Why

While strong academics and standardized test scores lay at the foundation of an impressive college application, our mentoring approach places incredible emphasis on students exploring their passions through participation in extracurriculars and the building of individual passion projects. We help students not only demonstrate academic excellence, but also develop leadership skills and the drive to be self-starters and go-getters. 

Through an emotionally intelligent approach, we help our students identify leadership opportunities in their schools and communities and provide guidance in taking those opportunities to the next level. Not only do our students focus on giving back, these projects help them stand out among the thousands of other applicants to top schools. 

In developing their projects, students work with our full-service in-house marketing team to build a website, develop branding and social media strategy, and recruit press for their accomplishments.

At Command Education, our mentors are all full-time, recent graduates of top schools, meaning they are closer in age to their students and can therefore relate better to them. Our students truly view their mentors as mentors, not as counselors or teachers. In addition to establishing a non-parental relationship through near-peer mentorship, we match each student to a mentor based on their academic and professional goals and interests, personalities, strengths and dream colleges. Each of our students (and their parents!) complete a detailed questionnaire before being assigned a mentor. Carefully matching students to mentors enables students and mentors to build strong, productive relationships.

Our mentors can speak to the qualities crucial for success in college and beyond, and help foster these skills in their students. Our mentors have successfully completed rigorous academic courses at their respective colleges and universities, and equip their students with the studying and time management skills necessary for success at higher level institutions. 

Colleges want to admit students they believe will succeed in the face of adversity and who they believe will rise to the challenge, playing on their strengths to produce impressive work. Our mentors teach their students how to recognize their strengths and how to create something impactful through those strengths. Because they are near peer, they help students create relevant and innovative projects, essays and present compelling narratives in their college applications. 

Command Education is a boutique firm, which allows our team to provide high level strategy and individualized mentoring to each student. We intentionally limit the number of students each of our mentors works with in order to ensure that mentors can devote their undivided attention to their students. Mentors customize each part of the mentoring process, building out personalized roadmaps for each of their students in accordance with their strengths and goals.

While other firms may hire part-time or contracted mentors, each and every one of our mentors works full time, ensuring fast response rates and flexible meeting times.

Each of our mentors are trained in emotional intelligence, and incorporate this philosophy into their mentoring. During his time at Yale, Command Education’s founder and CEO, Christopher Rim, conducted research under Dr. Marc Brackett, the director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. There, he helped to conduct a survey of high school students, which found that 75% of the words they used to describe how they feel at school were negative. The most common words? “Tired,” “Stressed,” and “Bored.” Students want to achieve the mindset that will lead to success, but they need help—and that’s where Command Education comes in. Our near-peer mentors are trained to inspire, empower, and support students to discover what they are truly excited and passionate about.

Once our students have reduced their stress and refocused their energy on their passions, we often hear from parents, “I have never seen my child so motivated.” With our mentors supporting and encouraging them, 100% our students feel empowered to pursue their passions and feel proud of their accomplishments.

Our mentors are all graduates of Ivy League and top tier institutions. Knowing that their mentors recently succeeded in the college admissions process gives our students confidence that we understand the current landscape and can help them focus on what really matters. We carefully assess each candidate to ensure they can connect with and motivate their students.

Once hired, mentors go through an intensive initial training period with the Senior Director of Mentoring and Director of Mentoring, and attend team meetings to stay up to date on current admissions trends and higher education updates. Advice that may have held true 15-20 years ago is now outdated. Our recent college graduates keep up with current admissions trends, and find innovative ways to ensure students can authentically deliver what top schools are looking for.

Fees for college consultants range from few hundred dollars per hour to over six figures for an all-inclusive multi-year package. What sets our services apart at Command Education is our emphasis on the individual student and their genuine passions, goals and strengths. Starting as early as 8th grade, our dedicated Senior Mentors create personalized roadmaps for each student, focusing on how they can reach their full potential as both a student and an individual. Through this authentic, emotionally intelligent approach to mentoring, our students organically develop into the ideal candidates for Ivy League and top tier schools. Our students aren’t just class presidents — they are award-winning nonprofit founders, community organizers, political activists, and entrepreneurs.

All of our services are custom designed to fit you and your child’s needs, which is why we only work with a limited number of students at any given time. Year after year, our approach consistently proves that an investment in our services will not only help your child reach their potential, but also help land them at the elite colleges they are aiming for.

Unlike some other college consulting companies, we offer flexibility when it comes to scheduling with our students, as we know high school coursework and extracurriculars can be very demanding. While other firms may hire part-time or contracted mentors, each and every one of our mentors works full time, ensuring fast response rates and flexible meeting times. Our mentors are not on a 9-5; they are available to meet with students seven days a week, at their students’ convenience. We have worked successfully via remote meetings, even before Covid. No matter where our students are located in the world, we work with them on their own time to allow them to make the most of their mentoring year round.