Here are a few true things about Bay Area admissions:  

• Selective colleges and universities likely have a single admissions officer whose whole caseload ranges from Marin to Mountain View. The Bay Area exports that many college students.
• You’re not competing against every kid in the Bay Area—but you may be competing against 30 from your high school. And the standards are high. 
• Most Bay Area families, whether they admit it publicly or not, will hire a college consultant in senior year if not earlier in the process. 

Needless to say, it’s a tough world out there for families navigating the college application process in the Bay Area. 

Luckily, answers to the ever-evolving challenges of Bay Area admissions are baked into Sierra’s DNA. 

Alex, our founder, grew up in Marin and lived in Palo Alto, while multiple team members read Bay Area applications. We work with dozens of students from the Bay Area and California every year.

What do Bay Area college consultants actually do?

But what do we actually do to provide the best college consulting we can to Bay Area students? 

First, we might have a tough conversation about Stanford, Cal, and USC. 

Then, we tell it straight about how, at top Bay Area high schools, admissions can come down to more than GPA and course rigor. 

Next, we show you how groupthink can lead to hundreds of near-identical essay topics and extracurricular pathways with that distinctive “Bay Area feel.” (And how to sidestep all that.) 

For our seniors, we titrate expectations while helping them hit their “admissions ceiling.” For our younger students, we help set a reasonable and strategic course through high school. 

In short: We create transparency about the admissions landscape, help manage pressure and stress, and help our students aim high.

We’ve been doing this with Bay Area students for over six years. 

Along the way, we’ve learned much of what there is to know about academic, extracurricular, and student cultures at many of the most intense high schools in the Bay Area. 

Harker, BASIS, Gunn, Crystal Springs, Marin Academy, Branson, Kehilah, Lick-Wilmerding, University High, Paly. 

You name the school, we’ve got you covered. 

Irena Smith, our consulting partner, also helps here. Irena’s a former Stanford admissions officer with a twenty-year career in college admissions largely focused on Bay Area families. 

So whenever we’re stumped about a school or a particularly tricky student situation, we ring her up for the answer.

But if you’re a parent in the Bay Area looking for a college consultant: 

You need to be careful out there. The intense pressure in the Bay Area around admissions brings out the sharks. 

Want to know more about our approach to college admissions? Take a look at our philosophy about college admissions. Our team page is also a great resource to meet the faces of Sierra and learn a bit more about what makes us special. Or if you have specific questions about our work, methodology, or logistics, our FAQ page is a great place to start.