Professional Member RetreatTampa, Florida

Independent Educational Consultants AssociationJanuary 2017

© 2017 Independent Educational Consultants Association

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Jennifer Buyens

Year End Thank Yous Instead of sending holiday cards to my clients, which is quick, cheap, and very routine, I have changed my approach at the holiday season. I now pick up the phone and call each client (parent). Yes, EACH client I have served in the current school year, whether or not they are a comprehensive client. These calls are generally less than 5 minutes in length. I find that the direct phone call, while possibly taking some time to connect, keeps the focus on my personal approach to college counseling, which in turn keeps me different from the mass approach to college counseling by many high schools and some IECs. I structure the chat around three questions/statements:

1. Calling to thank you for your business and to wish your family a happy healthy holiday season.

2. Telling the family the next steps in the coming year (i.e. receiving decisions, comparing

financial aid offers, keeping grades strong, local scholarship opportunities, transition to college, etc.).

3. Asking if there are any lingering questions they have at this time.

Sure, I occasionally uncover someone who needs 20 minutes of my time. But, I’d rather take the chance to uncover this question now rather than letting it fester into the spring. Also, for those students who were purely hourly, this call sometimes results in new hourly billing for spring decisions. In the end, you show that you have a genuine interest in them and their student’s future. This is the foundation on which my IEC business is built.

Project Management System: Managing The College Essay Process Problem: As our practice grew, our team expanded to multiple part-time essay coaches. We needed a project management

system that integrated Google docs, allowing us to have team communication around individual essays.

Solution : We evaluated a number of project management systems including Wrike, Asana, MeisterTask, & Basecamp. We

chose MeisterTask because of its simplicity and clean integration with Google.This system is for internal use by consultants

& essay coaches, keeping CPP as our student facing system. The cost for MeisterTask is $7.50 per user/month.

Meister Task Process

Assigned Stage 1. We create the first task for each student, an overview of all of the essays and applications that each student needs

to complete and by when.

2. We also create separate tasks for each essay on this list, with any pertinent notes (e.g., “be sure student talks about

her website design experience” or “you can use some of Texas essay C for this one”). The essay coach receives an

email notification each time a task (in this case, essay) has been assigned.

In Process Stage 1. Once an essay coach starts working with a student on an essay, we move each task from the “Assigned” column to

the “In Process” column, where it will stay until it is ready for review by consultant. We include a link (using the

“Attachment” feature) to the appropriate Google doc.

2. Essay coaches log notes after each meeting, allowing consultants (or anyone else looped into the task) to

immediately view the comments. An example might be: @lisa @bob Susie’s essay is coming along. I think we may need 2 more sessions. Susie mentioned she is adding UT to her list - please add AT essays.

Consultant Review (Lisa/Bob Review) 1. Once an essay has been finalized by the essay coach and the student, it is reviewed by consultant. Essay coaches

move a task from the “In Process” to the “Lisa/Bob Review” and alert them with a message in the activity field.

2. Consultants utilize the comments section to make suggestions for edits on the essay.

Final Review 1. After the essay is approved by consultant, the essay moves the essay to the “Final Review” column

2. Our proofreader places the final version of the essay (a Word doc) in the student’s Google folder. The essay coach

then marks the essay as complete on the Application and Essay Plan checklist.

Lisa Bain Carlton, M. Ed.

3

Rachel Coates

Using Naviance I ask for my seniors' account details for Naviance and consult their accounts quite often. Benefits:

- Looking at "scattergrams" is a great aid for assessing a student's chances at a given college.

- Reviewing the high school's college process on their Naviance site is super helpful. I can see: what the student should be doing about asking for recommendations, if any college on their list is visiting the high school soon, the college counselor's internal dates for needing the student's college list, etc.

- Looking at acceptance and yield rates builds my file on that high school's history with each college. I use this info and scattergrams when working on lists with juniors at the school before they get their own Naviance account.

- And more ...

