College Counseling for San Carlos Families
San Carlos families value education, community, and doing things the right way. We bring that same philosophy to the college process: thoughtful planning, honest guidance, and applications that reflect who your student really is.
College Counseling Services for San Carlos Students
College counseling for families in San Carlos. Known as the "City of Good Living," San Carlos is a community where families are deeply invested in their children's futures. The college process here is less about keeping up with the pressure and more about finding the right path for each student. That is exactly how we approach it.
College Application Strategy Where Most Families Start
School list building, timeline management, and positioning. San Carlos students come from strong schools and involved families, which means they have solid foundations to build on. We help identify colleges where that combination of academic preparation and personal character is genuinely valued, creating a balanced list of reach, target, and safety schools.
Personal Essay Coaching
Story discovery, drafting, and revision. San Carlos students often have meaningful experiences rooted in community, family, and genuine interests. The essay is where those experiences come to life. We help students write with honesty and specificity rather than trying to sound like someone they are not.
Interview Preparation
Mock interviews for selective schools. San Carlos students tend to be genuine and grounded, which is a real strength in interviews. We help them practice articulating their interests and experiences with the confidence and clarity that admissions interviewers are looking for.
Course Planning & Profile Building
Strategic course selection, extracurricular positioning, and summer planning starting sophomore year. We help San Carlos students build a profile that has coherence and depth. Rather than chasing every opportunity, we focus on the activities and courses that genuinely reflect the student's interests and strengthen their application narrative.
Financial Aid & Scholarship Guidance
FAFSA, CSS Profile, and scholarship search strategy. San Carlos families are practical and want to understand the full financial picture before committing. We help with aid applications and scholarship searches early in the process, so cost is a clear part of the decision rather than a surprise at the end.
UC & CSU Application Support
PIQ (Personal Insight Questions) coaching and UC-specific strategy. The UC system is a popular and practical choice for many San Carlos families. We help students navigate major selection, understand what makes each campus distinct, and write PIQ responses that showcase their strengths effectively.
Aidan is an extremely dedicated tutor who truly cares about his students' success. He goes above and beyond to make sure concepts are understood.
We have helped San Carlos students build applications for top-tier private universities, UCs, selective liberal arts colleges, and leading STEM programs. In a community that values the right fit over the biggest name, our focus is on finding schools where your student will genuinely thrive and grow.
Common Questions from San Carlos Families
When should we start college counseling?
Ideally sophomore year. Starting early gives San Carlos families the time to make thoughtful decisions about course selection, extracurricular focus, and summer plans rather than scrambling during junior year. That said, we also work with families who come to us at the start of application season.
How is this different from what the school counselor provides?
School counselors do important work, but they serve many students at once. We offer dedicated one-on-one partnership across the full admissions cycle: school list building, essay coaching, interview prep, and financial aid planning. The level of individual attention is what sets private counseling apart.
Do you help with essays?
Yes. Essay coaching is one of our most requested services. We help students discover their story, draft, revise, and polish, for both Common App and UC PIQ essays. The best essays sound like the student who wrote them, and that is always our goal.
We are not sure if our student needs to aim for a top-20 school. Can you help us figure out what is realistic?
Absolutely. Many San Carlos families come to us with exactly this question. We start by understanding the student's strengths, interests, and what kind of college experience they want. From there, we build a school list that balances ambition with realistic fit. The right school is the one where your student will do their best work.
What does college counseling cost?
Engagements typically start at $100/hour. We discuss fit, goals, and the right session cadence during the free consultation before making any recommendations.
My student would be the first in our family to attend a four-year university. Is that something you work with?
Yes. We work with first-generation college students regularly and understand the unique challenges and strengths they bring. The college process can feel overwhelming when no one in the family has been through it before. We walk through every step together, from applications and financial aid to campus visits and final decisions.
Your student is ready for the next step. Let's make sure the application reflects it.
A candid conversation about where your student stands, what schools are the right fit, and how to build an application that is honest, compelling, and true to who they are.