What my advisees and their parents are saying


“Huihong helped me brainstorm, revise, and meticulously perfect my essays. She allowed me to express my strengths in a convincing and coherent manner, which led me to receive offers from UChicago, UC Berkeley, UMichigan. I had previously worked with several college application essay reviewers/editors, but Huihong was the most helpful by far.”

— Henry L., University of Chicago


”My daughter struggled a lot with her college application and, in particular, her essays. Huihong cleared up a lot of doubts we had about the essay writing process. She helped her find a suitable essay topic and guided her through multiple rounds of revisions. My daughter was admitted to her dream school - Cornell University - at the end! Many thanks!”

— Min X., Cornell parent

“When my son was at 12th grade, Huihong helped him with his college application process, especially with the personal essay. Her creative ideas, deep understanding and expertise, and great communication skills with young adults has helped us a lot. My son ended up being EDed by his dream school.  I would recommend Huihong to my family and friend.” 

— Sandy W. Northwestern parent


“Huihong was a tremendous help during my college application process. She provided invaluable information on essay-writing and ways to improve my application. She regularly checked on my progress and her door was always open. Her help allowed me to navigate this very confusing and stressful transition in my life. I am privileged to have worked with her.”

— Harvey W. , University of California, Los Angeles

“There are very few people in this world who are as kind and as dedicated as Huihong. She had the power and vision to make something ordinary and typical into something eye-catching and memorable. Pushing me to explore different ideas, incorporate different experiences and driving me to write my best—Huihong truly made me a better writer.”

— Amy Z., University of Michigan


With Huihong's help, I was able to organize my initially scattered thoughts and raw experiences and transform them into a cohesive, personal, and moving narrative for my common essay. She also helped me effectively reflect on and articulate how and why my skills, experience, and drive would contribute to any university community.”

— Winston C., Northeastern


”Huihong was an amazing counselor for me when I was applying for colleges during the fall of 2016. It was during a high stress period and she provided me with priceless help to get accepted in many of my top choice colleges, which eventually led to my dream job at SpaceX. She is also very kind and thoughtful.”

— Danny L., Worcester Polytechnic Institute

“When Huihong found that my daughter loved writing, she encouraged her to experiment with a few different topics for the common essay. The final version was able to synthesize the highlights from multiple practice essays. In addition, she learned how to make an overall planning, how to highlight the most important details in her resume, how to self-reflect, and how to approach the application package holistically.”

— Orchid H., Mount Holyoke parent

我帮我家孩子在 2022年离11/1早申请不到3周的时间找到Huihong老师，完全弃用经一个暑假在 C2老师帮忙把关的平庸作文，短时间内在Huihong 老师的密集指导下重新写出高质量有亮点的申请作文，并且 Huihong 老师帮我们重新制定更适合的学校名单。结果在 12月初就收到心仪学校的早录取，皆大欢喜。之后2年也有不少Conestoga孩子经我们推荐在 Huihong 老师指导下进入有实力的大学。她在我们中学接受她升学指导的家庭里有很好的口碑。Huihong 老师有多年的升学指导经验，非常了解各个大学的特点和招生关的审阅视角，况且她非常认真负责，在快速了解孩子情况和家长诉求后，针对每个孩子和家庭订出有针对性的升学指导策略。

— Yvette, L., Univeersity of Virginia Parent

I really really want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for all of the help you've given me in the college application process !!!  Without your assistance, I don't think I would have been able to get accepted by some good colleges.  Thank you for EVERYTHING you've done for me. I feel very very lucky to have you as my counselor and I TRULY appreciate your support throughout this process!!!!

— Jiajing L. University of Minnesota Twin Cities


Huihong is truly remarkable - talented and experienced. She is very familiar with the characteristics of each university and how the admission officers review the applications. My son did not do well in ninth grade during the epidemic. Huihong knows which schools don't look at 9th grades much. She helped us design a more suitable school list and reviewed my son’s essays. We were all very happy to receive early admission from his dream school in early February!  Huihong is very conscientious and responsible. My son is not very diligent and we often have to remind him about essay progress or application deadlines. Huihong set up regular calls with him and kept him on his toes. This really saved me all the trouble!

— Min. Z., Emory Parent

Dear Ms. Hao, I am writing to you as a parent, filled with immense gratitude for the guidance and support you have provided to my son throughout the college application process. Your expertise and insights have been invaluable. The personalized attention and dedication you showed in understanding student's strengths and aspirations made a significant difference. Your ability to connect with students and tailor your advice to their unique situations is truly remarkable. Your encouragement and reassurance have also been a source of comfort during the times of uncertainty and stress that often accompany this journey. Please accept our heartfelt thanks for your exceptional commitment to helping students achieve their academic goals.

— Steve, L., Princeton Parent

Ms. Hao 是去年Aidan 的大学升学顾问，帮助Aidan申请到了自己喜欢的院校。今年还帮助把关文书，实现了同所院校的转校区申请。Ms. Hao 有着独特的风格和丰富的经验，在尊重学生意愿的前提下，细致分析学校和学生的契合度，并启发学生挖掘自己的原动力来起草文书，做到文书真实可信并且具有说服力，从而能在申请中胜出。 我很放心Ms. Hao, 申请季真正做到不需要我头痛，不需要我操心。

— Xi, J., NYU Parent

Working with Huihong Hao was great. She was always very prepared for our meetings and gave me great feedback. With her help, I was able to get into three ivy leagues: Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell.

