Our College Counseling Program

Kathy Bressler has helped many local students get into excellent colleges that are great fits for them. In fact, Kathy is so popular that we no longer have space in our college counseling program for juniors!  However, we still have openings for sophomores and freshmen who want to get started and secure a spot in our program.

Our counseling services begin with a private meeting to discuss a college admissions game plan. During the initial meeting students and their parents will walk away with a personalized academic plan, advice on SAT vs. ACT testing and whether or not to take the SAT II subject tests as well as guidance on extra curricular activities and summer plans that will help round out the college application. Families can make appointments for this initial visit and then decide if they would like to continue with the complete program.

Our Complete College Counseling Package Includes:

  1. A comprehensive battery of assessments to help students identify latent interests and potential college majors.
  2. An extensive college search that culminates in a list of 20-30 relevant colleges that are great fits for your son or daughter. The list includes “safety”, “target”, and “reach” schools to ensure that your student has the best opportunity to attend a great college.
  3. Exposure to lesser known, highly regarded schools
  4. Brainstorming and editing of all college essays
  5. Help with filling out applications
  6. Creating a high school resume
  7. Guidance on standardized testing and submitting scores
  8. Advice about school visits and a mock session to prepare for interviews
  9. Online tracking and management of applications and deadlines
  10. Financial Aid advice
  11. Help with making that final selection of which college to attend

Professional Background

Kathy belongs to several professional organizations and regularly visits a variety of colleges across the country.  She is a member of the following organizations:

  • NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling)
  • WACAC (Western Association for College Admission Counseling)
  • HECA (Higher Education Consultants Organization)

Kathy received her Bachelors Degree from the University of California in Los Angeles and earned her Masters degree in Communications Management from the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California.  She also completed U.C. Berkeley Extension’s Certificate Program in College Admissions and Career Planning, one of the most highly regarded programs in the country for college counseling.

Personal Information & Experiences

Kathy is also the co-owner of Lafayette Academy and is able to leverage our other resources to help her students improve their college resumes.

Kathy has four daughters who have had significantly different academic profiles and experiences.  Her oldest daughter, Mallory, graduated from the University of Michigan as a double-major in Political Science and Sociology with an emphasis in Education. She also received a Masters in Education, managed after-school programs in Boston and NYC and now works for an Oakland based non-profit.  Her next daughter, Dana, graduated from U.C. Santa Barbara in 2010 as a Business Economics major with an emphasis in Accounting and is now a Global Advertising Certification Specialist at Google. Her youngest daughters are twins, Hillary and Rebecca. Hillary is studying Sociology and Spanish at UC Davis and Becca is a Cognitive Science major with a Computer Science minor at UC Berkeley.