Give your son or daughter a Golden Ticket to life. Whether you want to work in the US or abroad in the future, a Golden Ticket from an elite U.S. university will make even the biggest dream come true.
However, elite universities in the U.S. are extremely selective. You can't get in just by being a good student.
Mary Oakley Advisors (MOA) accepts consulting students starting from the 1st grade of high school and prepares them for the entrance exam to U.S. universities, spending up to 4 years cultivating your son or daughter's candidacy.
Knowing what extracurricular activities to do, which classes to choose, how to spend your summer vacation, and what story to tell the Admission Officer will increase your chances of being accepted and can make a huge difference.
The earlier you start preparing, the better, but there is a lot you can do even if you are already in your senior year.
For example, an essay with the same content can convey a completely different message depending on how you write it. If English is not your first language, the hurdle is much higher, and MOA is proud to offer essay correction and guidance.
Furthermore, MOA can provide consultation on which universities to apply to, taking into account the characteristics of each school and the type of student they are looking for.
The number of students is very limited, as we provide one-on-one guidance. However, if we judge that there is a low probability of success at an elite university, we may refuse to accept a student.
In addition, we would like to mention in advance that the college admission consulting is very expensive because it involves dozens of hours of one-on-one tutoring. The ticket to a U.S. elite university degree is worth the price.
I have a track record of getting my daughter accepted to Princeton University, the #1 ranked U.S. university for 8 consecutive years this year, and I myself graduated from Wharton MBA, the #1 ranked business school in the U.S., and have interviewed students at Wharton. I also worked as a math teacher at a public high school in the US for 5 years, so I have experience writing letters of recommendation, advising students, and tutoring students to get the highest scores on the standardized tests.
However, since I have just started consulting and have not had students graduating yet, I will be offering a substantial discount for the first few years. However, we will probably have stricter selection criteria for students for that reason.
The course fee will depend on the length of time before the admission and the number of universities you apply to. We will also offer a separate hourly fee for prep for the TOEFL, ACT, SAT, and other common exams required for US university admissions.
The US elite college entrance exam is a crossroads in the life of not only the student, but also the family, school teachers, and consultants, who all work together to prepare the student. Therefore, it is essential for parents to participate in the consulting process.
If you are interested, please take a free 30-minute Zoom consultation. Please contact us using the contact button at the bottom of this page.
U.S. Undergraduate Admission Consulting Services
A. Pre-Exam Coaching (Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior Years)
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Background Analysis: Interview and analyze to learn about your son/daughter's dreams and aspirations, and discover what they have accomplished so far academically and in extracurricular activities.
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Building the Story: Creatively brainstorm memorable positioning strategies to put at the center of the application and suggest specific extracurricular activities and intellectual pursuits that will maximize your son/daughter's positioning strategies.
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Shaping Passions: We create the groundwork for your son/daughter to pursue his/her academic and extracurricular dreams outside of school. For example, we can help your son or daughter develop a cover letter and resume for a summer of academic research with a college professor. Or we can suggest extracurricular activities where her passion for a musical instrument or sport at the highest level will give her an edge in college admissions. The willingness to take the initiative to learn outside of school and explore your passions - these are the qualities that elite colleges crave in individuals.
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Appropriate Coursework and Common Tests: MOA is able to consult with students as early as freshman, allowing us to get to know your son or daughter on a personal level. We can remove the stress of uncertainty by advising them on selecting high school classes based on their personality and strengths and weaknesses, and suggesting common tests to take.
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Make the Most of Summer Vacation: Elite universities place a great deal of importance on how students spend their summers. We will work with your son or daughter to ensure that the summer is not wasted by helping them take and participate in competitive summer programs in the U.S., as well as creating opportunities for independent research, projects, and experiences.
B. Exam Coaching (Senior Year)
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Selecting the Right School: MOA will help you select the schools you wish to apply to, not only by difficulty level according to your student's profile, but also by considering whether they are a good fit for your son/daughter's academic interests and personality. We also suggest strategies for which schools to submit early applications (Early Decision/Early Action).
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Letters of Recommendation: Even top students tend to have surprisingly mediocre letters of recommendation if they do not approach recommenders the right way. This is something I can attest to from my 5 years of experience as a high school math teacher and the many letters of recommendation I wrote. We will also help you to examine the content of your letters of recommendation to ensure that they stand out from the rest of the applicants.
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Main Essay: The main essay is very important for college admissions. MOA will craft an impressive main essay that reveals what a wonderful young man or woman your son or daughter is and that will make the officer who reads your application want to give a firm affirmative recommendation for your son or daughter's acceptance at the admissions meeting. Editing of the main essay is unlimited.
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Supplemental Essay: The purpose of the supplemental essay is to actively demonstrate how your son/daughter is a good fit for the school of interest. In addition to demonstrating that you have done extensive research on each school's program through school visits and school websites, the supplemental essay should clearly explain why your son/daughter is a good fit for the school and what he/she can contribute to the school that other students cannot. Editing of the supplemental essay is unlimited.
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Additional Resources: We will complete your son/daughter's activity sheet and any other additional resources and if there are weaknesses in their school performance, we will help them turn those weaknesses into strengths by explaining them in a clever way.
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Interviews: MOA's mock interview prepares the student to interview the alumnus with tough questions and coaches him/her to make the actual interview easier than the practice.
C. Analysis after Early Screening Failure (3rd Semester of Senior Year)
This is a strategy session for students who did not receive MOA consultation and have received a Denial or Deferral result for Early Decision/Action to revise and reconstruct their son/daughter's story for success in Regular Decision.
Excellent grades and a variety of extracurricular activities are not enough to get the students into an elite university. How he/she presents the results of his/her efforts and achievements will make all the difference. We need to create a strategy for your son or daughter as a candidate and find out what makes the school he/she is applying to want him or her! We will need to find out what makes the admission officers think that he/she is the best candidate. If we do so, he/she will have a good result in the Regular Decision.
During the strategy session after an early decision/action failure, MOA will provide you with
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Provide feedback on up to three college applications. Review all sections of your application, including essays.
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A "Jack of All Trade, Master of None" is not the kind of talent that elite universities want. Brainstorm ways to present one outstanding talent as the "hook" to the candidate.
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Craft an essay based on your new strategy.
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Correct any strategic errors in the non-essay portion of the application.
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We reconstruct the list of schools of interest for the regular screening process.
For those applicants who were deferred in the early round or waitlisted in the regular round, we will help you create a strong "Letter of Continued Interest" (a.k.a. "Letter of Enthusiasm") that will give you the best chance of ultimately gaining admission. After completing the above strategy session, MOA will brainstorm and create a powerful letter.
This letter is a compelling love letter that demonstrates how your son/daughter will make a contribution to the school of interest that no other student can offer. This is a major reason it is so effective.
D. SAT and/or ACT Test Prep (2nd and 3rd semesters of Junior and 1st semester of Senior Years)
Some universities may require the Standardized Common Test, SAT or ACT for undergraduate entrance exams in the U.S. (quite a few universities make the tests optional). Applicants whose native language is not English must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or an equivalent test to determine English proficiency. These tests are more strategic than the academic skills they test, and MOA can provide individualized and detailed instruction in preparation for these tests if desired.
However, this instruction is specific to test strategy, preparation, and study skills, and is only available for a few hours a few months prior to the test. If you do not have sufficient academic or English skills to be tested, it is possible to continue instruction from junior high school junior year or high school senior year, or to concentrate on instruction before midterms and finals, if you wish.