Soon will come the time in which you make a decision that will forever influence the history you have yet to write. The decision to attend a university is a heavy one, and its weights are several. There is your future career. There are four years of your life in a home away from home, where old friendships will have given way to new ones, where the consequences of your choices will be yours to bear, where your autonomy will be yours to govern, and where the memories you make will linger for a lifetime.
You need not have settled these questions before we begin. Our work is to examine them with you, so that the choice of a university follows from a clearer understanding of what you hope to study and how you hope to live. The pages that follow describe that work.
André Hampshire
Academic Director
The Counselor's Office
As your College Admissions Counselor, I bear several responsibilities. Through my counsel, I will guide you in your consideration of a major and of the schools that best suit your needs. I will see to it that you have six college applications, each school chosen from you outward, with the research done as part of the counseling, and each application submitted complete by its deadline.
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Safety
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Targets
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Reaches
Should additional applications become appropriate, up to three more may be undertaken by agreement.
The Year
Our work begins in the spring of your junior year and continues until you have made and communicated your commitment to a university.
Spring of junior yearInquiryI come to know you through an opening meeting, your intake materials, academic record, and writing. Through questions and the answers you give, we examine your interests, the careers in which they might develop, the majors that prepare for those careers, and the universities where they may be pursued. Work on the personal statement may already have begun.A preliminary activities list, a résumé, a working college list, and possible subjects for the personal statement
SummerDevelopmentOur written work continues. You develop and revise the personal statement against my analysis, refine your activities and résumé, and settle with me the list of six universities before work on school-specific applications begins.The personal statement and the settled list of six
August 1Supplemental EssaysThe application cycle opens, and our attention turns to the supplemental essays required by each university.
FallApplicationsWe give priority to Early Action deadlines and endeavor to complete as many applications by them as the work permits. Some applications may proceed to Regular Decision. Each application is reviewed in full before submission.Completed applications submitted by their respective deadlines
Winter and springDecisionsThe work continues through interviews, deferrals, and waitlists, until you have made and communicated your commitment to a university, ordinarily by May 1.Your commitment to a university
My responsibility does not end at submission.
The Method
The inquiry begins with what you bring to it, which is your academic record, your experiences, and what you have written about them. I read these materials and raise questions. As you answer them, we come to understand where your interests lie, what kinds of work might allow those interests to advance and grow, which majors prepare for such work, and where those majors may best be pursued. An answer may lead to another question, and what we learn may change the direction of our inquiry. The instrument is the inquiry itself, carried on principally in writing.
The writing remains yours. You send me your drafts; I read them closely, question what you have written, and return my analysis. You revise against that analysis, which remains available to you throughout the work and gives you time to consider a question before answering it. Our work begins with a meeting. From there it proceeds in writing, and I schedule further meetings as the work requires.
The work proceeds through a managed review cycle, with internal deadlines set well in advance of the institutional ones. You are responsible for producing your drafts and observing those deadlines. When an application is complete in every field, I review it before you submit it.
Outcomes
Students of this practice have been admitted to the following institutions. The list is alphabetical; the schools suited each student, and we do not rank them.
Austin College · Baylor · Boston College · Brown · Columbia · Harvard · University of Michigan · MIT · NYU · Purdue · Stanford · Texas A&M · UT Austin · UT Dallas
From students and families, as published on Google.
I was initially unsure if I should get outside help for my college essays, but working with Andre turned out to be one of the best decisions I made in this process. With his support, I was accepted to Columbia University, my dream school.
I would highly recommend Andre to anybody that is looking for college admissions help. His amazing teaching ability has helped me get into Stanford, MIT, Brown and the CSB honors program at UT Austin. He is truly someone that can make a difference in achieving admissions to a selective university.
Andre has the rare ability to take a piece of writing and elevate it with a few, simple changes, and he helped take my essays to the next level. In addition, Andre took the time to get to know me personally, which not only made my meetings with him more enjoyable, but also meant that he was better able to help me with my essays.
Andre was by far one of the best teachers I've ever had in my life. From helping me prepare for the SAT to working with me through the college admissions process, he has helped me tremendously as a student. He doesn't merely teach you; he stays by your side like a mentor and friend, encouraging you whenever you need help. Andre is extremely proficient at reviewing and editing essays. He adds a unique view that helps to bring professionalism into my writing and broke down fundamental concepts which helped me become more efficient in general.
Andre given my son a very specific time and lesson plan before applying to college. Every step was very specific and detailed. Every time my son met with him, came away with a lot of inspiration, so that he quickly found the content of the essay he wants to write. Andre, with his patient guidance, inspired the child to do creative thinking to complete the activity that suits his tight schedule, also completed the IVY college requirements during the summer break. Andre has been reminding and caring about all details during the application process, let my kid get IVY college acceptance likely letter smoothly.
The Interview and Tuition
Before any engagement begins, we meet for forty-five minutes, each party interviewing the other. We work with no more than twenty-five families in an admissions cycle, and the decision to work together must rest on a mutual sense of compatibility. You will want to know how I work and whether what I offer is what you need. I will want to know what you hope to study and how you have gone about your work so far. Neither party is bound by the conversation.
Where there is a mutual wish to proceed, tuition is set out in a letter sent to the family, together with the terms of the engagement.
