Parent

I was so anxious about applying to college, but Jessie always had a calming effect on me and my parents! She helped me figure out that I had real stories to tell and that a lot of the activities I’d done had connections to each other I hadn’t thought of. She doesn’t just know how to get into college but also teaches college students. I felt like I was working with my favorite teacher.

Transfer Student

Working with Jessie was a fantastic experience, one that helped me transfer to the school of my dreams. Her help on brainstorming, writing, and proofreading my essays was critical, and I know that I wouldn’t have been as successful without her help. I can confidently say that her influence was not only noticeable in my results, but transformative, for me as both an applicant, and a student.

Student

Jessie has been much more than a college admissions counselor and has helped make the application process much more manageable and achievable. Her expertise and experience is unmatched and Jessie truly has a passion for helping her students succeed!

Parent

Linda was such a delight to work with. Her desire to get to know our children and her intuition really stood out. Linda was able to understand the unique priorities for each of our children and help us determine a realistic list of schools. We appreciated Linda’s knowledge and experience regarding the schools. Her support and responsiveness in every aspect of the process was invaluable to our family. Linda’s candor, kindness and strategic thinking was incredibly helpful from start to acceptance; We can’t recommend Linda enough!

Parent

When we realized we needed to move from DC to the Bay Area, we were so relieved when our head of school recommended we call Wendy. We had no idea how different the school cultures would be on the two coasts. Wendy was fluent in both! Our daughter ended up in just the right school for her and our family in Silicon Valley!

Parent

Wendy was a godsend. Her reputable experience as an admissions officer helped us to decode the mystery of what each school is really looking for. She helped us to match schools based on what we were looking for as a family and most importantly for our neurodivergent son. The journey was honest and not once did we feel like we were being guided to her best connections. She was our advocate and after seven rejections in one year on our own, we secured two acceptances with her expert consultancy. She is THE BEST! Our son is finally in the right learning environment where he will thrive academically and socially.

Parent

Wendy is a skillful, experienced educational consultant. With her deep knowledge of local schools Wendy was a huge help in our daughter’s transition from a boarding school back to a local day school after the admission season was already over. Wendy’s contributions were extensive, from patiently interviewing our daughter to learn her needs and interests, researching the schools that had space available (and whether my child would be a good fit), and offering valuable and balanced feedback on the application essays. Throughout the process, Wendy communicated clearly and thoughtfully with both my daughter and with me, and I would recommend her without reservation. Our daughter had her top two choices as options in the end!

Guardian

When I walk my niece to National Cathedral School, I can’t believe our good fortune to have encountered Wendy during the application process. She was thoughtful, wise, and incredibly kind. Wendy was confident NCS would be a good fit, and she was right. Our motto is Trust Wendy.

Parent

I couldn’t imagine anyone better to help guide me and my kids through the private school application maze than Wendy. Her experience and knowledge of that world is unparalleled, and she gave me great candid and helpful advice every step of the way. We ended up enrolling in our top choice schools! I can’t recommend Wendy more highly to anyone who is applying to schools in the DMV

Parent

Working with School First was an absolute pleasure. We were trying to find the right fit for our children and Linda was patient, kind, and an advocate for our family. She took time to get to know each of our kids and checked in regularly as we were going through the process. In what can often be a stressful experience, Linda made us feel like she really knew our family and I know she provided this same level of attention to the other families she worked with. Thank you Linda!

Parent

We are so lucky to have had Linda to guide us through our admissions experience. Linda stood apart from her peers with her ability to help us and our son feel comfortable so that we could turn our attention to the important work of understanding him and his educational needs. Linda went above and beyond what was expected to make sure our son was seen and appreciated.