Seven Ways That Working With an Independent Educational Consultant Helps Your Child
When families begin thinking about college, the path forward can feel overwhelming — especially for students applying to competitive arts programs. At Best Fit Education, our independent educational consultants (IECs) don't just help students build a college list. We guide them through a process of self-discovery that pays dividends long after acceptance letters arrive.
Here are seven ways that working with an IEC like Best Fit Education helps your child — not just get into college, but grow as a student and as a person.
1. Developing Research Skills
Navigating the college landscape requires real investigative work. Your child will learn to evaluate programs based on curriculum, faculty, facilities, location, and financial aid — comparing dozens of schools side by side and making sense of what they find. An IEC teaches students how to read between the lines of a college website, what questions to ask during campus visits, and how to distinguish programs that look similar on the surface but differ significantly in culture and outcomes.
This research practice builds transferable skills. Students who learn to gather, evaluate, and synthesize information during the college search are better prepared for academic research in college and for the kind of due diligence that professional and creative careers demand.
2. Expanding Self-Awareness
One of the most valuable things an IEC does is ask the right questions. Through structured conversations and reflection exercises, we help students understand what they truly want from a college experience — not just what they think they should want, or what their parents want for them. This includes identifying learning styles, recognizing strengths, and acknowledging areas where additional support will help.
This guided self-reflection often surfaces realizations that change a student's college list entirely. A student who assumed they wanted a large research university may discover they'll thrive at a small conservatory. A student who planned to stay close to home may find they're ready for a new city. An IEC creates the space for those discoveries to happen before applications are submitted.
"Amy has given me a lot of research about different options and possibilities for my major. I had no idea there were so many options — it's like a new world opened up! — Current Student"
3. Building Responsibility and Time Management
The college application process is, at its core, a months-long project with high stakes and many moving parts. An IEC works with students to break that project into manageable steps, set interim deadlines, and stay accountable — without letting parents become the task managers. This structure teaches students how to own a long-horizon goal.
For arts applicants in particular, this skill is critical. Preparing a portfolio, scheduling auditions, writing supplemental essays, and meeting school-specific deadlines requires juggling many concurrent priorities. Students who develop these habits during the application process arrive at college — and eventually at professional life — with a genuine advantage.
4. Strengthening Writing Through the Essay Process
The college essay is often the part of the application that students dread most — and grow from the most. An IEC guides students through multiple rounds of drafting, revision, and reflection, helping students find a genuine voice and tell a compelling story. We help students learn to read feedback constructively and revise with intention rather than making surface-level edits.
Strong writing is a lifelong asset, and the essay process is often the most intensive writing coaching a student receives before college. The skills built here — clarity of thought, narrative structure, persuasive argumentation — transfer directly to academic writing and professional communication.
"Working with your team through the entire process improved my essay, but it also made me so much of a better writer. After that, I feel so much more prepared because I can write essays in college too. — Student '23"
5. Fostering Ownership and Proactivity
A good IEC doesn't do the work for the student — we teach the student to do it themselves. This means helping students learn how to reach out to admissions offices, schedule their own campus visits, track correspondence, and advocate for themselves when questions arise. The goal is for the student to feel genuinely in charge of their own application.
This shift from passive to proactive is meaningful. Students who take ownership of their applications tend to make better-fit choices, feel more confident in their decisions, and transition to college with the self-direction skills they'll need to succeed independently.
"Really helped me reconnect with my creativity and express a bunch of abstract ideas I had in my head. — Student '24"
6. Building Self-Confidence Through Choices and Acceptances
The admissions process can be discouraging for students who haven't been prepared for it. An IEC helps students build a balanced, realistic college list — one that includes reach schools they're genuinely excited about and match schools where they're likely to thrive. When decisions arrive, students have real choices, not just one or two options to consider.
Seeing concrete results — acceptances, scholarship offers, program invitations — validates the hard work students have put in. That self-knowledge, paired with meaningful acceptances, builds a kind of confidence that carries into the first year of college and beyond.
7. Developing Resilience
Not every application results in an acceptance, and an IEC prepares students emotionally and practically for the full range of outcomes. We help students understand that a rejection from one school says nothing about their potential — and that the right fit often emerges in unexpected places. Reframing setbacks as information rather than failure is a skill that takes practice, and it's one we actively cultivate.
This resilience work is some of the most meaningful we do. Students who learn to adjust expectations, maintain perspective, and move forward after disappointment arrive at college — and at their careers — with an emotional maturity that sets them apart.
"If nothing else, I have learned how to manage pressure and can use those skills later in life. — Student '24"
Working With a Vetted Professional
Louise Borden and Jesse Damazo, college advisors at Best Fit Education, are both members of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) and adhere to their ethical standards and guidelines. That means you're working with professionals who have proven expertise, are fully vetted, and hold the highest standards in education, training, ethics, and experience.
Ready to learn more? Connect with Best Fit Education to start a conversation about your child's college journey.
