Our daughter applied to selective liberal arts colleges.  I have to admit that I was initial skeptical about using launchphase2, since I am a college professor, I went to Williams and taught at Amherst and Willamette, and I know a lot about these colleges.  Our daughter was finding our attempts to get involved stressful, as were we.  We were going in circles, and that's why we got Ferah into the loop.    We got a lot more from her services than we had realized that we might.  Yes, our daughter got into some great schools, including the school of her choice, and we were all extremely happy (and relieved) about how her applications came out.  However, she also got a real education about how to be systematic and thorough in making life decisions, lining up opportunities, and being thorough in researching and thinking through the choices that present themselves.    We have been amazed at the mature, thorough, and energetic way she has approached important decisions that she has had to make since then.  These were among the traits we hoped she would get from a college education, and she got a head start with Ferah.  She grew up so fast, she is off at college making her own choices now, and we are really happy that we made launchphase2 available to her before she left home.  – Dr. Ross McConnell

At the beginning of summer in 2014 I had my first meeting with Ferah. Based on my increased heart rate, sweaty palms, and twitching eye, I think a may have had a little panic attack. All I could think as I sat there between my parents was my future and everything that this lady wanted me to do to prep for it. Questionnaires, personality tests, multiple worksheets about what I like in a college and what I don’t, and not to mention all the essays and drafts of a resume she wanted me to complete during the summer. The list seemed endless and I had just got off of my toughest year of high school and was ready to do some major relaxing, but that is not what Ferah nor my parents had in mind. My second meeting with Ferah was a lot less stressful and she really took the time to get to know my personality and me. Now that I look back on all those questions I answered to find out what college best fit my personality, I realize it wasn’t a waste of time because I would have never known that I wanted to go to a smaller school rather than a large university, or wanted a discussion oriented classroom, or to be close to a big city for internship opportunities. The more and more I went to see Ferah the more and more I got excited. Not only excited about my future and where I would be next year, but excited to just talk about my life to someone who truly cares and should get an award for being the best listener. A couple of my friends also go to Ferah and we have a little inside joke that not only is she our college prep coach, but like a therapist as well. She will listen to you if you are stressed, excited, sad, happy, or angry and will try and figure out her role in helping make things better or celebrating alongside with you. I cannot count the amount of hours I have spent contacting admissions counselors, researching/visiting schools, following suggested tips, and filling out applications, but I am thankful that I had Ferah and my parents pushing and supporting me each step of the way. Without the guidance of Ferah I would have never gotten into my top schools and received scholarships from them. I don’t know where I would be today in my college process without Ferah. As a student who went through launchphase2, I can confidently say that I know my college decision will provide me with a bright and successful future.

Thank you for all your expert advice and help you have given my daughters over the years and continue to give them. It has been invaluable.