— Aryan S. Princeton University

Thank you so much, Ms. Hao, for your great coaching, advising, inspiring and encouraging Michelle along the journey of college application! Your professionalism and care impressed us deeply! 

— Alison and Ju, Bryn Mawr parents

Ms. Hao非常认真细致，帮助了我家大姐成功申请到理想的大学。在焦虑的申请季，我几乎都没法和女儿说上话，非常感谢Ms.Hao在每一个阶段不厌其烦地督促大姐按时完成计划，

— Yan. H., University of Rochester parents


I am incredibly grateful for the guidance and support provided by Mrs. Hao during the college application process. She is very patient and creative in helping me to string my ideas together cohesively into essays. Additionally, Mrs. Hao is very strategic and knows where to focus on both my essays and college application in general.

— Sophie. L. UIUC

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Recommendation Letters from Parents

 

  • It was already September 2014 of his senior year, my son Henry still had no clear idea what to write about in his college common application essay. I was stressed out and Henry did not want to talk to me about his essay either. Huihong offered having a face to face brainstorming with Henry to help. Knowing Huihong’s strong ability to communicate with teenagers, I really appreciated the offer.

    After the first two‐hour face to face conversation, Henry came out with a smiling face. They had nailed down the topic of the essay and the ideas on how to put it together. When I heard about it, I said “Yes!” It is the topic that could show who Henry is, but it just could not come clear to me before then.

    During the following few weeks, Henry felt unlocked, and was really motivated to work on his college essay. He exchanged a few rounds of email and edited versions with Huihong, and followed up with a few more face to face discussions. By the end of October, Henry submitted his early applications. 

    What made me really happy is that Henry learned a great deal by working with Huihong, through brain storming and reflecting. His writing improved, a lot more depth in composing content as well as more fluent in using the language. More importantly, he knew himself better, his strength and what made him who he is today. This was what I had really hoped that he could gain from this process on top of the applying colleges. Huihong’s unique combination of abilities to see one’s core strength, to grasp the essence and connection among some discrete ideas and events, and to communicate it so well truly impressed me!  I had experience with college counselors from brand service company, the help I got from Huihong, however, is hard to find.

    Huihong’s help made huge difference. Henry told me at the dinner table as he was finishing his essay: “She (Huihong) would be a really great college counselor!” I am sure many others who worked with her over the years feel the same too. 

  • As parents of a high school senior, the biggest challenge for us was to get him into a good college with many great opportunities. We also faced the questions such as: What major will my son choose? Which college is suitable for him? What is the best college he can get in? With her enthusiastic help and knowledgeable advice, Huihong exhibited her capabilities in consultation for students pursuing quality higher education.

    By listening to both the parents and the student, she helped us discover an underlying common characteristic among the student’s interests and to uncover a part of the student’s potential, which both the parents or the student have not realized. For example, Huihong helped us understand that our son has “scientist” potential because he is inquisitive by nature, can focus, learn with interest, and not get easily distracted by his surroundings. This has helped us and our son in choosing his major.

    Not every student or parent knows all of the necessary procedures for applying to college; we were no different. However, with Huihong’s knowledge we gradually became confident that our son could get into a college suitable to his level. By the high school senior year, many important aspects of the college application, like GPA, SAT, and extra-curricula, cannot be changed, but Huihong taught us how to integrate them together to highlight our son’s abilities and potentials. In addition, she worked closely with our son in advising him on how to compose his college essay; the results were very satisfying.

    By knowing us and our son, Huihong has provided us with great advice, besides the examples given above; she has also taught my son how to present himself favorably in the applications.  Having interest in a particular college is important, but it is even more important that the student express himself in such a way that the college would be interested in having him. For example, Huihong took advantage of my son’s interest in studying Native American languages and suggested that he include that on his application to stand out among the many applicants.

  • 我儿子汉斯现在是哥伦比亚大学三年级的学生。回想起当年汉斯申请大学的情景，不得不感激好友慧红的全力帮助。如果当初没有慧红指导和修改汉斯的Personal Statement, 很难想象汉斯能如愿以偿地进入哥伦比亚大学。

