This consultant helps Charlotte kids get into boarding schools & universities across the country
Katie Garrett, the founder of Garrett Education Consulting works with families to get their kids ready for boarding school and college. Recently we had the chance to catch up, covering everything from the “right” number of colleges to tour to AI’s role in admissions.
- Here’s a peek into that conversation.
Tell me about your early career. Were you always in education? Did you always want to be a founder?
Not always, no. My early career actually started my senior year at Vanderbilt, when one of my psychology professors asked me to work part time on a federal research grant.
- We spent a lot of time tracking kids over the years: how they were progressing in school, their behavior, any discipline issues.
- Looking back, it was very good preparation for the work I do now.
- The founder part was in my blood. Both of my parents are entrepreneurs, and so are my brothers, so I grew up watching what it takes to build a business.
When & why did you start Garrett Educational consulting?
I started Garrett Educational Consulting in 2015, once I’d finished my graduate certificate. I saw a real need for this kind of expertise when families were navigating big academic and educational decisions, whether that was a day school, a boarding school, or a college, and there often wasn’t anyone in their corner to help them think it through.
If a parent is considering boarding school, how do they know if it’s a good fit for their child?
A few things tend to point toward boarding school being a good fit. One is a student who has outgrown what their current school can offer academically, or, on the other end, one who needs more academic support than their school is able to provide.
- Another is a student who thrives with independence.
- And I’d add that the students who do best are the ones who really buy into the community. Boarding school is a full-time environment, you are living and learning 24/7, and that has to appeal to them.
How soon should students start preparing for boarding school?
For a student planning to enter boarding school as a ninth grader, we typically start in seventh or eighth grade. That process runs through the fall of the year before, with applications due around January 15th. Starting early gives us enough runway for school visits, interviews, testing, essays, teacher recommendations, and the applications themselves.
What about college?
On the college side, we usually begin working with students somewhere between ninth and tenth grade. Sometimes earlier, if a family wants help thinking through course selection or summer activities. And sometimes families come to us later because they didn’t feel they needed that kind of support early in high school, but as the college process gets closer, they decide they’d like a guide.
- The last thing I’d add, especially on the college side, is that this process sometimes matters more to the parent than it does to the student, at least at first.
- That’s worth paying attention to. A big part of the timing question isn’t just what grade your child is in, it’s whether they’re actually ready to engage.
What’s something parents/students get wrong about building the perfect resume for boarding school or college admissions?
We all wish there were a magic formula that guaranteed a good outcome. There isn’t. And I think that’s exactly why families lean so heavily on what someone else did. This student did a research project and got into a certain school, so that must be the reason.
- So the biggest mistake I see is students participating in activities because they think it’s what schools are looking for. I stress authenticity constantly.
- Of course I want kids doing things. I want them engaged in their community, collaborating, serving others, following their intellectual curiosity. Leaning into your own genuine interests will always serve you better than replicating what the student next to you did.
Do high school students need internships?
No, they don’t. There’s a lot of discussion right now about high school students getting internship experience and doing research projects during their high school years.
- But what I’ve found, especially in this job market, is that a lot of college graduates are struggling to land a first job, and they’re willing to take internships just to get some experience that might lead to full-time work. So you’re seeing a trickle-down effect.
- The opportunities high school students are being told to chase are increasingly being absorbed by candidates several years older with far more experience, which makes those internships scarcer and less realistic than parents tend to assume.
What’s the right number of colleges to apply to? Is there such a thing as touring too many schools?
I typically suggest somewhere around 8-12 schools, but the number matters less than the balance. You want a well-rounded list.
- As for touring, the best thing you can do early on is get on campuses. Visiting lets a student feel the difference between a small, medium, and large school, and whether they’d like a college town, big city, or more rural environment.
Do you work with parents or students? Whose responsibility is it to get ready for college?
I work with both. A lot of our meetings are with parents and students together, and I’ll also take calls with parents on their own when they have questions or concerns. But as students get deeper into the application process and we’re actually working through tasks, they’re doing that work with me directly, without their parents in the room.
- One thing I always tell parents is that it can’t be more important to me, or to you, than it is to the student.
- Sometimes that means exercising a lot of patience while we wait for a student to get to where we want them to be. But they all get there eventually!
What does working with you look like? How much does it cost?
Most of our clients are comprehensive clients, which means we handle course selection, talking through extracurriculars, summer planning, test prep and diagnostic testing, and building the school or college list.
- From there, we help with all the tasks involved in actually applying, giving the student as much guidance and support as they need.
- As for cost, it really depends on the scope of what a family needs and when we start. I’m always happy to walk families through the options during our consultation call.
In a world of automation and AI, are humans reading college applications? Is there anything students can do to make sure their application lands in the hands of real decision makers?
It’s a really interesting question, and one I think is constantly evolving. Some schools are being very transparent about it. A few have said the first round of reading is done by humans and a second round uses AI; others have said they use AI right from the initial stage. And some schools are saying their applications are still assessed entirely by humans.
- Where it gets genuinely difficult is at the large public universities that are receiving hundreds of thousands of applications, where the sheer volume raises real questions about how thoroughly any one application gets read.
- What students can do is simply put their best foot forward and present their most genuine, authentic selves.
Anything else we should know?
These are 17- and 18-year-olds with limited lived experience. So often they think they’re not enough, that they didn’t have enough going on, or that they don’t measure up. But what colleges really want to see is a student presenting their true self, someone who’s going to contribute to their community and create positive change on campus.
Tell me about your own college experience! Where did you go and what were some of your core memories?
I did my undergraduate work at Vanderbilt University. It’s funny to think back on those years now.
- We didn’t have cell phones or Google or anything like that. There was something blissfully freeing about doing college back in the dark ages
- But my most meaningful memory came in the spring of my senior year. At my last sorority function, I got set up on a blind date with the man who is now my husband. Thirty-three years together and almost thirty years married later, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Interested in Katie’s guidance? Schedule a conversation today.
