Thank you so much for being my college consultant!
Thank you so much for being my college consultant! Initially, I was completely overwhelmed by the whole college application process, especially the essays. But, your tips and materials showed me how to present everything. I really appreciate your kind and helpful comments and advice as I put together my “talking points,” got ready for my first interview, and wrote my essays. I could never have prepared my applications half as well without you.
Katherine, Virginia
When April arrived, my son had so many wonderful college options and is matriculating to a top 10 school with an excellent financial aid package
Throughout the application process, Jeannette gave wonderful insight on how someone unfamiliar with homeschooling may not correctly understand the information as intended. She also pointed out aspects of our son’s achievements that seemed commonplace to us, but would not appear so to the admission office and should be highlighted. She also gave us many helpful suggestions on test taking strategy, financial aid applications, interviews, follow up letters, and more. I am confident it is because of Jeannette’s assistance that when April arrived, my son had so many wonderful college options and is matriculating to a top 10 school with an excellent financial aid package. As parent, teacher, and counselor, I struggled with how best to prepare my part of the school paperwork in a way that would correctly portray my son’s unique and challenging high school experience in a recognizable format. Most college guides direct the applicant to give their high school counselor various forms to fill out and mail directly to the college, but the books do not discuss the counselor’s portion. Jeannette provided refreshingly honest guidance and feedback at every step allowing the paperwork to communicate a true reflection of my son, his abilities, and achievements in a way the colleges could easily evaluate alongside the other mainstream applicants. The closer my son looked at his top college choices, the more it became apparent that a multitude of excellent applicants were lost in the masses of impressive applications. In one year a school on his list had 30,000 applicants (many with perfect test scores, National Merit Finalist, and 10+ AP courses), and the school only accepted 7% of that very talented pool. In light of the competition, I was overwhelmed with how to help our son translate his unusual homeschool experience to overworked admissions office where excellence was commonplace. Jeannette made all the difference. She helped translate his work into a recognizable package for the admissions office. He did the work, but the packaging made him competitive. After investing a large amount of time evaluating many wonderful schools, my son finalized his college list. Jeannette was encouraging when she saw it, but strongly suggested that he add one more school, a specific top 10 college. She said it was an excellent match for his interests and desired academic environment. He had bypassed that school because it was known for very poor financial aid and had unusually severe winters. After she suggested the school several times he reluctantly agreed, but it was the only school he did not visit ahead of time. This spring he was accepted by a variety of wonderful colleges; however, the best financial aid was from the school Jeannette had recommended. After visiting during Accepted Students Days, he was overwhelmed with how the school was everything he desired in a college and more. It is strong in all five of his departments of interest (at one of his other choices one department only had one professor), has an established wonderful study abroad program in his somewhat unusual language choice, and the grad school atmosphere of campus was most attractive to him. The winters were not as much of an issue once he realized the incredible academic opportunities available. His biggest concern now is how he will be able to fit all of the courses he wants to take in only four years. All who know him agree the school is the perfect "academic and intellectual fit" for our son. We are so thankful Jeannette knew enough about the school and took the time to get to know our son to be able to suggest such a wonderful match.
Kathy, Tennessee
I didn’t have the traditional options open to me, but Mrs. Webb worked with my unique situation, helping me figure out how to develop the best set of extracurriculars possible
My first choice school was the University of Pennsylvania. I had the academic background needed, but just a list of test scores would not have been enough to get me into Penn. Mrs. Webb worked with my family to fill in all the holes. She explained to us how to produce a professional looking transcript, school profile, and transcript legend. Then she painstakingly went over our rough drafts, helping us hone the documents until they looked as good as if they’d come out of a school guidance counselor’s office. Another area of weakness for us, as for many homeschoolers, was extracurricular activities. Because my family lives in China, I didn’t have the traditional options open to me, but Mrs. Webb worked with my unique situation, helping me figure out how to develop the best set of extracurriculars possible. Once we had that raw material, she helped me package it in a way that made them look way more impressive than I had originally thought them to be. By the time I sat down to write my college application essays, I was already very impressed with Mrs. Webb’s ability and helpfulness, but what I appreciated the most was her patient support as I wrangled with the essays. I don’t know how many emails and rough drafts I sent to Mrs. Webb before I finally submitted the final product. Mrs. Webb answered every question I had and must have looked over my essay nearly a dozen times. She gave specific suggestions for improvement, but was also willing to tell me when I was off track and needed to try again. I was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania and given a generous financial aid package to boot.
Elisha, China
Excellent ‘beyond the call of duty’ service
Jeanette didn’t ask me to write this testimonial. I offered to do it after experiencing her excellent, ‘beyond the call of duty’ service to our eldest son and our entire family. My wife and I are college graduates and I went to an Ivy League school, so the process of applying wasn’t a black box to us. But we both came out of public high schools and made our applications from within the educational ‘establishment.’ In addition, that was a quarter of a century ago, and the times have changed. As home schooling parents, we didn’t have an office of guidance counselors behind us. So instead the Lord led us to something better: Jeannette! The fact is, admissions officers at most upper level universities still aren’t sure how to assess a home schooled child. And we weren’t sure how to present our son to them! Jeannette took us inside the mind of the admissions officers at today’s upper level schools and showed us how to ‘package’ our son in a way that would enable them to understand his actual achievements and activities, even though many of them don’t fit into the traditional model of public or private schools. Jeannette really took the time to understand our son and our family. As a Christian, she was able both to understand and support our ultimate goal of seeking first God’s kingdom and righteousness. The end result, under God’s providence, is our son was accepted early admission to an Ivy League school tied for fifth place in the latest national rankings. And we received a no-loan financial aid package that will cover 95% of the total costs.
Tom, China
Provided me with the guidance and support I need to homeschool high school with confidence and direction, and not with panic and fear
When my son asked to be homeschooled I prayed, read books and spoke to many veteran homeschool moms. After a year of reading the Webb’s College Bound column in Practical Homeschooling magazine, we made the connection with Jeannette. My son was a 7th grader when we started working with Aiming Higher Consultants. Jeannette helped me design a game plan for the rest of jr. high and for high school. She asked me many questions about my sons and we discussed at length my hopes and challenges. Together we mapped out four years of college prep classes, SAT tests, and possible extracurricular and leadership projects. We now have a great plan on an excel spreadsheet that I can constantly refer to and implement, or question and change as time goes on. Every year we update it and make the changes that make sense. Last year we also designed a plan for my second son. It’s a true blessing to have a roadmap for my sons’ education. I appreciate being able to learn from someone who has already blazed the homeschool trail to college. The plan even highlights important dates for test prep and registration. It’s exactly what I needed. I can move forward more informed and confident that when the time comes, my sons will be ready to apply to the colleges of their choice. I praise God for having provided me with the guidance and support I need to homeschool high school with confidence and direction, and not with panic and fear.