4

Sue Crump

Linking Package Details To The Contract Since I started my business in 2009, I’ve had a 1-page contract and a separate sheet that describes in detail all of the packages listed on my contract. Families and I have always signed the contract, but I never gave any thought to the description sheet until this year. My all-inclusive package includes assistance with up to 10 colleges. There is an additional cost for each college over 10. This is clearly written on the description sheet and discussed at a couple appointments, but when a client applied to over 10 colleges this year, it got me thinking. Might the family claim that they weren’t aware of the “over 10 rule”? And what about some other specifics in my packages? Was it possible that in the future a family could plead ignorance? Of-course! So now, the descriptions are stapled to the contract and initialed by all. Piece of cake. And the client who applied to 16 colleges this year and was billed accordingly?- didn’t bat an eye.

5

Deb Davis Groves

End of the Year Celebration Party for our Seniors T-Shirts: All of our graduating Seniors are invited to attend and wear their college t-shirts. Photo Booth: We have a photo area for them to take pictures with their friends and with us. We are going to enhance that this year with some fun dress up things like – Class of 2017, Graduation hats, etc. We just like to make it fun. Food: We have pizza, chips and Bundtini cakes (mini frosted bundt cakes – they love them). Thank you notes: We always encourage thank you notes or thoughts at the end of the year and receive very few. Last year, we set up several tables with notecards, envelopes and pens. It was a huge hit. It was the first thing all the kids did and we captured amazing words of thanks. It was so special and overwhelming to watch them sit there writing very serious and thoughtful notes to us. We opened the letters after they left. It was a moment filled with tears and laughter as many of them recalled some funny or very special moments. Serious conversation: We also use this celebration party as a time to have a conversation about college. We talk about all things that they need to be aware of – like time management, making sure they go to support services to disclose their learning differences, dealing with roommates, setting up a roommate contract, etc. We also talk to them very seriously about sexual assault and drinking/drugging on campus. Parents have encouraged us to be very frank about these issues. As my daughter/partner, Aubrey, was a sexual assault victim, it powerfully puts a face with this horrific issue on college campuses. We talk about safety and what that means. It is a great conversation. Finish with laughter/hugs: We finish with more pictures, laughter and hugs! It lasts about 2 hours. We have it early on a weekday evening in mid-May at our home office/media area.

IECA Professional Member Retreat

January 2017

“One Great Idea”

Engaging with College/School Reps on Your Own Turf

Some of the most valuable relationships you can build as an IEC are with the college and school representatives who are responsible for your geographic region/territory. Because it is often cost and time prohibitive for IECs to physically travel to some colleges and schools, meeting them on your turf is ideal. Over the past three years we have gone from meeting with 20 college/school reps per year to more than 60 in Fall 2016! Here’s what we’ve done to connect...and what we’ve done to make sure they keep coming back: August/September: Several of our local independent and parochial schools post their college/school rep visit calendars on their websites. Though time consuming, we reach out individually to each rep and invite them to visit us while they are in our area. We propose a few times and also let them know they are welcome to use our conference room space to work if they have down time between any of their local visits, or to conduct interviews with prospective students. ---------------- Post-Visit: During each visit we take a photo of the rep in front of our Estrela sign in our office. We post the photo on our Instagram/Facebook/Twitter feeds and tag their school/admission office. We then use SendOutCards.com to send them a thank you card with the photo on the front. The reps love the cards and many tell us that they have them hanging in their offices! We now have reps reaching out to us when planning their fall travel schedules.

138 N. Main St, Hudson, OH 44236 | 330-475-7054 | EstrelaConsulting.com | info@EstrelaConsulting.com

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Debra Felix

Using AdmissionsCheckup to Enhance the Client Value I've started including in my comprehensive package a review of one application by AdmissionsCheckup. Three former Admissions Officers review the application and provide comments, suggestions, and often their prediction on admission. I cannot tell you how valuable the feedback has been to my students!

