Academic Advising Service
Do You Have A High School -To – College Game Plan?
If not, our academic advising service may be just what you need. Too many students are not reaching their college admissions potential because they do not make the best decisions about courses, extracurricular activities, and/or standardized tests. Our academic advising service will help you and your children make choices that will open more college doors.
Please note that this page is just for our academic advising service. If you’re looking for our complete college counseling program, please click here.
Academic Advising Steps
- Meet privately with Kathy Bressler, our college counselor. She has helped hundreds of students get accepted by their target school(s.)
- Get a personalized academic plan with insights into appropriate courses that matter the most to colleges.
- Discuss extracurricular activities and get new ideas to help your teen improve her/his “college resume.” Your teen isn’t the only Varsity athlete or Eagle Scout.
- Learn why you should still take the SAT or ACT, and create a testing game plan.
Parents and students attend together and leave the session(s) with a wealth of information and a strong plan for the rest of high school.
Meetings and Fees:
Call one of our centers or fill out a request here to schedule an online meeting.
Meetings with freshmen do not involve discussion of the SAT and ACT and take about an hour and a half. One-hour follow-up sessions as sophomores will include information about standardized tests and updated guidance based on your freshman year results.
First-time meetings with sophomores include discussion of testing options and most often take two hours.
Fee: $175/hour
To have someone contact you with NO obligation, complete the brief “request services” form.
No credit card required
Professional Background
Kathy Bressler received her Bachelors Degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and earned her Masters Degree in Communications Management from the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California. She also completed UC Berkeley Extension’s Certificate Program in College Admissions and Career Planning.
Kathy is the co-owner of Lafayette Academy and has been a college counselor for 12 years. She belongs to two different consortiums of college counselors in the Bay Area that meet monthly and has traveled to approximately 40 states visiting hundreds of colleges. Kathy attends many yearly conferences and is a member of the following professional organizations:
- NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling)
- WACAC (Western Association for College Admission Counseling)
- HECA (Higher Education Consultants Organization)
Personal Information & Experiences
While Kathy raised her four very active daughters in Lamorinda, she was on the Burton Valley PTA Board of Directors, Las Trampas Swim Team Director, Chair of the Youth Committee and a member of the Board of Directors at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette. As a parent and later as a college counselor, Kathy guided her four daughters through significantly different academic experiences and college admissions challenges.
Her oldest daughter, Mallory, graduated from the University of Michigan with a double major in Political Science and Sociology with an emphasis in Education. Mallory managed after-school programs in Boston and NYC, helped manage a few non-profit organizations, and is now running a coaching business for non-profit organizations. She also founded and hosts the “What the Fundraising” podcast.
Kathy’s next daughter, Dana, graduated from UC Santa Barbara as a Business Economics major with an emphasis in accounting. Dana worked at several companies, including KPMG, Google, and Credit Karma. Now she is a Product Manager at Airbnb. That’s how they do it these days.
Kathy’s youngest daughters are twins, Hillary and Rebecca. Hillary double majored in Sociology and Political Science at UC Davis and has a popular dog training business in Lamorinda. Becca was a Cognitive Science major at UC Berkeley and is a producer at Radiolab in NYC. The twins turned 30 in December, so we’re probably older than you.
Obviously, Kathy’s academic advising has also been personal, so she understands how parents feel throughout the process.