A group of cheerful students college friends taking a selfie as they travel through European cities.

Our Approach

Our experienced coaches work as a team to ensure your family  is prepared for every aspect of the process and receive the very best recommendations for schools to consider and winning admissions outcomes!

Winning Outcomes for our Clients:

Admit Rate (4x Higher!)
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Recommend
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Admitted to a Top 3 Choice College
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5 Star Google Reviews
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Our Philosophy

We focus on finding a school for students based upon their values and passions.  We believe a team effort is stronger than our individual strengths.

Our Mission 

Reduce the stress in the application process by coaching our families to develop a personal narrative for their student to gain admission to a great fit school.

OUR STORY

The College Coaches is a highly experienced team who have all worked for years in high school counseling and college admissions.  We formed a small team that enjoys learning from each other and providing the best advice available.  Each of our coaches loves working with high school students and it shows!

WHY CHOOSE US

WHY CHOOSE US

Quite simply, our results are unmatched.

Working as a team there is no single college counselor who can match our advice.  And the former admissions directors at fancy schools?  They may know what a great application looks like, but we know how to create one!

Results:  86% are admitted to a top 3 choice school, 97% recommend our services

We coach you through the entire application process and help you capitalize on opportunities and avoid mistakes.

Our team includes career coaching for unmatched resume development and interview practice along with aligning passions to college classes.

Our coaches average over 20 years of experience as counselors and admissions directors and work as a team.

Our Season Pass will help you with: College Selection, Visits, Strategy for Admission, Common App, Essays, Deferral Advice, Resume Development, and Interview Practice.

Our boutique size and approach provide the highest level of service at a reasonable cost.  Before investing $200k+ in college, get expert coaching first.

Google Client Reviews

Excellent
The College Coaches4.9
Based on 184 reviews
Mark Morelli
We had a great experience working with Kathleen. She was very helpful through the application and decision process. Kathleen was very positive and reassuring, and our son ended up getting offers from his top two choices!
Lisa VanDeVeer
We had a terrific experience working with The College Coaches during the 2024-2025 school year! My daughter is now in her first year at her top choice college and loving it! We purchased The College Coaches' Season Pass package in my daughter's junior year of high school, when she was just beginning to think about her college journey. Over the next 9 months, my daughter was coached one-on-one by Kathleen Sparrow through all phases of the road-to-college journey. Kathleen immediately connected with my daughter and conveyed that she "got" her personality and desires for her college experience. Kathleen constantly focused on my kid's particular strengths and boosted her confidence. Kathleen understood my anxieties as a parent and helped me to relax and support my daughter without over-controlling every step of the process. As I often told Kathleen, my daughter and I left every coaching session feeling renewed and more relaxed, which was incredibly helpful given the ultra-competitive, high pressure environment of our Northern Virginia community. I'd also like to give a shout out to Becky Bowlby, who Kathleen referred me to for a conversation about financial matters pertaining to college. Becky was great to talk to and knowledgeable about college financing. As a final component of the Season Pass package, my daughter met with Sara Lacombe to discuss her possible college major and career interests. Sara asked great questions, reflected back what my daughter shared with her, and "elevated" the themes she heard from my daughter in a way that really captured my daughter's sense of her unique purpose. Finally, I want to thank George Sparrow for our many communications over the time we worked with The College Coaches. He was unfailingly responsive, kind and helpful in addressing scheduling matters and questions I had along the way. My daughter and I highly recommend The College Coaches for their expertise and support on the college journey!
Ayesha Rahman
I highly recommend Sara Lacombe as a career coach. When I first met her, I felt at ease and impressed with her wealth of knowledge. She has been guiding my teenage daughter in finding various career paths in college. My daughter found Sara easy to talk to, and kind. My daughter felt she could safely discuss any topic with Sara knowing she would be non judgmental. Sara has a gift for finding what motivates a person and then helps them steer them in a positive direction. We look forward to continuing our journey with Sara as my daughter begins College.
Lori Cohen
It was a great experience working with a coach at this company for so many reasons. I loved her gentle but matter of fact advice. She is obviously knowledgeable about all things college admissions but more importantly, able to communicate well with a teenager - not always an easy task! I'm quite sure the coach put my son over the edge with her ability to help him craft his Common App. He ended up getting into one of his top choices. Highly recommend The College Coaches!
Gil Gordon
I felt supported and could reach out for help whenever I needed.
Suzanne Buckhoff
We absolutely loved working with Caroline! Her deep knowledge and thoughtful guidance were invaluable in helping our daughter navigate the college application process. She provided the support and insight our family needed to narrow down the options and ultimately find the perfect school. We are so grateful to Caroline and The College Coaches team—thank you for everything!
Jacqueline Mesa
Kathleen was an excellent college coach. She helped my daughter from start to finish in creating a college list, making sure the common app provided the correct information and helping with essay writing, word count, etc. Kathleen has a kind and positive approach to a difficult process. She never added to the stress! We highly recommend college coaches.
Katherine Kelly
Thanks to Becky Bowlby for all her tremendous help! This is our second child in two years applying to college with Becky’s help and we’re grateful for her calm and knowledgeable guidance. Things have changed so much since we applied to college, so her help was invaluable. We highly recommend her and the College Coaches overall.
Helen Kulstad
We had a fantastic experience working with Kathleen, George, and especially Becky at The College Coaches. Becky’s knowledge and support were invaluable. What initially felt like an overwhelming process quickly became manageable thanks to her calm and reassuring presence. Our son truly enjoyed working with Becky and felt confident under her guidance. She’s not only incredibly knowledgeable and insightful, but also empathetic, a great listener—and genuinely funny!

