Sharing 1 <NEW>

       When I read other parents’ sharing about the US boarding school applications, their messages resonated deep in my soul. The annual March 10 decisions eventually came to an end. At the midnight of March 10, my child walked hastily from upstairs, telling me, “Accepted!!!” No longer could I suppress my emotions and I found tears in my eyes. To every family, the application process is full of blood and tears, the bitter tears! Only those who had experienced the process could really understand the hardships. As a student of a public school in a secondary city in the Northeastern part of China, due to the scarce educational resources, making a huge difference of getting opportunities from those of the students in the Guangtong Province, my child had taken several wrong paths, with immense pressure and anxiety. The experience had faltered our faith, making us almost collapsed and in despair. Fortunately we met you, Ms Alice - meticulous, wise, reliable, genuine and steadfast. From guiding essays, respecting my child’s interests in choosing schools, interview preparation, planning school visits and alerting us every single detail…You gave us many assistance in every possible way. Because our English standard is not as good, when preparing the application materials, you patiently urged us and helped us, and you were as anxious and as thoughtful as the parents. After the applications were submitted, you actively followed up with each school, sincerely recommended my child. This could be a top school admit with a low score, the most difficult case in your career.  We are grateful for your trust in our son. You strove for every opportunity with the US schools without any reservation, you devoted every effort to make the applications successful. Without your hard work, resilience, and the spirit of never give up, my son would forever lose the opportunity of getting into his dream school. He must pay extra efforts when studying in the USA so as not to disappoint you who helped him make his dream come true. I hope my son could get help from you in his college planning early, to avoid college process as thrilling as that of the boarding schools. No words can express our sincere apprecation and profound gratitude!

     ~ Parent of a Scholar & Co. student accepted by a top US boarding School of their first choice.  The student was from No. 9 Middle School, Dalian, China.

      Sharing 2 <NEW>

When I decided to study in the U.S. in ninth grade, little did I know that the college application process was already underway: grades, extra-curricular activities, and leadership positions all required time to develop. Attending a public high school made it even more difficult to receive guidance and support from counselors, who had to take care of hundreds of students. Due to family reason, I also had to move around in the States a lot, which affected the consistency of academic progress.

At that time, I thought I had no shot in getting into the college of my dream. Luckily, my parents and I discovered Scholar & Co. in my eleventh grade. While I did not have the most ideal profile, Ms Lau was very encouraging and installed confidence in me. Since then, Ms Lau had helped me to keep track on taking standardized tests as well as writing college essays. I appreciated that she set demanding but realistic goal to finish all 15 essays during summer. Ms Lau took the time to get to know me and helped me to realize what set me apart from my peers: my self-discovery through community services and love for learning new languages. Ms Lau understood the importance of creativity and taught me how to craft a unique personal account. Almost every day, she would send me articles and videos to provide inspiration for my essays. Despite the limited time we had, Ms Lau never compromised on the quality of the essays. In fact, my Common Application was drafted and reviewed more than ten times! Without Ms Lau’s patience and commitment, I would have given up the thought of perfecting my essays.

       Sharing 3 <NEW>

      I had never really thought about my identity before the start of the college application process. I speak four different languages; I travel around and immerse myself in different cultures; I did multiple sports, from squash to soccer: I love art, both painting and photography; I have many interests academically as well, from chemistry to anatomy to history. Being the extreme indecisive person I am, I never really knew or tried to find out what aspects of me that were the most important. After many different attempts for a personal essay, I still could not figure out what parts of me really mattered to me.

I was baffled everyday, but ideas and directions began to kick in my head after several of my long conversations with Ms. Lau. Through our talks, I came to a realization that I had neglected the most fundamental part of my identity the whole time: I am a native born and raised Shanghaiese. Always traveling around the world, studying abroad and having families living in the States, I have gotten used to embracing all cultures to the fullest extent. But I have also lost perspectives about being a Shanghaiese and speaking the dying language of Shanghaiese. Ms. Lau really gave me the inspiration and the courage to discuss my root in my personal essay. “It is going to a very challenging essay to write, but you should try,” she encouraged me.

