I cannot imagine what my college application process would have looked like without Marianne. When we started off, I was not even sure what I wanted my major to look like, what part of the country I wanted to be in, what size school I was looking for, or any other details for that matter. Marianne provided various worksheets, websites, and activities to figure out my preferences and what kind of career I might be interested in. Quickly, we realized what I really wanted to pursue was theatre. People can often be discouraging about pursuing a theatre degree. Even my high school’s college counselor inferred that she thought that would be a better backup plan or perhaps a “fun” option to minor in. Marianne did not once make me feel judged or silly about my [serious] interest in theatre. She immediately embarked on finding schools all across the country with great theatre programs of varying degrees (BFAs, BAs, BMs). Theatre programs are often quite competitive with limited spots available. With Marianne’s help, I applied to 26 schools!

Sooo many supplemental essays, but Marianne guided me through them all. She was very helpful and encouraging as I tried to tint my essays with some creative flair, catering towards the mindsets of theatre admissions teams. Marianne also helped me out of some creative slumps, particularly when trying to come up with ideas for wildcard videos. She created personal deadlines so that the seemingly endless list of applications wasn’t so daunting. Something that made me especially grateful for Marianne was her timeline. During my senior year of high school, we took a “college admissions” class once a week. Each week the teacher would advise us on how to start writing our college essays, how to look for/apply for scholarships, and whatnot. However, it was way too late in the game to be thinking about these things for the first time. By the time we were being taught these lessons in class, I had already completed my college essay and began receiving acceptance letters. The majority of scholarship opportunities our teacher directed us to had already closed. Thankfully, I had already been working with Marianne for about a year by then, so I was more prepared than ever. Additionally, Marianne was very helpful in advising little things that I would have never thought about - such as “demonstrating interest” towards the admissions teams via emails and virtual events.

What I especially appreciated about working with Marianne was her dedication to researching everything she could about my specific interest. The theatre admissions process was sort of a new concept for both of us; Marianne put so much effort into finding the latest information on what good programs exist, differing benefits of BFAs and BAs, ideal areas of the country to study theatre in, and more. Now, I am pursuing a BFA in Acting at the Chicago College of Performing Arts and I could not be happier. This is definitely where I was meant to land, but if you asked me just a couple of years ago I could not have guessed I’d be in Chicago.

Thanks to Marianne’s in-depth and beautifully personalized consulting styles, college is a dream come true.

Marianne Thompson and Concord College Consulting made the college search, application, and acceptance process smoother than I could have imagined. My daughter Zadie (Z) met Marianne in her sophomore year of high school.  From their first conversation Z was excited to own the college exploration process and was very engaged in finding a college that was the right fit for her. For me and my husband, Marianne helped us explore what was possible and how to think about affordability.  Marianne took the time to get to know Z’s strengths and passions and was able to introduce us to colleges way beyond our initial list. Marianne’s expertise and desire to find that special fit for Z opened so many possibilities. During the application process itself Marianne and Z were partners in crime- with Z doing the heavy lifting and Marianne advising and holding her accountable.  In the end- Z was accepted everywhere she applied and is attending a college that is her first choice with a financial package that is affordable for our family. I still cannot believe it!

Thank you Marianne! 

At the beginning of my search for universities, I had no idea what I wanted or how to even go about comparing schools. Colleges have changed a lot since my parents were teenagers, and they weren’t sure how to help me navigate the intricacies of applying to universities. Marianne has provided me with such expertise that I was accepted into every school I applied to and given significant scholarship money from most of them. She met with me on Zoom nearly every week to give her professional advice: helping me narrow down my criteria for colleges, write the CommonApp and supplemental essays, and weigh my options to decide where I’ll be attending university! I’m so happy with my choice and I am so grateful to Marianne for how much time and effort she put into my success.

-Emily, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Class of ‘26

Although I am already an organized person, she helped me to be even more organized by creating useful spreadsheets, sharing tips with me, and creating personalized deadlines for me. Having someone like Marianne helped me to understand the college process better and feel like I always had a helping hand. I’ve become so close to Marianne that she’s like a family member to me. 