8

Gail Grand

Coffee Talks

For us, marketing has been mainly through the parents network. One parent tells another and a call

is made. But getting known through the parents network has been accomplished through informal

talks and formal workshops.

With so much information about college planning easily available online, one would think families

have all the information they need. But it's this easy availability that has made the sheer volume of

information and misinformation overwhelming to families. Instead, they seek an authoritative voice

and a sympathetic ear. And that's what we try to provide.

We often first meet prospective families through an informal talk at the home of a current client family.

The mother invites a group of friends ( and invites them to pass along the invitation to others) for a

"coffee talk". We usually plan on an hour to 90 minutes, and speak on a single topic for about 30-45

minutes. This is followed by general questions from the attendees. Topics range from choosing

classes and activities to understanding the admissions process to understanding PSAT results and

how to use them in planning.

We always provide some sort of handout, invite families to sign up for our newsletter and offer them

the opportunity to meet with us for a short complementary consultation. The hostess provides coffee

and cake and we send the hostess a gift card to a local restaurant in appreciation.

Our last talk came about when my daughter mentioned that her friends, who all had 8th grade kids,

were beginning to become concerned about the transition to high school and asked if we'd talk about

choosing classes and activities. This coffee talk, titled "easing the transition" attracted 29 parents at a

9 am meeting. Lots of future clients there!

Other consultants I know use a variant of the coffee talk, speaking in the evening to groups of

parents: one consultant calls these talks "wine and wisdom". The format is much the same - a

general agenda and then time for questions. Often, it is the questions that secure our place as

experts - authoritative answers that parents can trust rather than rumor and misinformation.

Some topics we've recently addressed in our coffee talks:

Easing the transition

Application types

Making the most of summer vacation

Understanding the PSAT report and using it in planning

Creating a balanced college list

Using Naviance

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Rebecca Joseph

Setting Students Up for a Successful Freshman Year

We help our clients through at least their freshman years of college. More and more of my clients are struggling freshman year. I attended the IECA Symposium, and the colleges present mentioned that students have more emotional needs than ever. So I now guide my clients through freshman year. Twice during the holidays, I was contacted by unhappy college freshmen, who found me online. They wanted to transfer because they hadn't mapped out freshman year thoughtfully, and were lonely. That is more and more true for many of my clients freshman year unless they proactively find activities early on. One of my clients already left her school, and I learned that she was not alone as many colleges do not do much to help freshman make their ways.

10

Kyle Kane

The Virtual Firm

We are transforming our practice to become a virtual firm. Although we will retain our nucleus in the

DC metro area, we have decided, as part of our growth strategy, to incorporate and train new CCC

consultants from different areas of the country. By taking advantage of cutting edge communication

technologies, such as Zoom and Google Docs, we can reach new markets, and bring our

comprehensive and holistic philosophy to families in more geographically diverse areas. We have

invited a new consultant in San Francisco to join us, and one of our founding partners is expanding

our practice to Charleston, South Carolina. We will continue our collaboration virtually.

So far, our experiment is working well. The training of our newest associate has required some

creative thinking, but we are figuring it out. Our associate joins us virtually for staff meetings so that

she can understand how we analyze, evaluate, and guide our students. We incorporate her into our

meetings with students and families (with prior permission, of course) via Zoom so that she can

observe and learn our process. We work together via Google Docs to evaluate potential colleges and

develop appropriate college lists. In addition, we share our computer screens over Zoom to review

documentation relevant to a student’s educational or neuropsychological development. We will

monitor our new consultant’s progress both in person and virtually as she begins to feel more

competent, and begins to work with clients one-on-one.

Although we are proceeding incrementally in this new endeavor, we have discovered that, so far, the

benefits outweigh the downsides to our virtual association. We believe this approach allows a wider

array of families to benefit from access to dedicated consultants trained specifically to work with

students with learning challenges. Our newly trained consultants will benefit from having a

knowledgeable and collegial sounding board in the CCC as they develop and hone their skills. We, as

a firm, benefit from sharing diverse perspectives and opinions with our colleagues.