      Sharing 4 <NEW>

Look like all parents accompany their kids on the difficult journey to study abroad. Luckily you are with us, Alice.  Your persistence, your trust in my child enabled us to move on. Especially in the January SSAT test, really, if without your persistence, we could have given up!  In particular, you respected the music interest of my child and gave substantial consideration when choosing schools for him.  You treated my child with the same patience, care and guidance like your own. A heartfelt thank you to you, Alice!  I hope we will also have your company when applying for colleges.  One day, if my child could host his own concert at Lincoln Center, I hope you could share the same joy with me, because you opened up this road for him. Although the journey ahead is full of challenges, it is also full of joy and hope!

~ Parent of a Scholar & Co. student accepted by a top US boarding School.  The student was a very talented musician from an international school in Hong Kong.

Sharing 5

My path to American education is like the metamorphosis of a butterfly. Before I came to America to study, I was another “ordinary” high school student receiving the “typical Asian” education in Hong Kong. I read through my textbooks just like a caterpillar munched on leaves—as if there was no other purpose but solely a mundane duty. Then, the transformation came like a butterfly breaking through the womb during chrysalis.

I am introduced to the idea of active learning where individual thinking is emphasized, finding new passion is required, and team working is inevitable. It is no longer just memorizing textbooks word-by-word and taking the examinations; American education makes learning have a purpose. Inside the classroom, instead of following instructions step by step given in the laboratory manuals, I design my own experiments with my classmates; after school, instead of going home to stare at my computer screen, I change into my sailing gear and cruise in the sea with my teammates. I would not have any of these unique experiences if I had not decided to study in a boarding school. Other than that, boarding life has not only transformed me from being a caterpillar to a butterfly with colorful wings, but it has also made me a social butterfly. I become less fearful to interact with different kinds of people, and even with people that I have never met, which I would totally have no courage to do so previously. Boarding school has definitely changed me.

Being the first person in my family to study overseas in America, I was clueless with the application process for American boarding schools. Fortunately, with the aid given by Ms. Alice Lau from Scholar & Co., I was able to learn more about various types of boarding schools and also know how to perform better in the interviews. I enjoyed working with her and that is also why I decided to ask her for help again when I was applying to colleges in America, which turned out to be successful as well. Alice kept close touch with me during the summer so that we could work on the essay ideas together, and she made sure that I was on my schedule in completing all the college essays. All in all, she is both a good teacher and responsible counselor who leads her students to successful paths for American education.

~ Student of Scholar & Co. accepted by a top boarding School and then the Engineering School, Cornell University (World Class Institution), Early Decision.  The student was from St. Paul's Convent School, Hong Kong.

 Sharing 6

About 9 months ago, I came across the website of Scholar & Co. when I first started researching U.S boarding schools on the Internet for my son who wanted to go to study in the U.S.A.  I was impressed by the sharing from the parents and students, as well as the testimonials, which gave us a lot of useful tips.  Out of the various educational consultants that we had met before Alice, we found her being the only advisor who sounded positively and encouragingly to my son’s initial profile.  This supportive role has been very helpful and important to my son and my whole family, especially the times when we were miserable and frustrating during the stressful application process.  

Honestly, it was still a nightmare to us when applying to the U.S. boarding schools, despite having been warned by Alice of how tedious and challenging it could be at the very start.  We would definitely have messed up the priorities or made plenty of unnecessary mistakes without consulting Alice.  Luckily, we had her guiding us all the way, supporting closely in every single step of the application, advising on interviews, essays and setting deadlines.  Most importantly, she always responded to our countless questions in a timely manner, even until very late evenings.  This is in contrast to many other educational consultants who specify clearly about the number of hours or times of communications under the consulting agreement.  We are therefore very grateful for Alice’s professional dedication throughout the process.  I am also thankful for her tremendous help and advice on our US trip for the schools’ campus visit, as well as arranging school interviews in Hong Kong.  We can see she is a well-planned, meticulous and committed advisor. 

