1. Charles
Class of 2017
Notre fils Charles s’est donné pour objectif de mener de front des études scientifiques poussées et une carrière d’athlète de haut niveau.
Ceci n’étant pas possible en France, nous avons dès le début de sa Première envisagé un cursus au sein d’une bonne université américaine.
Scolarisé dans un lycée purement français à Versailles, sans contact ni connaissance du système américain, c’était a priori mission impossible.
School councelor, GPA, Common App, Scholarship, Extracuricular activities, NCAA, autant de notions totalement inconnues de ce côté de l’Atlantique.
La première contribution d’Armelle a été de nous aider à poser le problème et à identifier un angle d’attaque :
« Identifier les universités cible et le moyen de se faire connaitre des coaches d’athlétisme. »
Les contacts établis, la deuxième étape a consisté à monter les dossiers dans Common App et autres portails.
A chaque étape, Armelle nous a guidé en confirmant que nous suivions la bonne procédure,
en nous faisant mieux comprendre les attendus des commissions d’admissions, en commentant nos projets de réponse.
Point hebdo par Skype, questions, avis, suggestions, options, remotivation, prochaine étape…
Ca y est Charles a une proposition d’admission et ses parents le montant des frais de scolarité…Un peu cher pour une famille avec 5 enfants!
Ici encore Armelle nous a conseillé dans la présentation du dossier de scholarship, ce qui compte pour la commission, ce qu’on peut négocier, à qui il faut parler.
La négo est bouclée, il est temps de célébrer la réussite de notre travail d’équipe avec Armelle…
par Skype toujours en attendant de se rencontrer aux Etats-Unis.
A la rentrée, Charles va défendre les couleurs de l’équipe de Track & Field d’Harvard, il suivra les cours de la School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Pierre-Olav & Carine L.
1. Charles
Class of 2017
Charles :
I am really interested in new technologies and want to become an engineer, my other dream is to become an Olympian in Track & Field.
Armelle understood my project and was very encouraging all the way through.
I can’t wait to join the School of Engineering of Harvard in the Fall this year and compete with their Track & Field team.
Carine & Pierre-Olav (the Parents) :
We live in Versailles France. We thought that joining an American University was the way forward for Charles but we knew almost nothing about the system.
Armelle helped us frame our project, identify the steps. She drove us through the process.
The approach was collaborative, it was about information, directions, validation, tips, comments, options…
Armelle has been of incredible great help. She made herself available and was very reactive whenever we had questions.
2. Thomas
Class of 2017
Dear Cecile,
I would like to thank you ever so much for taking care of my son Thomas thru the college application process. He's delighted to go to McGill University to attend Desautels school of business for his Bachelor of Commerce degree.
His choice has been made harder than expected as you manage to help him get accepted in all 10 colleges he's applied to from Boston U to, Northeastern, Syracuse, Chapman, Concordia,U Mass Boston... with merit scholarships ranging from $20,000 to $88,000 and over $200,000 cumulated. Those substantial scholarships have made possible choosing from schools that had a price list outside of our range but your ability to explain specificities of certain great colleges and fine tune Thomas' profile highlighting the mutual fit, resulted in such an amazing acceptance results.
I will absolutely recommend you to our friends and colleagues.
3. Théo
Class of 2017
Armelle a coaché mon fils tout au long de ses applications Common App et APB aux universités nord américaines et françaises lors de son année de terminale. Armelle a une approche très personnalisée, pour cibler vers quels domaines et quels établissements s’orienter, puis quels atouts à mettre en valeur. On sait où l’on va.
De l’entraînement aux SAT/ACT, la redaction des essays, au choix des majors, Armelle suit tout. Dans l’élaboration du dossier, sa parfaite connaissance administrative et culturelle du système français et du système américain a été essentielle.
Grace à des rendez-vous fréquents par Skype pour faire le point (nous ne sommes pas dans le même fuseau horaire, mais cela n’a jamais été un problème), Armelle motive, recadre, responsabilise. Elle repond de façon réactive et très sympathique.
Théo entre à UCLA : Merci pour tout Armelle !
