A college list built for your student, not for a rankings table.
Baines College Consulting works with a small number of families each year. Donna Baines guides the search, the applications, and the funding conversation, from the first campus visit to the acceptance letter.
Who sits at the table
Parents
You want a plan you can actually see. We meet regularly, you know what is due and when, and the money conversation happens early instead of in April.
Students
Including students with learning differences and disabilities. The list gets built around how your student learns, not around a ranking someone else wrote.
Partners
Schools, nonprofits, and community programs. Bring Donna in for workshops, family nights, and counselor support.
Four things we do together
Every family starts in a different place. These are the four pieces of the work, and we use the ones your student needs.
01 Career and major matching
Start with the student, not the school. Interests, strengths, and what a working life in that field actually looks like.
02 College search
A balanced list of reach, target, and likely schools, each one on the list for a stated reason you can point to.
03 College funding strategies
Merit aid, need-based aid, and the FAFSA timeline, planned before applications go out rather than after offers arrive.
04 Application and essay review
Deadlines tracked, supplements organized, and essays read by someone who has sat on the other side of the admissions desk.
Donna Baines
Donna started Baines College Consulting as a part time charitable service for students who wanted professional guidance and could not access it. She spent years as a corporate director of college admissions with juniors and seniors in high school, then went independent.
Her background as regional admissions director included reading and rating motivational elements that encourage students to complete high school and continue on to higher education. She has represented schools in markets including Philadelphia, Newark, Trenton, Houston, Dallas, Birmingham, and Montgomery.
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
[PLACEHOLDER. Paste one real parent testimonial here. Keep it to three or four sentences and pick the one that names a specific outcome.]
[Parent name], Parent
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