"I’m excited to be transferring to Northwestern next year! It absolutely would not have been possible without Carol Ann Barber. Carol and I met two or three times a week. Each meeting, we went through my essays line-by-line with her providing feedback on my essay structure, phrasing, and wording. Using her lifetime experience as a career counselor, she taught me how to structure my application like a marketing portfolio — each essay showed off a different side of myself I wanted to portray to the admissions committee. However, Carol’s biggest strength as a college counselor is her storytelling ability. She helped me transform my writing from a bland “I did this, and this, and also this” to an engaging narrative of my own life journey. At the end, it felt surreal to read my finished essays because they showed me how fascinating my own life was; I just never had the ability to connect the dots and express it in such a clear way. I would 100% recommend Carol to anyone going through the college admissions process. Working with her has quite literally changed my life."

—Stanley, Northwestern ‘23

I was matched with Carol through The College Essay Guy's Matchlighters program (for FGLI students) around May of my junior year. As a Questbridge College Prep Scholar, I decided to apply to be a Questbridge Finalist- so my application had to be close to complete by late September. Carol was an immense source of help and support during my application process. She met with me frequently to listen to me brainstorm essay ideas, helped me research schools, and gave me advice on my academic and career goals. She has extensive knowledge on personal storytelling- an important skill when putting together a depiction of yourself for college applications. Secondly, she also connected me to resources and people. Most importantly, Carol believed and supported me in my goal of applying to Yale early-action, not doubting my choice and ability one bit. 

In December of my senior year, I was admitted to Yale early-action. I am now a first-year student in the Directed Studies program hoping to major in Humanities. Carol was extremely involved with my college application process, and I'm excited to keep in contact with her even after my process is over, as she continues to be a source of positivity and guidance. 

—Alison | Yale '26

Andrew is starting his sophomore year, and all is going well! I wanted to reach out and tell you how happy he is. Thank you again for everything! We could not have done it without your guidance!

—Parent, Class of 2027, University of Georgia