4. Frankie
Class of 2017
Dear Armelle,
I wanted to thank you for the assistance and guidance you have provided our son, and us as parents, through this college application process. We are very fortunate to have had your help since we are not from the US and this process could have been quite stressful for us if we didn’t have you by our side.
Thank you for being so professional, experienced, hardworking, knowledgable, caring, patient, and kind!
Your availability and creative suggestions were above and beyond what I expected. I would highly recommend you to anyone needing help with college applications.
Maria, Parent of 2017 High School Graduate
5.Lucie
Master at Columbia
I would have never made it to Columbia University without Cécile Gareton. Following my Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, I moved to New York City to intern and eventually work for a large multinational organization. I soon realized that a Master’s degree was crucial in order to advance in my career and I started applying to universities. Cecile helped me navigate the complex set of requirements of graduate school applications. Thanks to her guidance on personal essays and standardized testing, I received acceptances to Boston University, NYU, Yale and Columbia University. I chose to attend Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and I couldn’t be happier. Thanks so much Cécile!
Heading 4
6. Sergio
From the moment Cecile Gareton became my college counselor, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. This was due to the fact that Cecile did not only focus on giving me advice or guidance, but also consistently kept me on track. Through my classmates, I was able to observe how students during the college application period experience immense stress because of the substantial workload, and thus end up being unable to manage their time properly. This caused many of my peers to rush applications and send in work that did not reflect their full potential. I, on the other hand, did not experience these issues because of the way Cecile constantly ensured I was taking the necessary steps towards the goals we had previously outlined together. She aided me in transposing my dreams and ambitions into a realistic career path and then took all the steps necessary to guarantee that I would be getting into the best schools in the nation for the major I wished to pursue. It was also very helpful that Cecile has a very good understanding on how LILA, the high school I attended, operates, allowing her to fill in the gaps and know who to contact in each given situation. Overall, I strongly recommend Cecile Gareton as a college counselor, especially to any students who wish to look at college opportunities in and out of the US.
7. Lou
When I started working with Cecile on my college apps in senior year, I was new to the American school system and knew nothing about the application process and the university requirement. She helped me understand what was expected of me on an academic level, as well as the technical aspect of the application process.
Through different questions about my personality and passions in life, she enabled me to verbalize what drove me to my major and pushed me further in my goals without interfering in the writing of my personal statement.
Cecile is knowledgeable about both French and American school system and without her help, I wouldn’t have been able to maximize the potential of my Franco American high school experience. She was very serious and patient, and I highly recommend working with her during these challenging times!
8. Zacharie -Class of 2019
I absolutely recommend meeting with Cecile, whether you have 1000 questions about college or need some help discovering your path or possible colleges and universities. Cecile personally helped me find colleges and universities to look into and eventually apply to based on what she knew about me, which she learned during multiple meetings. Cecile shared a lot of insightful information on what colleges want to hear from you and helped me translate my ideas into a Word document. The entire process was a lot less stressful because I knew I had someone to rely on in case I had problems or questions regarding my college choices, essays, and applications. Cecile was always available through texts, phone calls, emails, and meetings. My experience with Cecile as a counselor was fantastic and I encourage you to see how Cecile Gareton can help in your path to college.
Paul and Arielle Dupertuis-Bauman: "From his first meeting with Cecile, Zacharie felt like she was asking the right questions and trying to deeply understand who he is, which is obviously a very important step to help him figure out the different paths he could pursue and where to apply. Cecile has a very special ability to connect with kids and she obviously loves that connection. She put together a comprehensive schedule including meetings with our son, helped to define goals and kept track of all of the important deadlines to be aware of.
Having Cecile Gareton as our son’s College Counselor to assist him with college choices, the management of time and deadlines was like a dream! As parents, we weren’t worried at all, we were confident that she was in charge in an efficient and smooth manner, extremely responsive and proactive. I can only say good things about Cecile’s work and highly recommend her based on the fantastic job she did for our son who was accepted to several excellent Universities among those: Boston U, UBC in Sciences and also in Liberal Arts, UCSC, UO in the Clarks Honors Program and he is now freshman at UW in Seattle."