What would you like to know?

When is the best time to sign up? That depends on what you hope to get out of the process of working with Gearen Consulting. Signing up in grade 9 or 10 allows Cameron and her team to get to know your child better–and therefore make better and more personalized suggestions over time. Summer activities are also extremely important for application success; signing up earlier allows the team to give guidance on more than one summer.

Tell me more about the curriculum for grades 9 and 10. 9th and 10th graders meet with Cameron or a teammate 1x month. We set aside an hour for these meetings; sometimes they only last 45 minutes. GES takes meticulous notes while talking with the student to learn about current classes, any struggles at school, interests (!!!). Team members will give homework after each meeting; homework in grades 9 and 10 might include attending a meeting of a specific club, for example. We also help to plan a valuable and interesting summer, and we advise when it comes time to choose next year’s classes.

Tell me more about the grade 11 curriculum. In grade 11, monthly meetings continue but the focus shifts more to college research. Students work on building out their spreadsheet and learning deeply about different colleges and universities suggested by the team. Again, we plan a very impactful summer. We read and study successful examples of personal statements as we ramp up to drafting our own. Again, homework is due in every meeting. In MID-MAY OF JUNIOR YEAR, we increase the frequency of meetings as we begin the work of application season.

Tell me more about the application season curriculum. Application season for rising seniors officially kicks off in June–once junior year is complete. We have a number of tasks to complete and students will be guided through each stage with weekly homework assignments. The college list will be finalized (with parent input) by July. The personal statement will be drafted in summer, and the activities list will also be completed. Starting August 1, students turn their attention to their supplemental essays. GES team members help at each step of the way and keep the work manageable and organized.

How is the work divided among GES team members? Certain team members specialize in certain elements of the process (for example, all students will meet with one team member to draft their activity list). Much of the work is collaborative (meaning students will talk with multiple team members for help with various tasks). Cameron is the final editor on every document and gives the final greenlight on every other element of the application.

What sets GES apart from other educational consultants? We consistently hear from clients that the sheer amount of time we spend with clients and our extremely personal attention that we direct toward them is the special sauce that sets GES apart. Of course we also know the field extremely well (14+ years in the business) and can provide all the information and support a family could ever need. But it’s the individual programming and close, personalized guidance that set us apart from other consultants. Please be sure to visit our testimonials page to find out more reasons clients love us!

Tell me about the webinars GES holds for students and parents. In addition to in-depth, one-on-one guidance and counseling, GES also hosts webinars for clients and their parents on various topics that students need to fully understand. These webinars are included in the package cost and are value-add, from the Junior Year Kick-off call to the Senior Panel (at which students one year older return and share their insights and advice as well as the details of their own college application journeys).

How do the package payments work? GES will divide the total payment for your package into four equal payments and invoice you four times in four consecutive months. For example, for a gold package at $7200, you will be charged ¼ of that sum ($1800) in, say, June, July, August, and September.

What’s the difference between a gold and silver package? A gold package starts earlier (can be as early as the summer before junior year) and includes full-service help for all college applications. A silver package starts in the spring of or summer after junior year and includes help for up to FIVE colleges but not more than that.

How can I figure out which package might be best for my family? The gold and silver packages are similar in that they both include creation of a finalized college list, an activities and honors list, and a completed personal statement. The difference between them is this: the gold package includes comprehensive help for ALL schools (including dozens of supplemental essays) that your child applies to. The silver package includes help on supplemental essays to only FIVE schools. Most students apply to more than five schools. If you purchase a silver, your child will be on his/her/their own to complete the supplemental essays for any schools beyond the first five we help them with. If you think your student is disciplined and can handle this workload Oct-Dec. of their senior year, then a silver package might be right for you. If you would prefer to have full support until the process is finished, we suggest going with a gold package. 

Do you help families sort out financial aid? At GES, we are not experts on financial aid. We will let families know when the FAFSA opens and remind families to apply for federal financial aid. We will direct families to use the cost calculators most colleges supply on their websites. But the biggest way we approach the soaring cost of higher education is to help each student to prepare the very best application they can–and we’ve found over many years that this approach usually results in valuable offers of merit aid. 

Is there any piece of the college application process GES does NOT handle? There is only ONE piece of the application process that GES does not directly handle, and it’s test preparation for the ACT or SAT. That said, we do recommend resources and tutors for students to use, and we certainly weigh in on individual test scores and testing plans (continue testing, stop testing, and how much preparation might be required). We handle EVERY other piece of the application process from soup to nuts!

What family approach helps students and parents succeed best when working with GES? At GES, we try to build independence in all our clients–since they will be on their own at college in a few short months to years! To this end, all meetings are only with the student. While we do loop in parents in all sorts of ways (inviting you to the platform and spreadsheet, sending meeting notes to all, copying parents on emailed reminders of upcoming assignments and meetings), parents can help their children most by allowing them to test their independence and partner with us to get great results. And we will always let you know if your child is falling behind or needs more support! 

In what ways can parents partner effectively with GES? At GES, we are eager to partner with parents and offer several ways this can and does happen. First, we often send an email to parents before a student meeting asking for a parent update. Second, we email all meeting notes to parent and student so that we all stay on the same page. Third, parents who have purchased a package can schedule a parent phone meeting at any time or ask smaller questions through text messages or email. Since our clients are teens, we value partnership with parents very much and have created many pathways to keep family communication open and healthy.