"Insightful, dedicated, essential - three words that only begin to explain the impact JT has on a student’s journey of exploring options for college and the entire process of applying. My son is now on the soccer team at the University of Washington in Seattle and JT played an essential role in getting him there and supporting our family throughout the entire process. I was able to watch JT work from a parent’s perspective as well as working with her as team manager for her competitive club team. She is masterful at reading students and listening to their dreams as well as their concerns. It is amazing to see how she meets each student’s needs whatever that may be. Some students have a plan they have already visualized, and she helps them put it into action, while others have no idea what they want to do and she helps them see the possibilities and chose the best course for themselves. JT is a very personal counselor who becomes fully invested with the kids she works with and spends hours on end planning, researching, and thinking about how to support them best. Numerous times I have seen her celebrate when she gets news of college acceptances from her students; sometimes I think she might get even more excited than they do!"
"Each of my children has their own opinion as to what makes JT such an invaluable guide in the college admissions process: for my oldest, it was her seemingly unlimited knowledge of the application process and her ability to identify the qualities and activities he should feature in his essays; for my middle child, it was JT’s unwavering confidence and belief in her that not only validated her aspirations but also sustained her through the weeks and weeks of waiting for a decision; and for my youngest, it was as if she had a champion on her side—JT’s continual encouragement gave her the courage to think big and to reach. One is now a graduate of UChicago on his way to law school, one has graduated from Pitzer and is now writing for a national newspaper, and the last is double majoring in physics and art history at Yale. They could not be more different from one another and yet, they each trusted JT unreservedly. All three relied on her for information, for confidence and for inspiration throughout their application processes. When they were accepted, the first person they called was JT. After shouting “congrats, you did it,” she immediately told them that they earned it all on their own. They all still feel a deep debt to her. As do I."
"JT is the college counselor that you want to guide your kid through the college application process. She makes what can be an intimidating process easy to navigate. She establishes a relationship directly with your child and customizes her guidance. And if your child is an athlete, you'd be nuts to go with anyone other than JT. As an athlete herself, a coach for a selective club team and a former soccer coach at Cal, she knows the process from all sides. We felt that JT gave us the inside scoop, which is so hard to find. JT was really invested in our daughter's success and delighted that she made it into her first-choice school. We all loved working with her!"
"JT is highly experienced and passionate about supporting student athletes in particular. She has deep knowledge and experience in her field, based on a truly unique background as a former high school teacher, soccer coach, college admission counselor at a private school, and mother of an outstanding college soccer player. Her empathic outgoing personality makes it easy for students to develop close and trusted relationships with her. She is highly organized and provides personalized effective support. She advised us on everything from identifying schools/programs, discussing strategy and preparation, providing feedback on essays, to guiding communications with coaches, and being a sounding board for our many questions and concerns."
"JT has a student-centered approach, working directly with the student athlete while ensuring that the parents are involved as needed - all work as a team on the same goal. She took a lot of time to connect with our sons, supported them in finding/understanding their passions, and encouraged them to follow their dreams. While making the process a lot of fun, JT is firm and clear when necessary, for example when deadlines loom and students need to come through. Quite often her advice to our sons expanded from college admission to other important issues that student athletes may face in life, e.g., drugs and sports."
"In short, JT really knows her stuff and is nothing short of awesome. She helped our older son discover his passion for studying abroad; he ended up studying architecture in Germany. Our younger son got into his dream program at San Diego State University, where he currently plays in the D1 soccer team. And here is our favorite moment in the process: one day, our younger son and we parents were in JT’s office to discuss strategy as we had to decide between potential D3 schools. Then his phone rings and when he picks up it is the head coach of SDSU. At this very moment, Jona received his D1 offer! Well done, JT."
"As a parent, you want the person guiding your child through the college decision process to be an excellent listener and to have a deep knowledge about the thousands of college options. JT asks the right questions and listens deeply to the answers. She guided our daughter through a series of thoughtful and wide-ranging questions to help her understand the type of schools she might thrive at including variables like: size, sports program, location, specialties, level of rigor, school spirit, and demographics. She then provided an extensive list, well beyond our existing knowledge of schools, that met those requirements. Her experience as a college consultant meant she not only had a greater awareness of the schools, but she had visited so many and had a deeper understanding of the unique personality of the schools. She helped our daughter narrow the list and created a plan to contact coaches, make a video, and attend camps. With her experience as a D1 coach, she advised her on very specific and practical tips on how to handle and behave at ID camps. She even led an essay workshop to help her brainstorm topics for the application essays. Our daughter was able to meet with or get in front of every coach at a school she was curious about. After attending camps and visits, she ended up at just the right school for her to play D3 soccer, pursue her academics, and live in a city she loves. We give all the credit for a successful and low-anxiety process to JT."
"JT is extremely knowledgeable about the admissions and recruiting processes based on decades of interaction as a coach, high school counselor, and parent. She will put all of what she knows to work for you. She is also practical and thoughtful, sensitive to where students are in their own thinking and process while ensuring there is a plan in place to make forward motion.