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DianeKeilholtz

Private-PublicPartnershipBetween

CounselingDepartmentatSpringMillsHighSchoolSpringMills,WestVirginia

andLaunchingCollegeSuccess2016-2017schoolyear

Proposal:TheCounselingDepartmentatSpringMillsHighSchoolinSpringMills,WV,herebyknownasSMHS,

andDianneKeilholtz,IEC,NCC,ownerofLaunchingCollegeSuccess,herebyknownasLCS,proposetowork

togetherforaperiodofoneyeartoincreasethenumberoffirstgenerationseniorsatSMHSthatapplyand

areacceptedtopost-secondaryinstitutionsbothinsideandoutsideofWestVirginia.Detailsaboutthe

proposalarelistedbelow.

SMHSGuidancewill:

• GivetheMyMajorscareerinterestinventorytoallfirst-generationSMHSjuniorsinthespringof2016

whoexpressaninterestinattendingcollegeandagreetoparticipateinthisprivate-publicpartnership.

TheresultswillbesharedwiththestudentspriortotheendoftheirjunioryearandwithLCS.• Createaschoolprofilegoingbackthreeyears.

• Providetranscript,testscores,andanyotheranecdotalinformationforeachstudentparticipatingin

thispartnership.

• WorkcollaborativelywithLCSduringthisentireprocessandcommunicatewithheranyconcerns,

needs.

• Collaborate,plan,organize,andfacilitateeachparentandstudentworkshopwithLCS.

• Collectdataattheendofprojecttobeusedindeterminingoutcomesforthisstudy.

• Continuetoworkwithallofthestudentsontheircaseload.

LCSwill:

• Preparealistofatleastfivecolleges’thatmatchstudentinterestandchoiceofmajor.Sharewith

familiesinJuneof2016.• Facilitatefourparentworkshopsonsuchtopicsascollegeaffordabilityandtheadmissions’process.• CollaboratewithSMHSGuidancetoshareinformationaboutthispartnershipatMay2016workshop

withfamilies.Studentsandparentswillsignanagreementofunderstandingandsupportforthis

partnershipatthattime.• Meetinpersonwithstudentsatleastfivetimesduringthefallof2016.

LCSandSMHStogetherwill:

• Collaborateonanydocumentsandpowerpointsusedduringthispartnership.• Worktogethertoshareknowledgeduring4parentworkshopsand5studentmeetings.

• Reviewdatainspringof2017.

• Decideonnextsteps.

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Joanne LaSpina

Adult Learning in Your Community My great idea is free marketing…no, make that marketing that pays you! Check your area for the opportunity to present an adult learning class (in my area it’s called “community education”). These are often run by public school districts as a way to provide a service to all ages within their community. Topics may range from retirement planning and photography to learning a new language and the ages typically range from young children to retired persons. I have been offering college planning community education classes for two of my local districts for several years. I usually offer several different classes each fall and spring. My most popular programs are on essay writing, career and major planning, paying for college, and college visit tips. I charge a modest fee- generally about $30 per family (it’s fine with me if both parents and several of their high school aged kids attend). I have prepared Powerpoint presentations and spend about one hour presenting and then 15-20 minutes on questions or sharing additional resources (I bring books, maps and other relevant materials to show). Each family gets a folder with related topic information and my business card and marketing brochure. I collect names and emails and tell them that I will be sharing a pdf of my Powerpoint with them in the coming days via email. This has been a win-win as I feel like I’m being compensated (valued) for my time, while I share relevant and timely information with interested families. My workshops are advertised in a printed booklet sent out to the community, as well as on the school websites and their other channels of communication. Many of the attendees go on to request individual services from me and I also frequently hear from others who may have been unable to attend, but “saw my name listed in the booklet” and now want more information about my services.