    大家知道，在孩子们申请大学期间，GPA、SAT、社会活动乃至老师的推荐信都已成定局，孩子唯一能做的事就是写好 Personal Statement 了，而Personal Statement 又恰恰有着举足轻重的作用。汉斯的其它各个方面都做的比较好，不用我操心，但在写Personal Statement 上却着实让我伤透了脑筋。最初我们请一个关系很好的邻居帮忙，他是一所很不错的私利中学的head counselor, 我们原以为能够得到他的帮助就等于大功告成了，谁知他对汉斯写的东西只是表示欣赏，很少指出问题。之后，经熟人介绍，我们请波士顿的一名职业辅导写作的白人老太太帮忙，但她只是帮助将汉斯的文章大刀阔斧地砍掉很多东西，文字数量上压缩到了规定的字数范围内，但压缩后的文章显得干巴巴的没有一点活力。无奈中，汉斯请一位在耶鲁大学就读的朋友帮助，他对汉斯文章中的一些地方提出了尖锐的批评，我和汉斯都认可他的批评，但还是不知道怎样去修改好。这时，我想起了一个多年前与我和汉斯有过一面之交的一个附近女子中学的英语教研室主任。试着与她联系了一下，她居然还记得汉斯，也真的全力以赴地帮助汉斯，有一次还带着生病的孩子在图书馆辅导汉斯，我们十分感动，但她基本上还只是在文字表述上有帮助，提不出有新意的思路和观点。

    情急之下，我想到了好友慧红。我知道慧红在美国一所顶级私利高中当老师，也听慧红念过她的多篇十分感人的文章。我把汉斯的Personal Statement 发给了慧红，很快收到了慧红的复件，我还清晰地记得看到慧红复件内容时又惊又喜的心情。

    慧红对整篇文章进行了全面而又细致的修改，从段落结构到句型，再到具体的用词乃至标点符号。这篇原本已被英语老师和辅导员修改过的文章，在慧红的修改后一下子提高了很多。我和汉斯不得不为慧红的英文水平所折服。

    除了修改之外，慧红还写了很长的评论和建议。她全面地介绍了admission officer 希望在 Personal Statement 中寻找的到的孩子的特质，建议以展现这些特质为目的而重新从全新的角度描述和介绍自己的经历，还列举了一些具体的例子。我曾经读过几本 admission officer 写的关于大学录取的书籍，所以我不难断定慧红一定对大学申请做过认真深入的研究。我想慧红的女儿几年前能够进入 MIT，也一定是得到了慧红的帮助。根据慧红的指导和建议，汉斯重新改写了整篇文章，再发给慧红审查定稿。

    汉斯在写Personal Statement上在经历了很多挫折和失败后，终于得到了既具备很高的英文文字水平有对大学申请有着深入和全面了解的好友慧红的帮助，我感到十分幸运。我也真切地希望慧红的能力和智慧能够帮助到更多的同学。

  • 我女儿今年被MHC提前录取，这很大程度上得益于慧红的悉心指导和帮助，因为我女儿的托福和SAT成绩都不是很突出，报考MHC当时心里很没底。我们是在2016年的暑假找到慧红的，慧红详细了解了她当时面临的情况，给出了针对性的指导方案。回想起来，我女儿的整个申请过程时间分配合理，没有感觉到太大压力，这主要应归功于慧红的智慧以及时间管控得当。总结起来，慧红主要在以下几个方面发挥了重要作用：

    1.整体规划：因为我们做父母的在报考方面没有任何经验，慧红帮忙对申请过程进行了整体规划，并针对孩子不善于管理时间，往往把握不住重点的特点，首先帮助孩子理清思路，正确识别申请过程中的关键时间节点并进行严格把控。事实证明慧红的时间管理技能非常高超，孩子在她的指导下，一切进行地井井有条，没有表现出我们事前担心的过分劳累和压力。更让我们惊喜的是，经过与慧红共同工作的这段时间，孩子在后来的学习生活中表现出了一些良好的习惯，做事情明显比以前自信和主动了！考虑问题的角度也会先从整体思路出发，习惯做计划了。再一次感谢慧红，她在潜移默化中给孩子的正向影响,使她终生受益。

    2.文书写作：因为GPA、SAT、托福成绩等基本已固定，所以慧红提出把主要精力放在文书的写作上。我女儿本来就比较爱好写作，但申请文书毕竟不是写散文，慧红的智慧之处，也是让我们感动的地方在于，在正式开始写作前，她首先向她讲解申请文书的写作重点和目的要求，并和孩子一起讨论一些优秀的范文，以此来启发和引导孩子的理解力和灵感，让她自己认识到其与普通文章的不同，为随后的写作做好准备。

    在实际写作修改阶段，慧红表现出了极大的耐心和技巧，女儿每完成一稿，她都会和她一起反复讨论，并适时提出自己的意见和建议，不断地启发孩子自发自动完成任务，而不是仅在字句上枯燥地改稿。

    另外，当发现孩子爱好写作，愿意表达的特点时，为了让孩子充分发挥自己的优势，她建议女儿多写几篇，从不同的角度，表达不同的感受，最后选出的一篇有机地融合了多篇文章的亮点。这个过程，对孩子是一个反观自己，总结自己，最终升华自己的过程，而不仅仅是写作能力的锻炼和提升，这无疑也是终生受益的！

    3.活动列表：这方面慧红强调了两点，一是不必面面俱到，事无巨细，突出重点和自我优势才最重要; 二是主要活动与文书的呼应和一致性。

    除了以上提到的几点，慧红在整个申请过程的每一个环节都起到了举足轻重的作用，这里不再一一赘述。

    总之，慧红是我们所遇到过最有智慧、爱心和耐心的资询顾问，她的技巧和方法独到而有效，她的职业道德值得尊敬！我们非常幸运能得到慧红的帮助。