie. She also understood exactly how to motivate and engage him throughout the process and she never tired of encouraging Andrew to revise his essays to be deeper and more personal. In the end, he was admitted to nearly every school to which he applied, was given scholarships at many, and is beyond excited about the next four years.  Remarkably, a process we dreaded became a truly positive experience, one Andrew believes truly helped to prepare him for what lies ahead.

J. Rader, 2017

I am the director of a school health center at an urban public high school. Leslie has been supporting our students in the college admissions process over a number of years. I often refer juniors and seniors who are feeling lost and disconnected from the college application process to Leslie. She unfailingly meets young people exactly where they are and offers warm encouragement, task-specific support, and a consistent guiding hand from the beginning of the process to the end. In addition to her one-on-one work, Leslie has been really supportive of our college-going culture. She's offered weekly lunchtime workshops on the college process, presented at school-wide college workshops for parents and students, and has worked closely with our English department to develop curriculum to better prepare students for their personal statement essays. She has a strong relationship with students, parents, teachers, counselors, and staff. I highly recommend her services both to young people and their families and to schools seeking to strengthen site-based resources for the college admissions process.

Jill & Steven, 2018

We were so impressed with Leslie's ability to emotionally connect with our son. She is truly "student focused" and has a unique ability to understand and honor her students' strengths and interests. She sensitively and warmly helped our son engage in the process of writing his essays. We sincerely appreciated her very organized and masterful way of communicating with us while holding our son accountable for his work.  We honestly felt so blessed to have her guiding our son! We, without and ounce of hesitation, recommend Leslie!

Jacqueline R, 2016

I engaged Leslie to work with my college bound senior because I wanted someone who had a wealth of knowledge and a personal touch. Leslie thoughtfully balanced my daughter's voice and intentions with insightful and practical advice that improved my daughter's writing and broadened her understanding of the college application process. It was a gift for us to have Leslie's help through this process and it definitely helped us avoid some of the parent/student stress we've heard about from other families.

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TIP: Get in touch with Leslie early so she can help you throughout every step. Leslie is a great resource to bounce questions off (nothing too big or too small). I can't say enough how helpful it is to have a third party provide support and mentoring, it really helps keep the family relationship supportive. Let Leslie be the "nudge" and then you don't have to be!

A. Garrison, 2019

We truly appreciate the guidance and advice that Leslie provided for our twins (and us!) during the application process. Leslie was an amazing grounding source of knowledge and calm throughout the process. She worked with each boy individually and really stayed on top of what each needed to do and when. For the boys, it was a clear path and gentle guidance throughout the process. For us as parents, it was confidence that our kids were doing everything they could to find appropriate schools to fit their needs, meet deadlines, and present themselves in the most positive light to each school they applied to - without our being involved. The fact that our kids owned this experience completely and continue to stay touch with Leslie to keep her in the loop about admissions decisions as they come in goes to prove that they have viewed her as a valued partner. As soon as child #3 is ready, we’ll be calling Leslie again!