13

Carolyn Mulligan

Handwritten Thank Yous My one Big Idea is actually as small as a thank-you note and I have been doing these for the almost twelve years that I have been involved in the Insiders Network to College. Every time I go on a college tour or attend a Counselor Workshop or College Fair, or meet a new Admissions Representative, they get a hand-written note from me. I know that adds up to a lot of paper and ink, and you may think “she has killed a lot of trees,” but I do believe that it has made a lasting impression on the people I have met over the years. I remember once seeing the New Jersey Representative from Mount Holyoke years after receiving my note at an IECA Conference College Fair, and she said to me, “I distinctly remember your note because it is long and slender, and it has a blue-gray labyrinth on it”, and sure enough, that is my logo. Believe it or not, people really do love receiving a hand-written note. It shows that you spent the time to really thank them, and you do care about their school. Even the NEW YORK TIMES had an article on the Found Art of writing thank-you notes several years ago………..https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/fashion/the-found-art-of-thank-you-notes.html?_ I also use this as the time I make a connection for our New Jersey Regional Affiliate Group and invite them to join us for lunch when they are planning their travel in the Garden State in the future. Many of them do take me up on this, especially since I took the time to invite them personally through a hand-written note. I also use the idea of the hand-written note with my own students and encourage them to do this with the Admissions professionals they meet to make a lasting impression. How many of them receive hand-written notes from the students that come to visit their schools? I can promise you there are probably not very many, and in this age of competitive admissions, anything you can do to distinguish yourself, is worth doing. Since I myself “walk the walk” and can suggest it to my students, it becomes more powerful. It is a perfect follow-up to a visit, information session, interview or a casual conversation in the Admission’s office if the school doesn’t interview. They can even do it following the sessions offered in their school Guidance offices where more than one student meets with an Admission Rep, to stand out from the other students who are in the group. So that is my Big Idea – it is not really such an earthshaking idea and it does take a bit of time and effort. Since I have been doing it for 12 years, I can tell you that I feel that it has been totally worth it.

14

Ann Rossbach

Scheduling & You-Science

SHEETS SELF-SCHEDULING CALENDAR Students self-schedule, using a sheets calendar. I gave the project to two students from a technology high school. These girls were able to create the calendar and link it to my google calendar. To date, students have been incredibly responsible in their scheduling and canceling appointments. BOUND YOU-SCIENCE REPORTS After speaking with another consultant, I have been giving a spiral-bound report to each client of his/her You-Science results. Sharing these reports ad a level of seriousness to the You-Science assessment and are a terrific springboard for discussion. Parents, as well, appreciate the effort and the physical “record” of their child’s report.

15

Helese Sandler

Organizing Binder For Students The summer before senior year we give every student a 2-inch binder with dividers and pre-printed tabs that breaks down the application process into different categories. The categories are: 1. Summer time line 2. Personal Assessment 3. College Search 4. Application Deadlines 5. Passwords 6. Standardized tests 7. Transcript 8. Resume 9. Recommendations 10.Essays 11. Supplements 12. Me sheet 13. Applications 14. Financial Aid 15. Scholarships Students are required to bring the binders to each meeting and keep all their information in the appropriate categories. We also put examples of resumes, essays and me sheets in each section.

