About Heather
The daughter of boarding school faculty parents, Heather graduated from an independent preparatory school and proceeded to receive her B.A. in Religion from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She then earned a M.Ed. in Educational Administration from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Certificate in College Counseling through UCLA Extension.
Having spent fourteen years in boarding school admissions, several years in college guidance and financial aid, and more than a decade consulting in private practice, Heather is well-qualified to assist families in both the boarding school and college admission processes.
Testimonials
Hiring Heather was very beneficial. She was referred to us by a friend who also had a great experience. With the college process being so overwhelming at times, she was able to alleviate the stress. She was easily accessible by phone, email or Skype and always answered any questions in a timely manner. She put together a college list and a timeline of everything that needed to be done and guided us every step of the way. She was also extremely helpful in offering our daughter tips on writing a good essay. With [Heather’s] cheerful personality and patience, our daughter loved working with her. Heather was by our side until the very last application was sent. In the end, our daughter was so happy to have been accepted to all ten colleges she applied to!
— Parent of a senior (hired Heather when daughter was a sophomore)
Heather assisted us with our son the summer before high school senior year. We had all his college applications completed by Christmas, which was our goal. Her guidance was superb. She was able to navigate the overwhelming process and break it down into manageable steps for all of us. He was accepted in to every school she recommended. She had a remarkable way of connecting with our son. She also assisted our daughter in applying to a very competitive Master’s Program in Boston while she was a sophomore in college. [Heather] helped her fine tune her resume, practice and review interview skills. Our daughter was accepted into this program which had over 50 applicants and space for 12 students. We do believe Heather’s expertise was a factor in her acceptance. What we found most helpful is that Heather always responded to our phone calls and emails in a timely fashion, no matter how simple the question. She was always professional but we found her to be very relaxed and comfortable with a wonderful sense of humor. We would highly recommend her services.
— Parents of a student entering college
We started working with Heather in the summer before our daughter Jane’s senior year at a point in time when we felt that we were behind schedule in terms of visiting colleges and, more importantly, really didn’t have a clear idea of the style of college that would be a good match.
Heather met with the three of us in an initial meeting where she encouraged Jane to talk about herself, her likes and dislikes, and colleges that had attracted her attention so far. Based on that meeting, Heather prepared a preliminary list to research and to consider visiting that included a range of reach, target and safety options. We found this very helpful because it provided us with focus and was the starting point for ongoing discussions which led to further suggestions as Jane started to better define the style and location of the college she felt most comfortable with.
Heather was very accessible to answer any questions or concerns that we had during the process and her knowledge and experience proved invaluable to us as we negotiated the college application process for the first time.
More importantly, she was accessible to Jane on a 24/7 basis, and they communicated every few days by telephone, email and even texting. This was very reassuring for Jane and it provided her with timely and useful guidance and advice and, on several occasions, a sounding board as she narrowed down her choices. Heather did not take over the process but she made sure that we had the information that we needed and that we were always aware of the various deadlines and, appropriately, Jane remained in charge of her own college application process.
The process was successful in that Jane was accepted at several colleges and the college that she finally chose was one that we all feel excited about. Heather was always very helpful and supportive and we would not hesitate to recommend her to other families embarking on the college application journey.
