About Us
BETSY KENT
Betsy has vast experience advising and coaching young people to help them apply to college, succeed in college, and to find meaningful work during and after college. This “big picture” perspective makes her uniquely qualified to help her clients take action and make decisions that make sense in the long run, not just for the immediate future! She has had the privilege of working with a diversity of students throughout her career and brings this knowledge and sensitivity to every student and parent with whom she works.
Betsy has been a private college advisor for over a decade, assisting students, and their families, to successfully navigate the college application process and matriculate into a college where they fit, academically, socially and financially. Simultaneous with her private college advising practice, Betsy was also the College Success Director at Breakthrough New York, a program which supports high potential, low income NYC students from middle school through college graduation and to their first job. She created and facilitated the College Success Program which has supported almost 100 students to successfully transition from high school to, and through, college. Betsy also created a Career Prep and Internship Program which assisted the Breakthrough NY students to prepare for and obtain career aligned internships during their college years. Prior to that she collaborated in creating the first College Admissions Summer Bootcamp at Breakthrough NY, a 16 hour program, which supported over 40 students through the college admissions process, with 100% matriculating into a selective 4-year college.
Betsy is also currently a part time Career Development Coach for the Flatiron School, a software development bootcamp where she manages a pipeline of job seeking students, delivering curriculum on strategic networking, interviewing and personal branding skills, overseeing production of resumes, online presence and outreach communications and providing personal coaching to develop goals, manage expectations and negotiate offers.
Betsy was an education, career and legal coach at Inwood House, a foster residence for pregnant and parenting teens in foster care. She still supports some of the young women she worked with there, as they enter and graduate from college.
Betsy is a member of the advisory committee for High-Quality College Counseling and Advising For Young People and their Families at #DegreesNYC, a collaborative comprised of several non-profit organizations and colleges dedicated to closing the education gap in NYC by ensuring that students make informed decisions about college and their careers.
Betsy began her career as an attorney on Wall Street where she developed strong advocacy and advising skills. She grew up in NYC and attended public schools through high school. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in political science and from Vanderbilt University School of Law with a JD. She also has a Certificate from the Harvard Summer Institute for College Admission.
Betsy has a daughter and a son, both in their 20s, who rarely listen to any of her advice!
STEPHANIE BLOCK
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Stephanie has more than ten years experience in the field of college advisement, with an emphasis on the development of the college essay. In addition to her private practice, she volunteers in college offices in New York City Public Schools, where she focuses on creating and delivering seminars on various topics about the college process for parents, including test preparation, the college road trip, managing the Common Application and Naviance and more. Stephanie has also been a college essay coach at the High School of Health and Human Services during their summer boot camp for college access. In addition to prospective college students, she works with aspiring graduate students in a number of disciplines, including law, medicine, public policy and social work, to help them craft personal statements for admission.
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Stephanie is the author of College Admissions Advice in a Nutshell (available on Amazon), which helps guide students and their families through a smooth and successful college application process.
Stephanie has a BA in French Language and Literature from Barnard College and an MA in French Language and Literature from New York University. She has two sons in their twenties, each of whom attended public and private schools both before and through college.