Alice understands what the prestigious boarding schools are expecting and what type of schools would fit my son the most.  After going through the competitive school application process, my son has also learned a great deal.  He has gained a much better understanding on his own interests and strengths.  He is also more able to present himself and has become more confident than before.  Thanks to Alice who has inspired him, prepared him to the best, and made his dream come true at the end!  We are proud to see my son having many good school choices when we come to a decision time.  Thank you very much, Alice! 

~ Parent of a Scholar & Co. student accepted by Peddie School (Prestigious Boarding School).  The student was from French International School, Hong Kong.  

     Sharing 7

Do I really know myself? My answer had always been “yes” before the start of college application season. “I’m outgoing, energetic, sensitive…” I could make a long list of my personalities. However, after failing a million times to write an interesting essay about myself, I started questioning: who am I? Do I even know the answer? I was baffled. I do a lot of things everyday, but I have never really stopped for a moment and talked to my heart. It was Ms. Lau that inspired me into thinking who I really was and what I was really passionate about before writing those essays. After a period of brainstorming with her, I reached a realization that I was such an open-minded person in many different ways (although it was sad that I did not realize that before). Academically, I liked all subjects and really appreciated the liberal arts education in America; socially, I found it fascinating how American culture was different yet similar to Chinese culture, and I try to embrace both cultures to the fullest extent. This realization was a huge help in building up essays, as well as choosing the right college (Washington University in St. Louis) that can best support my pursuit of intellectual freedom.  

The sentence “I’m going to Wash. U next year” might sound simple, but the application process involving choosing schools among thousands of colleges in USA, writing college essays, taking ACT, TOEFL, SAT2, communicating with admission officers etc. was an incredible amount of work. I was so naïve into thinking that I would have more motivation to finish these tasks when deadlines were coming up. The fact is, without Ms. Lau, I would have procrastinated, and I would have regret so much. She was very thorough in making and executing plans, and she cured my procrastination by sending me email almost every day during summer.  I respected her a lot and always wanted to meet her expectation. At some point, I started to realize that instead of being pushed by deadlines, I should start taking initiative. What right do I have in asking to get in to my dream school if I could not even drive myself to work hard? Besides motivating me to finish more than 20 essays, Ms. Lau was strict on the quality of the essays. Literally, every single essay that I turned in was creative, nicely structured, and well written. Though, instead of she telling me what to write, she always gave me a hint and let me come up with an idea. This critical thinking skill that I gained from working with her was extremely precious to me and will benefit me life-long.     

~ Student of Scholar & Co. accepted by Washington University in St. Louis (World Class Institution).  The student was from Episcopal School of Jacksonville, Florida, USA .  

     Sharing 8 

After 2 years of hard work, my son could finally realize his dream of studying in a top boarding school in the USA!

My son studies in an elite traditional school in Hong Kong.  He has always been at the top of his class from primary to secondary school, and speaks superb English.  One would think he is a native English speaker.  In the first year of application, we thought my son could naturally go to an elite US school of similar tier.  However, he was rejected because all the US schools considered his school grades poor.

I was totally confused and sought help from two agencies in Hong Kong.  They were unwilling to take up the job also because of the poor grades.  Later, I sought help from an agency in the USA.  They proposed some day schools in addition to some low-ranked boarding schools which were not what I wanted.

Later, I met Alice Lau of Scholar & Co. through a friend.  Alice has a wealth of experience in consulting and a wide network with many top US schools. She has established sound relationships and trusts with the US schools over the years.   She is the most professional, attentive and responsible consultant I have ever met.  Under her guidance, every task was so perfectly done and met our requirements and ideals.  Due to the different grading systems between the American schools and that of our elite traditional school in Hong Kong, we encountered tremendous difficulties in the applications.  Alice spent great efforts to communicate with the US schools thoughtfully and patiently and the problems were eventually solved.  The process fully demonstrated Alice’s professionalism and strong sense of responsibility.  She not only assisted us to communicate with the schools all along, but also made me aware of the strengths of my son.  She inspired and guided my son to write his essays to reflect his best self.

