FAQS

At BCC, we believe in a comprehensive and collaborative approach to working with families. We regularly meet one-on-one with our students to build meaningful relationships and ensure they are supported throughout their admissions journey. We will serve as your family's mentor, advisor, and supporter throughout the process. Students are assigned a primary college consultant to be their main contact for navigating the process. As colleagues, we leverage our specific professional capacities, knowledge bases, and personal experiences to support every student. Thus, all BCC students have our entire consulting team collaborating to help support them throughout their journey. We provide unparalleled support to each of our families, which includes: • Reducing stress by providing expert knowledge and guidance • Tracking deadlines and helping with organization • Assisting with choosing high school courses • Exploring interests as they relate to college majors and careers • Helping choose extracurricular activities and summer experiences • Creating a standardized testing plan • Building a tailored and well-balanced college list • Evaluating chances of admission to college list • Instructing how to conduct thoughtful college research and showcase demonstrated interest • Advising on letters of recommendation and supporting application materials • Helping brainstorm, craft, and edit application essays • Assisting with the completion and submission of applications in a timely manner (students typically apply to 8-12) • College interview preparation • Discussions regarding college costs and scholarships • Providing ongoing support throughout the senior year after applications are submitted • Evaluating admissions offers

We are student-centered and data-driven. Our team of college consultants has extensive experience in selective college admissions—Harvard, Tufts, Michigan, Davidson, USC, UCLA, UCSD, and more—and college counseling. We have evaluated thousands of admissions applications, reviewed tens of thousands of essays, visited hundreds of colleges, and helped numerous students find the right college fit. We combine our 215+ years of admissions experience with our higher education research backgrounds to provide unparalleled support and advice to our families. At BCC, we're not just about finding the right college fit; we understand that fit matters with a college consultant, too. We care deeply about our students and seek to build meaningful relationships with them to help them successfully navigate the college application process with less stress. Finally, we serve as educational experts to various local and national media outlets and are members of several professional organizations that are considered the gold standard in college consulting, including the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, the Independent Educational Consultants Association, and the Higher Education Consultants Association.

Students typically begin their work with us through our freshman strategy session, which can be scheduled any time after June of the student's 8th-grade year. Then, students continue to work with us through our Comprehensive or Premier Packages in either sophomore or junior year. However, we strongly encourage students to begin in sophomore year with one of our packages. We believe that early involvement increases knowledge and decreases stress for families. Because we limit the number of students with whom we work, we tend to fill spots by the fall of junior year. We know how busy you can be, so our meeting schedule is designed to be flexible and accommodating. We have one family meeting and two student meetings in 10th grade. In 11th grade, we start regular monthly meetings in November. As you progress to 12th grade, we'll meet bi-weekly with you during the summer before senior year until your applications are completed in the fall. We continue to support students throughout the fall and into the spring with interview coaching, updating colleges, discussing admissions offers, and making the final decision.

Absolutely not. We know that each student is different and has unique goals and aspirations. Our focus is to help each student find the schools that will be the best match for them, where they will be happiest and thrive.

The college search and application process can be confusing and overwhelming. Student-to-counselor ratios at many high schools are over 500:1, and current research shows that high school students receive only 38 minutes of personal college admissions guidance from their high school counselors. BCC consultants have the knowledge, expertise, and passion to assist families in successfully navigating every step of the admissions process with less stress. Our personalized approach to the process ensures we have the time and resources to research colleges extensively, work closely with families to find the right fit, and help students stay informed, organized, and on schedule.

We recommend that most of our students apply to 8-12 colleges. Not only does this number ensure the student has a well-balanced list in terms of chance of admission (likely, target, reach) but also this enables students to have the time and energy to thoughtfully and carefully craft each application to stand out. In addition to the main personal essay that most colleges require, many colleges also require students to write supplemental essays and answer additional questions. On average, our students who apply to 8 colleges average between 10-15 essays, and those who apply to 12 colleges average anywhere from 25-50, depending on their college list. We begin essay work with our students in spring of junior year and into the summer to help them brainstorm, draft and edit their essays so the bulk of the work is completed before senior year begins.

We believe an important part of the college admissions process is helping students build confidence and maturity to prepare them for college and beyond. Therefore, we believe the process should be student-centered. However, we also recognize and appreciate that parents are an essential part of this process. We help them identify their appropriate roles while enabling them to contribute their unique knowledge regarding their students. After each student meeting, we send a detailed email recap to the student and parents, covering what we discussed and the next steps to be completed before the next meeting. At several points throughout the process, we also facilitate family meetings, as we view communication as a critical component of our support. Parents are always welcome to check in on the process, ask questions, and express concerns.

We work with families across the U.S. and abroad, and all of our meetings are virtual. One of the many benefits of working with a virtual college consultant is the flexibility offered to families. We use an online scheduling system that allows you to pick times that work in your schedule. We regularly meet with our students, which enables us to break up the process into manageable chunks so that it not only is seamless but also less stressful. Most communication occurs via video conferencing (Zoom), phone, email and text.

College Research: Fiske Guide to Colleges by Edward Fiske Big Future from The College Board College Navigator from the National Center for Education Statistics Colleges That Change Lives by Loren Pope The Best Colleges by Princeton Review College Scorecard from the US Department of Education College Campus Visit Videos: YOUniversityTV YouVisit CampusReel Standardized Testing: ACT offers free ACT test prep including full practice tests from previous years SAT Khan Academy offers free test prep College Applications: Common Application used by 900+ colleges Coalition Application used by 135+ colleges University of California Application used by 9 UC campuses ApplyTexas used by 24 Texas colleges UCAS Application used by institutions in the UK Financial Aid, Scholarships and College Costs: FinAid.org FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) must be completed to be eligible for any need-based aid from colleges. CSS Profile many colleges require this in addition to the FAFSA to be considered for need-based aid. Fastweb comprehensive site including financial aid, cost, affordability information and scholarship search