JT provided essential skills that are needed to go through the recruiting process and will serve your student in any employment or job search. These skills include proactive and follow-up communication by email with coaches, including introductions, follow-ups, and sharing information about tournaments, game schedules, and field locations. JT is very detailed oriented, and she brings this important skill based on her decades of experience to the entire process.
She is very candid and will be upfront about what schools would be targets and reaches and will also bring additional options. She is focused on helping to find the best match between colleges/athletic programs and your student.
At the end of the day, JT is that caring and committed person that will go above and beyond to assist your student to reach their goals. We have personally witnessed and experienced JT's commitment to her students and players and know that she will do her best for you as she has done for us and others."
"JT was the most crucial part of my recruiting process. By helping me contact and engage with coaches she helped me form relationships and connections that got me into the college soccer world. I couldn’t have done it without her!"
"JT has been a mentor for throughout my whole life, but especially during my college recruiting process. Truthfully, I would not be where I am now playing Division 1 soccer at San Diego State without her support, her vast knowledge of the college system and college soccer as whole as well as her many connections in the college soccer world. She is not your typical college consultant, as she will take that extra step to ensure that your college process turns into a success. She knows every angle of the college recruiting process as she has been through it herself, been a coach recruiting players and been a parent while her son went through the process. In short, she is the full package, but not only that she is also very passionate, empathetic, outgoing, and incredible to work with. My college process could not have gone better and that is all thanks to JT."
"JT helped me make sure the college search experience was about education and soccer. Her process allowed me to find a school that best suited where I wanted to be and the people I wanted to be around. She helped me create a list of schools that aligned with what I wanted; it felt very personal to me. She created a timeline that helped me stay on top of the deadlines, so I didn’t feel like I had a stressful senior year. She was encouraging and supportive along the way. I loved working with JT."
"JT does a fantastic job helping to narrow down which schools are a good fit based on your career and life interests. From there, she works with you to create a personalized recruiting strategy that will get you the looks and meetings you need with coaches. Thanks to JT’s help, I have gotten the opportunity to continue playing soccer at the collegiate level while also pursuing my career interests in the communications and journalism field.
Having JT as a coach, mentor and college counselor is something I will be eternally grateful for. She prepared me tremendously well for all the possible interactions I could encounter along my college search journey, whether I was chatting during an admissions interview or welcoming constructive criticism from a coach at an ID camp. Since I have had the pleasure of knowing JT for such a long time, she already knew most of my interests, however with her exercises and individualized questions she was able to point me towards more schools and soccer programs that would be a better fit for me as a student-athlete. JT is incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to finding the right school for her students to flourish. She is also very transparent and is all about having solid alternatives and backups for her students to continue pursuing their interests even if it’s not at their top choice institution. Being coached and supported by JT during my college search was a blessing. She passed down all her intel and advice on how to email and establish contact with coaches, how to properly respond back to emails and how to converse with coaches in person after games. JT steered me through all the ups and downs of the college soccer recruitment process and never stopped advocating for me as a student-athlete. I truly cannot imagine navigating the college search process without JT and the genuine support and guidance she provided me. Above all, JT wants every student of hers to achieve whatever it is they desire whether it be solely in terms of academic fit or involving both academics and athletics."
"I could not have asked for a better experience working with JT. She quickly became more than just a college consultant for me; she became a friend. As an aspiring collegiate athlete, I often received contradictory messages from recruiting organizations, college coaches, and club coaches in terms of the recruiting process. However, JT became my rock who I could trust. It always seemed like she had the inside scoop on things and was more than willing to use her wealth of knowledge to help me. JT would help me create thoughtful game-plans for how I was going to approach each school I was trying to get recruited by; she guided me through the process as though I were her player and she was my coach. Time flies when you're in a session with JT and you can always count on coming out of it more relaxed and confident than you were going in (not to mention a guaranteed laugh). JT, without a doubt, helped me get recruited by my #1 choice in schools, and I look forward to seeing her on the sidelines of one of my games next fall, continuing to cheer me on."
“Words cannot describe my gratitude. JT has been an incredible help for me, to say the least. Any student-athlete who is guided by her should consider themselves fortunate to have such a comprehensive, supportive, caring, and professional counselor. As a first-generation student learning to navigate the college admissions road in addition to understanding how collegiate soccer works, I have been blessed to have JT as a readily accessible consultant. If it weren’t for her sincere belief in my abilities and her constant support, I probably wouldn’t have mustered the courage to apply to my dream school. Together, we worked incessantly to polish my essays, revise my applications to the finest detail, and ensured that I was on track for a career in STEM (engineering physics) since sophomore year. She is always dedicated to her mentees: meeting with them via Zoom at 9am on a Saturday, compiling templates for student-athletes who want to contact colleges, helping students develop their ideas into insightful essays, and breaking down what collegiate soccer entails, to mention a few of JT’s skills. My family and I could not ask for a better counselor than JT and we are forever thankful for her generosity.”