For those who have yet to endure the college preparation and application process for their children, let me bear the warning: It is simply tormenting. This process has evolved in complication and uncertainty since my very own experience. Sprinkle in the fact that both my wife and I have very demanding schedules. There was no doubt in our minds that helping our daughter through the college preparation process would be a true challenge.

Fortunately for us, a personal recommendation led us to Ms. Katie Jane of Pangaea Life. Upon our first meeting, it was evident that Katie was the right person to trust with our child’s future plans. We hired her immediately.

Over the next couple of years we learned that the business of preparing, choosing and applying to colleges is not just impossible for parents, but that it requires a professional that can understand your child completely. It is vital in preparing their ‘resume’ and guiding them through their search.  

College is the essential building block for most adults’ careers. It is where the majority of life’s decisions predict where their futures will land them.  And, there is a lot of noise out there. Thousands of colleges promising the world to prospective students. Colleges have become a lucrative business, with extremely efficient marketing machines. You need someone who can see through the smoke and mirrors.

Statistics tell us that the majority of students do not complete college—or not within 4 years. My belief is that much of the energies are focused on getting a child into a college, rather than matching them to the right institution.

Ms. Katie Jane worked tirelessly at getting to know and understand our daughter, helping her to develop the proper resume, and conducted personality testing to better profile the profession and subsequent schools which would help her reach her career goals.  Katie also worked with us to ensure that the choices being made would fit within our financial parameters. In fact, we reduced the cost of tuition at two schools by an additional 25% with her help.  Those savings alone more than covered the cost of services.

The service provided is personal, honest, productive and much more detailed and complete than you would expect.  My personal opinion is that Katie has an unusual ability to identify with each of her students. Their interests are at the core of her working model.

I do not believe that many parents understand or are properly qualified to help their children with this complicated and key task.  I strongly urge parents to work with a professional, and can wholeheartedly recommend the outstanding services of Ms. Katie Jane and Pangaea Life.

Throughout my high school career, I was unsure of what I wanted to do in the future. This caused a lot of stress and I needed guidance. That's where Katie came in. She helped me find opportunities to explore my interests and discover what I am passionate about. In my junior year, she recommended an entrepreneurial summer program.  As a result, I started a business and have competed in multiple pitch competitions. Another area where Katie was a guiding light was the college search process. Katie taught me that there is more to a school than just their name and to find a match for my personality. Some of the schools I ended up being accepted to never would have been on my list without her. When it came to affording college, there was no scholarship Katie could not find. This was important to me since most scholarships I found on my own were sketchy or lottery based. Overall, having Katie by my side through the stressful final years of high school has allowed me to better focus my energy and reach new heights I never expected to reach.

Katie was invaluable to our department while she worked at MAST.  She built trusting relationships with students and gave sound college admissions insight.  Katie took on projects like large group presentations, assisted with Naviance implementation, and compiled resources for students like web-sites and test prep options, many of which we still use today.  She related well to this age group and was always well loved and well-received by the students. 

Katie is knowledgeable and resourceful and extremely forward thinking.  She is always looking for new ways to service as many students as possible in the most efficient manner, yet never forgets the importance of one-on-one time and personal attention.  She has the most up to date information, is always learning and looking for new sources of information and the latest trends and is interested in educating herself to better serve her students.

Katie now runs her College Counseling program, Pangaea Life, with excitement and enthusiasm.  She is extremely ambitious, bright, well-spoken and not afraid to take on challenges. 

Katie! Today was the last day to pay for this semester so I went to see how much I owed and thankfully I don’t owe anything! I actually get money back. Thank you for all your help.

Working with Katie has been a blessing I am and always will be unconditionally grateful for.
When we first began, I never imagined our relationship to develop so intimately throughout the years. She is one of the most dedicated and genuine people I know. Our alliance as student and counselor transcended as we went on college tours together, through ample discussions and thorough analysis' of essays and other college applications. She helped me realize that I could create a lifestyle out of my love of nature and geared our college search towards liberal universities open to students with a variety of eclectic interests. She is by far the most qualified and passionate person to help guide any lucky student in their college search. It was my honor and pleasure to work with her.

 

I think you are doing excellent work. I find it admirable the passion, commitment, and inspiration you transmit in what you do and the creation of new opportunities you present as obvious as they seem. I want to congratulate you and any time I have the chance, I will recommend you without a doubt.

Thank for all your help during this process.  Could not imagine what both Natalie and I would have done without you. You have forever impacted our lives and I can’t thank you enough for everything. 

This coming week we are taking our son to his first day of college and are reminded of how grateful we are for your help and all of the support that you provided.

I also wanted to thank you for spending so much effort and time with our daughter. I really appreciate all you are doing for her.  We had a talk after your call the other night and I think your mentoring is sinking in….I'm sure once our circle of friends hear about of all the things you are doing to help us with the overwhelming college application process, your business will be very popular among her senior class!   Again, thanks for all you do!”

A special thank you for helping our seniors get through the college selection and application process, personally speaking you made my life less complicated!

Mi experiencia con Katie ha sido muy buena, pues yo no estudie en este pais por lo que el conocimiento acerca de las posibilidades, programas y escuelas era muy pobre ella nos llevo de la mano en los tramites y conocimientos de muchas de las cosas la cual mi hija pudo alcanzar y superarse, gracias al conocimiento de ella y el trabajo en conjunto mi hija ha alcanzado muchas de las metas sonadas.

Gracias por tu trabajo.

Hi! While being your student, I loved how you focused on personality and finding the best fit school, not necessarily the highest ranked. I think that focus shows how the priority is your students’ happiness! I loved how you helped me find opportunities I might be interested in, and encouraged me to pursue them. I’m never going to forget you consistently telling me to write my essay about theatre, even when I thought it wouldn’t work, because you knew it was something I was passionate about. You aren’t just a counselor, but a mentor and an ally, fully on your students’ side and I 100% recommend!!