Claire Carbonier College Consultant

02/25/2026

Excited to share the launch of my new college counseling website! Thanks again to all those who have made my business possible. I am forever grateful.

An affordable, personalized, and hands-on approach to helping students and families navigate the college admissions process — from start to acceptance.

10/23/2025

Feeling especially grateful this morning for all the families and students that have entrusted me throughout their college application process. Thank you so much!

When a student reaches out to me a few months into her freshman year to share pictures and tell me how happy she is or a student sends a text to thank me and adds that while he may not miss essay writing, he will miss our meetings, or when students reach out for support because their friends (not parents!) have recommended me, I am humbled knowing that my business has grown the way I always had hoped and intended💛

08/14/2025

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

With the school year approaching, I wanted to share a few recommendations for rising juniors.

1. If you have not done so already, take a practice ACT and SAT- companies like Bridgewater and Summit offer these opportunities, and they are a great, free way to determine which test you are most comfortable with. More colleges are reinstating test required policies and even those that are test optional, still value strong scores.

2. Make connections with your junior year teachers. In late winter, you will be asking teachers for recommendation letters so it is important to make connections with your teachers starting from the beginning of the school year in order to elicit the most meaningful and personalized recommendations.

3. Visit some college campuses, even if you have no interest in intending the school! See colleges of different sizes, locations etc. to start to getting an idea of what might be the best fit for you.

If you would like to discuss college counseling services for your rising junior (or sophomore), I would love to speak with you! The best way to reach me is either by email at [email protected] or by text at (203) 246-2434.

An affordable and hands-on approach to helping students and parents manage the college admissions process. College counseling focused on empowering the student and supporting the parents as they navigate the college application process.

06/13/2025

Parents of rising seniors:

If your child needs some guidance this summer on the college application process, I am opening up some hourly availability and would love to chat with you. It makes such a difference to your student (and you!) to have as much completed as possible before the start of senior year!

If you don't know where to start and need help getting up and running , want guidance on developing/finalizing their college list, or someone to review the common application from an admissions standpoint, I am happy to offer support at any stage of the process.

Best way to reach me is by text at (203) 246-2434.

Send a message to learn more

04/29/2025

Tuesday Tip!

One of the biggest missed opportunities for students and parents is not investing enough time in completing the guidance counselor brag sheets and the forms teachers often ask students to complete in order to write a letter of recommendation. These are your and your student's rare opportunity to have a direct impact on what is written about you and shared with admissions counselors. Taking the time to thoroughly and thoughtfully respond to the questions, provide personalized and detailed responses, and looking for ways to differentiate yourself, can have a big difference on the quality of recommendation that you ultimately receive.

Send a message to learn more

03/25/2025

Sharing for my daughter Ashley!

Hi! My name is Ashley Carbonier, a soon to be graduate of Gettysburg College.

I am a freelance photographer who would love to be considered for your graduation pictures this spring/summer season. Whether it's pictures of your graduate, family photo shoots, or graduation celebrations, I would love to help you capture the moments of this special time.

Photography Experience:

Photography Intern for the Communications and Marketing Department at Gettysburg College: Tasked with capturing a variety of content, including on-campus events, sports games, campus lifestyle, and school spirit.

Boston Marathon: Selected to take pictures for the Boston Marathon, April 2025

Content and Social Media Marketing Intern for IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida: Applied my photography skills to create eye-capturing visual content that was represented across a variety of mediums; my images reflected the value of storytelling through photography and captured the IMG Academy camp experience.

Portfolio: Here is a link to my portfolio if you would like to view some of my images:
https://www.ashleycarbonierportfolio.com/

I am offering very competitive pricing of $200 which includes:
- Up to two hours of photo-taking
- Edited photos
- Access to all photos

I can be best reached at (203) 209 -8459. Thank you so much!
Ashley

03/10/2025

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all the wonderful families with whom I have had the pleasure of working over the last four years. Now in my fifth year of college counseling, I am so appreciative of those who have trusted me and allowed me to support their students through the college application process! I love what I do and feel so grateful to be a small part of their journey.

P.S- Betsy Bell, I could not have done this without you!

Send a message to learn more

09/23/2023

Had to share! So much truth in the humor!

05/30/2023

Summer is a critical time for rising seniors who have not yet started to think about the college application process.

Completing some of the tasks over the summer will alleviate a lot of stress in the fall and make the process feel a lot less overwhelming.

I am offering summer hourly sessions, for any senior that would like some one-on-one support to help them simply get up and running, research colleges, work on or review the common application etc.

Best way to reach me if interested is to email me at: [email protected]

Thanks!!

03/27/2023

Happy Monday!

Tip of the Week!

One of the most important parts of the college application is the activities section. It's where students can share more than their gpa/test scores and show an admissions counselor how they spend their time and how they might add to the college's student community.
Here are some of the "buckets" that admissions counselors look at and can help guide completing this section.

Intellectual Curiosity- what activities have you done to showcase your intellectual curiosity - research, academic clubs etc.

Leadership skills- starting a club, school leadership positions etc.

Commitment to Community- service related activities, philanthropy

Non school activties- summer camps, religious activities, internships

Activities relating to intended major

03/20/2023

Happy First Day of Spring!
Tip of the Week!

Missed last week as I was away but tip of the week is back!

Talking Early Decision today!

After a particularly tough admissions year, one thing that definitely stands out is the advantage of early decision. Not of course in all cases, but there definitely seems to be an advantage at many schools to consider applying ED with acceptances rates being higher, and in some cases substantially higher. What better way for a college to protect their yield rate, then by admitting a large number of students during the ED round. Few things to keep in mind:

ED is binding. Your student has to be 100% sure that this is the school he/she wants to go to. You all will sign a contract agreeing that if you are accepted, you will attend.

As a parent, you need to be comfortable paying sticker price. Your student will be considered for merit aid and eligible for financial aid, but you won’t be able to compare financial offers with other schools.

Long are the days where you can ED to an out of reach school and get admitted. You absolutely need to be objectively competitive to have a chance. Students seem to have the most success for those high target/target schools that are a notch down from their reach.

You still want to apply to other schools. Appling Early Action, rolling admissions and having some schools ready to go for regular decision is very important. If your students is deferred or rejected from their ED school, they need to have other applications submitted and others in the pipeline.