We’re already looking forward to working with Becky again when it’s our daughter’s turn. We wholeheartedly recommend The College Coaches; their expertise made all the difference, and we can’t imagine navigating the process without them!
Amanda Herndon
All I can say is that The College Coaches are the ABSOLUTE BEST!! They guided us with all three of our children and our experience was great. They kept my children on track and kept my husband and me calm throughout the process. I highly recommend them!!!
S Caff
College coaches is a great organization with caring college professionals. We were very happy with their guidance and support of our son and of us!
Michelle Gutierrez
Great experience with The College Coaches
Mercy Hope
The College Coaches team is very professional and knowledgeable. Our two students have received extremely useful support from The College Coaches and we will forever remain grateful for that. We will highly recommend The College Coaches to families looking for professional coaching for their students during the college application and admission process. Thank you to The College Coaches.
Jessica Garrett
One of the best decisions we made during the summer before senior year was to send our twin daughters to the College Coaches' Essay and Common App class. Our girls completed the Common App in a matter of hours. They thanked us each night for allowing them to take the essay class because they were done with their essay before the school year started. As a result, they started senior year feeling less stressed and confident in their ability to submit strong applications.

Fast forward to spring and both girls were accepted at their first choice colleges: Wake Forest and the United States Naval Academy. Becky's guidance during the service academy application process was key!
Jill Keesbury
Great, personalized service!
Teresa Gido
We would highly recommend The College Coaches! Our daughter had the best experience with her coach and ended up getting admitted to her top school. Her coach’s knowledge, guidance, and expertise proved invaluable!
Tim
Kathleen at the College Coaches was just who our family needed to help us think through an application strategy, to reduce our stress by keeping us on track, and to boost our daughter's spirits throughout the process. Thank you Kathleen!
Sarah Johnson
Kathleen was a tremendous resource throughout the process and George did a great job keeping us on track with payments and scheduling (we were not easy clients due to busy schedules, but he took it all in stride with kindness and understanding). Kathleen helped identify schools we hadn’t thought of, and peeled back the curtain on the college app process, which has changed so much since we went through it. She also provided invaluable structure, feedback and encouragement to help our Senior write and perfect his essay. We are so grateful!
Sondra Wolff
Kathleen was a true professional in every way. She was patient, thoughtful, and wise. A winning combination. Applying to colleges is extremely stressful and confusing, and we could not have done it without Kathleen. My son was admitted into his top choice college. We are grateful for Kathleen’s experience and guidance.
Jared Landau
I had a very positive experience working with Kathleen. She is responsive, honest, and will always point you in the right direction. Because of her, my college process was quick and easy.
Clare Daniels
It was an amazing decision to use College Coaches to help me with my college applications! I had around the clock support, answering any questions I had and helping me build confidence in my applications. Thanks to Kathleen and George Sparrow I was able to get into my top choice and had a pain free application process!
Jessica Browning
Even my jaded teenager enjoyed the essay-writing process! Kathleen and her team know how to get the best out of these kids and turn it into a compelling essay.
Lila Garrett
College coaches reviewed my essay and returning it quickly. It was an amazing experience working with Ms. Kathleen, Mr. George, and Ms. Becky. I have never felt better about my writing because of the atmosphere they created. Any questions about my service academy applications, Ms. Becky answered. I would highly recommend college coaches to anyone looking to get their college writing or applications perfect and fully completed.
Thea Kayne
Fantastic help with our son to extract a great essay! So grateful for this excellent college coaching.
Katherine Stauderman
Great responsiveness and tips, but I felt like I did a lot of the work on my own anyways. The College Coaches give a great head-start for those who haven’t yet found their footing, like myself. Especially if you’re a student who has limited assistance from their parents, the College Coaches will definitely point you in the right direction.

Ready to Learn More?

Our lifelong educators understand how to coach high schoolers to identify and gain admission to a school that is best for them!

Free advice for your family means you have nothing to lose, only knowledge to gain.