16

Kim Simpson

Holiday College Forum Each December holiday season, I host a college forum, which includes brief presentations by a test prep instructor, a college financial planning advisor, and a panel of my former clients (current college students). I invite all of my current high school clients and their families to attend. Additionally, I mention that they are free to forward the invitation to any friends or other guests. By including different presenters and topics, it seems to draw in more attendees. One presentation may be more appealing than another to each individual. With my college panel, I try to invite students from an array of colleges and universities: small. large, urban, rural, private, public, Greek, non-Greek, highly selective, less selective, merit aid opportunities, nearby, etc. My student panelists are from diverse backgrounds with an array of interests: ROTC, LGBTQ, athletes, scholars, performing and visual artists, etc. I ask the college panelists to start by telling the audience what they like the most and least about their respective school. Then, we open the discussion to a Q&A session. It is terrific to watch the interaction between the high school and college students. They usually exchange email addresses, phone numbers, etc. Before the program starts, I have several tables set-up with an array of beverages and holiday desserts. After the program concludes, all of the presenters are available to answer any one-on-one questions. As the guest exit, there is a table set-up with pertinent information, business cards, and other handouts. Typically, I host the program twice during the holiday season. One for my own private clients and the other at a public high school with many underrepresented and first generation applicants. I order pizza and bring beverages and we hold the event in their school library. I coordinate it with the school counselor who is most appreciative. This has proven to be very beneficial to my current clients. They seem to thoroughly enjoy it and learn a great deal from the presenters. The surprise bonus has been the new business it happens to generate.

17

Kiki Steele

A 3 ½ x 5 1/2 Moleskin book That’s what I give to each of my soon to be rising seniors in the beginning of June. Right after they’ve finished their SAT subject tests, I meet with each of them, and hand them this little book. And I read them the following: This is a special book. This book will contain what will become your college essay. You can’t see it yet, but it will soon sprout words and thoughts that will form into sentences and ideas that will unfold a story that is uniquely yours. Don’t be afraid of this. Don’t worry about the essay prompts just yet. Just take this book, put it in your backpack, or in your back pocket, or on your bedside table. And in the next two weeks try to recall some moments from your life, however big or small, that held meaning for you. Start small and in the moment. Just a sentence, or a bit of dialogue. Or that thing your mom always says to you that drives you crazy. A central moment, feeling, or event that stuck with you. Try to write down at least ten things. When we meet again in two weeks, please bring this book with you, and I will ask you to tell me a story from each sentence you wrote. And from this, we will decide on your common essay topic. As I sit across from my students, and their stories unfold before me, I am always transfixed by the power of their thoughts. And most often, a theme emerges between several of the “sentences.” I take copious notes, and I ask them to write a first draft to this theme, using their stories. If a theme does not emerge, we will pick several of the sentences and I will ask them to write a paragraph to each thought. We will then decide which of the stories is the strongest, and clearly says what the student wants to convey to colleges. I realize this is neither a new, nor brilliant, idea. But for me, it works every time. And I thank the essay writing seminar at the Orlando Conference for the “moments” idea, and all my colleagues for their ongoing input in helping me figure this out.

18

Terri Streetman

TRACK IT! College Planning Curriculum I truly believe that my business wouldn't be where it is today without our TRACK IT! college planning curriculum. Initially, Lynette Mathews (my co-owner of The College Planning Center) and I imagined it would help us organize our work with students, help us give a "visual" representation of our services, and give us peace of mind that we had covered all of the necessary content involved in college planning - and it did do all of those things. However, what we learned is that it gave us so much more. We were able to grow our business with confidence knowing that each new hire would have a solid, consistent tool to work with students. It has allowed us to give our services structure, which in turn, has allowed us to reach more students (one of our goals is to help as many students in our area as we can). It has proven to be a remarkable marketing tool. Families love knowing what they are paying for and they seem thrilled to have someone who has the expertise to cover so many topics. It has also allowed us to be flexible, yet consistent. We can just as easily service a freshman student looking to have a purposeful high school experience as we can a last-minute senior needing minimal, but equally important help. It has made all the difference to us.

19

Susan Sykes

How Selective is Selective? Materials:

• Poster board

• 15 photos (I use underwater photos because they’re all the same “genre,” but sufficiently different to represent different “students.”)

Exercise: Mount the photos on the poster board.

Explain to the student and parents that each photo represents a candidate for admission. Each one has its own properties, some of which are clear from the photo itself, while others may require explanation. Tell the family about each photo. Because most people are unfamiliar with ocean life (an octopus is an octopus, right? Not so fast!), it takes a few minutes to explain each one (sometimes, I include a one-page description of each critter).