      This year, at last, we received an acceptance letter from a top US school, with an email as follows:

       “Your file was read by our committee today and everyone loved you!  We would love to have you here in the fall!”

     ~ Parent of a Scholar & Co. student accepted by a prestigious boarding school.  The student was from La Salle College, Hong Kong.

     Sharing 9

As a parent who went through the traumatic experience of college application for the first time, I was lucky enough to have Alice as my advisor.  She shepherded us through the complex admissions process, starting with taking time to understand my daughter, her personality, her aspirations and her abilities.  Drawing upon her deep knowledge of American colleges she did extensive research to find the right “fit” for her.  She worked tirelessly beside the parent and the child to make sure all of our questions were answered, all the steps were completed ahead of time and all the essays brought out the best in the student and responded to the schools’ specific requirements.  With her unparalleled dedication and great insight, Alice brought simplicity to a very complicated process and she was instrumental in helping my daughter to get into the college of her choice.   I would recommend Scholar & Co. to any family seeking the right school for their child.  

~ Parent of a Scholar & Co. student accepted by Johns Hopkins University (World Class Institution), Early Decision.  The student was from Marymount Secondary School, Hong Kong.

     Sharing 17

       I was warned of the college application could be grueling and daunting beforehand; however, with a well thought strategy and plan, plus flawless execution, it can be very rewarding.

 Alice and Scholar & Co. is what makes the difference.  Together, we explore and search the best option for the child. They provide excellent advices and feedback, and articulate the strength and depth of the child to best fit his / her choice of college.  Along the way, Alice and Co. had eased our minds and anxiety, and made the whole college process so much easier than expected.  You can rest assured that all your concerns and queries are attended to in a professional and timely, yet personalized manner.

     Sharing 19

Applying to US schools is not easy.  Solely working hard on your own is not enough.  More importantly, you need a professional educational consultant – Ms Alice Lau.

Ms. Lau understands the needs and aspirations of each student and picks those top US schools that fit us best.  Ms Lau is good at finding out students’ potential and interests, and helping us translate our uniqueness into words in school applications.  She gave me advice on interview techniques, allowing me to have fluent conversations and leave good impressions with the interviewers.  Ms Lau reviewed every essay I wrote, inspired me to think more deeply for a good portrait of myself, making each essay a perfect one.  In the whole process, from research to submitting applications, Ms Lau coaxed me patiently, offering me meticulous help.  Finally, I was accepted by my favorite US boarding school!

       Sharing 20

We would like to thank Ms. Alice Lau for helping my son through the college application process. We really appreciated the time and effort she spent to assist him in choosing the right college and completing the application form and personal essays. 

We know that the college application has never been an easy task. It is tedious and stressful. With Ms. Lau’s experiences and efforts, the whole application process became interesting and challenging. Her expertise and knowledge, professional and timely manner, thoughtful and creative ideas have been invaluable throughout the process. 

We are really happy and relieved that my son is accepted to his desired college through early decision and it could not be accomplished without Ms. Lau’s advice and guidance. 

~ Parent of a Scholar & Co. student accepted by Carnegie Mellon University (World Class Institution), Early Decision.  The student was from St. Paul's College, Hong Kong. 

     Sharing 21

Applying for high schools in the US could be one of the most tedious and stressful experience I have ever had. We realized the application process is complex and competitive, hence we engaged Scholar & Co. for their professional assistance.

Scholar & Co. has been working closely with my daughter and me throughout the application process in the past six months. Scholar & Co. was able to provide us a list of schools which matches closely to my daughter’s interests and personality. In addition, Alice of Scholar & Co. has also given valuable advice to my daughter, especially on how she should fully capitalize on her summer vacation activities so that her experiences will stand out in her student essays and interviews.

We would like to thank Alice and Scholar & Co for their assistance as well as their thoughtful and valuable advice.  

~ Parent of a Scholar & Co. student accepted by Kent School (One of the 16 elite boarding schools).  The student was from St. Paul's Convent School, Hong Kong.