My son and I were very fortunate to find Jennifer Kabat and have her assist us through the maze of the college application process. Jennifer helped my son explore his options, and target appropriate schools that matched his profile. She provided just the right amount of guidance, acting as a trusted advisor as my son navigated the process, step by step.
Knowing that my son was working with a professional like Jennifer put my mind at ease, and enabled me to step back and let my son take on the personal responsibility of pursuing his college options — a win/win for both of us. He is now enrolled at one of the many great schools that Jennifer recommended. Thank you Jennifer!
Jen was absolutely essential to the success of my daughter's college admissions process. I am in higher education and fairly knowledgeable about both the admissions process and many universities. Yet, Jen's insights both went well beyond my own and confirmed others.
Jen's assistance was critical in so many areas. Here are a few: giving my daughter a structure to the process of identifying colleges and universities of interest and ultimately selecting those to which she would apply; providing excellent and timely editorial assistance for both essays and those important and pesky short answer questions; responding rapidly to all questions, great and small; and developing a strategy for selection of schools for early decision or action.
My daughter had her choice of the most selective colleges and universities in the US. The greatest anxiety felt in our household was over the final choice and not the process. We plan on being return clients for our next child!
From our first meeting, Jen's main concern was getting to know me and helping me survive the application process. Her support and genuine interest in me made me work to really show myself in my essays. Instead of simply correcting my essays and using my grades and board scores, Jen considered everything when she counseled me about where to apply and where to go with the essays. Her realism was invaluable in both keeping my expectations reasonable and boosting my confidence. Thanks Jen! I am absolutely thrilled to be going to U Chicago!
Jennifer gave our daughter the personal time and attention that no private school counselor can give to his or her students. She knew so much more than we did about the college admissions process, although we had read extensively about colleges and had good advice from our private school college counselor. Information is power. Jennifer listened to our daughter, assessed her abilities, and gave her the information necessary to be successful.
During the process, Jennifer gave our family something else very important: she gave us [our daughter's] senior year with very little stress or tension. Many of our friends are struggling with their children through the college selection process. Fights, arguments and hurt feelings are common themes in the struggle. I knew Jennifer was giving [our daughter] excellent advice. [She] listened and took Jennifer's advice. Our family was able to navigate the admissions process with very little upheavel.This was a gift from Jennifer to our family.
We live in a different state from Jennifer. The fact that most of their communication was by telephone and e-mail didn't matter because of the relationship that Jennifer quickly developed with [our daughter]. Jennifer is "hip," or "cool," or whatever the word the kids are using these days for kids to trust her and take her advice.
Because I was living across the country, Jen worked with me completely via email and phone, but that didn't stop me from getting incredibly useful and constructive feedback on my essays. I am convinced that it was her help that got me into not only almost every school that I applied to, but the top program in the country with a full scholarship; a feat I don't know if I could have accomplished on my own. I would not hesitate to refer Jen to my friends as they begin their grad school hunt.
You were a pleasure to work with from my perspective, but especially from [my daughter's]! [She was] so much happier and calmer about the whole process once she had you to consult with. I know that you gave her a sense of confidence about her writing (which is not her strongest suite), and you helped her to feel good about what she was doing. When you had ideas, she lapped them up. She was able to take your suggestions not as criticism, but rather as constructive advice.
I think this is where the issue gets difficult when parents try to fill that role - the kids see their comments as criticism, and they end up feeling badly about their work sometimes, and become defensive. The degrees of separation really helped make this an easier process for us.
You may know the Jewish/Hebrew phrase "Shalom Ba'bayit" which means "peace in the home." Thank you for helping us regain our "shalom ba'bayit!"
We are the parents of two older children so we are very familiar with the college admissions process. Still, Jennifer provided an added element of expertise as well as a huge reduction in stress. Our daughter was much more willing to discuss the process with Jen than with us! Jen injected a level of excitement about the process that motivated and engaged our daughter. From the very beginning, our daughter connected with Jen and looked forward to their sessions.
Our daughter applied to eleven colleges and universities and was admitted to almost all of them. She was left with many wonderful choices-- the hardest part for her was deciding which school to attend! Her success far exceeded our expectations.
Jen's edits, comments, and suggestions were intelligent and very helpful. I'm really grateful for her help; I wasn't even counting on getting into UCLA much less UC Berkeley! Especially in light of the sheer competition, I'm still amazed how well things turned out. Thanks Jen!
Our daughter is an excellent student as well as an athlete, but had not done well on standardized testing. Jen counseled us on how to approach the testing, working with a tutor and when to do the tests. [Our daughter] was very comfortable with Jen and her self-confidence was buoyed by the advice she received from Jen throughout the year. As [our daughter] interviewed and visited college campuses she would consult with Jen on what she saw and learned and, together, they came to a decision regarding where to apply...
As a parent, I can say, without reservation, that I would highly recommend Jen to any other high school student who would like to maximize their opportunity regarding the college application process.
[Jennifer] push[ed] me to stay on schedule in the beginning which was a great help. [H] er mantra of "show don't tell" certainly helped me write more profound, appealing essays that helped me gain admission to one of my dream schools.