During the most stressful time of applying to colleges, I would Facetime Marianne almost every week, and we would talk things out. She’s very practical, realistic, and insightful when it comes to applying to colleges. She helped me to form a reasonable list, and made sure that I did my best when applying to these colleges. Without her help, I’m not sure if I would have applied to some of the colleges that I did apply to. She helped me create a balanced list of probable and reach schools, and I was accepted into 12 out of 13 of them with merit scholarships offered from every school. Some of these institutions included Northeastern University, Brandeis University, George Washington University, McGill University, and Syracuse University. 

While applying to 13 of my colleges, Marianne helped me to edit all of my supplemental essays. I would write up a rough draft, and we would share the essays back and forth, while she would give me inspirational ideas and make sure that I fully expressed myself in my essays.

Whenever I felt overwhelmed by my college process, I would text or Facetime Marianne. Along with being professional, she was also a mentor to me and was always there to talk things out with me. Although my high school offered licensed college counselors, I chose to consult Marianne during my whole process. I knew that she would be able to fully understand my strengths and how I could use them to apply to colleges. Whenever I would come to her with a question, she would immediately know the answer or she would find the answer in a licensed textbook or reference. Unlike my college counselor from school, Marianne would answer my questions to the best of her ability, without just Googling something from a random website. 

Marianne knew all along that my dream school was Northeastern University. She and I knew that it would be a reach, and I wasn’t sure myself that I would even have the chance to be accepted. Marianne put all of her efforts into helping me get into Northeastern. She informed me of every way possible to increase my chances of being admitted, like contacting my admissions counselor, writing an extra essay about Covid, creating a theme in my Common Application, and demonstrating interest in the school.

Marianne didn’t treat me like a client, she treated me like a family member and she supported me every step of the way with her enthusiasm, dedication, and bright attitude. I will always remember Marianne’s help and how much it contributed to my college success story!”

- Lily, George Washington University, Class of ‘25

The results speak for themselves. Our daughter, Lily, was accepted into 12 of 13 schools to which she applied. All of them highly rated universities with the majority rated in the top 100 in the United States. They included notable institutions such as McGill University in Canada, Northeastern University, Syracuse University, Brandeis University, University of Pittsburgh, American University and George Washington University. 

Not only did Lily get accepted into numerous universities, her admission to these schools came with significant merit aid. Marianne was helpful in knowing the schools in which Lily stood the best chance of receiving the most aid. 

We are so happy with our final selection: George Washington University, where Lily will study politics and government. Located in Washington, D.C., the center of American government, GWU is one of the top ten institutions in the U.S. for the study of public affairs and international relations.

The college application process has become a complex, time-consuming process that’s difficult to manage successfully without professional guidance. With both of us working full-time, we truly don’t know how we would have found the time to do it well without Marianne. We also didn’t know how much we didn’t know until we began working with Marianne. 

She helped us and Lily every step of the way for more than 18 months. She worked with Lily on all aspects of the process. She helped her identify her wishes for an ideal school and determine colleges and universities to which she was best suited. She guided Lily through the detailed and cumbersome application process -- reviewing every element of the applications along the way. Very importantly, she developed a schedule for the many tasks that needed to be done and kept us all on track to ensure we didn’t miss deadlines. The list of ways in which she guided us is too long to list.

Marianne is a consummate professional. She became a trusted advisor to our family, and a true advocate for Lily, as well as a coach and friend. We are so thankful for her help and appreciative of her dedication.

We don’t know how we would’ve come this far without her. Thank you Marianne!”

-Alex, Parent

She helped create my list of schools based on my interests, worked with me on my college essay, helped me set up tours, and guided me through the common app. She was consistently available and interested in helping me right up until I submitted my last application (and even after that). In the end, I had all of my applications in before most people had even started and committed to my college in December. Thanks to Marianne, I can enjoy my senior year in peace!

-Lucy, Student - Connecticut College, Class of ‘27

organizing my application process, and improving my essays. From the beginning of the process, she encouraged college tours, helped me identify possible schools of interest, then talked it through with me so that I could narrow the list down to 7-10 schools to apply to. Once in the application process, she was very helpful in getting me through it so that I was never overwhelmed or stressed, and every application was in with plenty of time. Finally, she helped me brainstorm ideas on topics to write my essays on, especially the commonapp essay, and her writing advice was critical in the editing and revision stage. In a potentially stressful time with lots of work to be done to find and apply to a college I can be happy in, Marianne’s assistance was crucial in making the process more manageable and far easier.

-Mat, Student - Boston College, Class of ‘27