Give the family a few minutes to look at the photos and then ask each member which one they like best—it can be only one!

Often, one or two members select the same photo, but it isn’t unusual for them each to choose a different one. Ask them to discuss which one of those they selected they all can agree upon.

When a “winner” has been declared, explain that one photo from the collection equals approximately 7% of the photos on the poster board. Now, they must imagine 2500 more pieces of poster board, each with compelling photos displayed. That represents the approximate admission pool at the “most selective” colleges. That’s selective.

20

Diane Vater

Reflections on College Visits Each time my students visit a college, I require them to write several paragraphs about the experience and send the summary to me for future discussion and use. I ask the students to provide concrete details about the visit, including what they liked and didn’t like academically and socially; who they talked with and what was said that interested them; and what else they would like to learn about the school. I stress that the more details they include, the more useful the writing will be. I do not use a specific form for this activity, leaving the format and type of information up to the students so they are not restricted in their thinking. I suggest that this be the first thing students do when they get back in the car or on the plane following the visit so that everything is fresh in their minds. I feel that this process is valuable for two reasons. The first is that it requires a student to begin to reflect upon what they like and do not like about each college, testing the criteria they identified during earlier assessment meetings. By putting it in writing, students are forced to sort through the experience of the visit and pull out salient information that leads to identifying good fit schools. It is helpful both for the students and for me as their advisor as we work together towards developing the list of schools to which they will apply. In addition, by indicating what else they would like to learn about the college, there is the opportunity for future dialogue with admissions representatives or faculty members. Equally important is the value this exercise has for eventually writing a response to the “Why us?” essay prompt. I have found that this prompt is challenging for many of my students to answer. By the time the application season arrives, students often have forgotten the details and the feelings that accompanied the college visits. They know they want to apply, but the individual characteristics and why each college is a fit has blurred. When the students and I read the summaries they wrote following college visits, the memory banks open again. They are better able to “connect the dots” between themselves and the college, producing a better essay. Even for those schools which do not have the “Why us?” or similar prompt, these summaries provide details and reflection that can influence other essays that may be required. Some of my students love this assignment and send pages of feedback, and some of my students, not so much. Either way, it is an assignment well worth completing.

21

Joan Wittan

Collaboration is the Key We spent a lot of time coming up with the name of our joint venture, College Consulting Collaborative. Alliteration aside, the idea of working with others to provide the best services for our students and their families just made sense. In retrospect, this concept has been a defining theme for our practice and a key component of our success and satisfaction with our work. Our staff meetings are the backbone and are held twice a week for two hours each. Generally, our agenda allows time for sharing updates on business and professional developments, conferring about students’ issues or college lists, developing materials, and planning for upcoming presentations or college visits. Collaborating regularly with each other is extremely helpful, but just the starting point. Approximately four meetings each month include others who join us in person or virtually. These “guests” include admissions officers, disability service providers, high school learning specialists, test prep professionals, psychologists, coaches, tutors, therapists, advocates, transition specialists, and other IECs among others. Here, we truly build the collaboration that allows us to help our students prepare for a successful transition to college or a post-secondary program. Because we specialize in working with students with learning differences, we often find ourselves acting as the “case managers” for our clients who often arrive with complex needs and support teams. These meetings allow us to understand more fully the substance and subtle differences in approaches and thus determine which students are good fits for these professionals as well as keep up with developments in closely-related fields. We are also actively engaged with other groups and value these relationships. We participate in groups of local IECs, education professionals in the DC area, professionals working with students on with ADHD, and a number of other groups. Recently, we have initiated a book club and have invited some coaches, educators, and tutors to join us. Carol Dweck’s Mindset and Frances Jensen’s The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults, are the first books we are tackling. It is a gift to gather insights from professionals in disciplines that support our work. Based on our years of working and learning together, we are convinced that our commitment to collaborative relationships benefits all involved.