We hired Susan from Riley Baker to help both of our kids prepare for and apply to college. She began working with the kids when they were early in their high school career. She helped both kids identify a career path and ultimately what they wanted our of their college experience. The biggest benefit of working with the kids this early was that they understood what was required in order to get into their top choice schools. She constantly gave them ideas for unique and relevant extracurricular activities, volunteer opportunities and other resume builders. Susan also showed the kids how to start researching and evaluating schools, which can be overwhelming for high school students. She encouraged the kids to visit schools and discussed their feedback afterward. Finally, Susan helped the kids write all of their essays (countless rounds of edits), as well as actually apply to colleges. She showed them how to fill out the applications properly, double checked their work, help them describe their activities properly, etc. . Ultimately, both of our children got into their first choice school. Susan emphasizes more than just rankings and images - she encourages the kids to really want to go to their top choices for the right reasons. She is patient but firm with the teenagers and always keeps the parents involved. While it is large financial and time committment to work with a counselor from Riley Baker, it is worth the investment. I would highly recommend Susan and Riley Baker to anyone. read more

We worked with Kim at Riley Baker to help both of our kids with the college admissions process, and we couldn't be happier with the service we received. Our kids couldn't be more different, and she tailored her services to them both beautifully. Our son was first, and he had really no idea where he wanted to go or what he wanted to do. Kim helped him work out a process of elimination where he eventually narrowed down a list of qualities that were important to him in a school. From there, she helped identify schools to meet those criteria, and worked with him through the process. Kim was especially helpful with his essay. Our daughter this past year was quite the opposite experience. She knew what she wanted to study and had a good idea where she wanted to go. Kim was instrumental in helping her narrow the search down to a manageable number of contenders, and was again very helpful in the construction and editing of the essay. We were especially impressed at how Kim adapted to work with my daughter who is persuing the performing arts, something she hadn't encountered much before. Overall we couldn't be happier. We've recommended Riley Baker (and Kim specifically) to several friends who've been happy as well. read more

Both my daughter and son worked with Matt Baker for their college counseling. We signed on with Matt when my daughter was a sophomore and my son a freshman. I was extremely happy with all the services Matt and his team offered. He provided very thorough guidance throughout the entire process and made sure my kids were keeping on track. He did everything from helping them select high school classes, planning college visits, editing essays, filling out applications and especially keeping up with deadlines. I was especially appreciative of his advice and guidance when my daughter decided our large public high school was not a good fit for her. He helped us quickly arrange visits and interviews with private schools and even reached out to administrators at these institutions to help us find the best fit for her. Matt's services were well worth the investment, and have saved me many hours of stress over the past four years! read more

Exceeded our expectations. We were extremely fortunate to work with Kim. Kim's background was ideally suited to navigate the college admission process and bolster our teen's essay writing. She was an absolute pleasure to work with. She brought knowledge, rigor, compassion, and focus throughout the process. We couldn't be more pleased with our overall experience in working with Kim and Riley Baker. read more

Matt and his team are great at the process of preparing for, seeking out, and engaging with colleges and boarding schools. We've worked with Matt on both the college admissions process and the boarding school process and feel like our kids are where they need to be. read more

We started working with Matt for our oldest daughter at the end of her sophomore year. Matt first took time to learn about our daughter and what she was interested in both academically and socially. After that, he took time to discuss possible classes and outside activities for her junior and senior year to best help her meet her post high school college goals. Our daughter met with Matt many times to discuss possible schools and continuously update her interests and progress. When it came time for collegiate application essays, she was well-prepared and Matt provided excellent guidance in refining her essays. Our daughter applied Early Decision and got into her first choice school. We are working with Matt again for our son who is a rising Junior. Matt gives great direction and also listens to what your kid truly wants in order to get to the best fit in the end. Highly recommend Riley Baker! read more

My daughter worked with Hilary and after spending over $1000 on her consulting services chose a school she is now leaving mid year semester year. After attending , she learned the school was a "commuter school" amongst other very impactful details that lead to this poor decision. Hilary pointed out that we should have read these things in the Fiske guide to colleges to prevent this from happening. Obviously we did not hire her to direct us to the Fiske college guide. We thought her advice would add value. Ultimately it was our error but the money spent was not worth the advice. I will add that once we were in this position I reached out for help and she had little to no knowledge about transfer students/applications. I learned more about it in 5 minutes on the internet. The college application process is overwhelming and a big decision - in our case a 80k per year decision. We thought getting advice from Hilary would add value. In this case it did not. read more

The best firm to partner with in the competitive college application process we parents are faced with today, the best investment we made for our child other than her education. Riley Baker and its talented and dedicated staff has helped take the stress and pressure off the many deadlines, applications and paperwork required by colleges, they help guide and council the child as an individual and do a very good job of matching Universities to your child's personality and strengths. We work with Dan Hales and we could not be more pleased with his guidance and his knowledge of the many options available in higher education. read more

I found my way to Riley Baker at the recommendation of a friend. This is a fabulous organization and Barb is the person you want in your corner! She did great work with our seniors - she motivated them to really want to do their best work. She dug deep to help them find a way to put their personal stamp on their application. In addition, they thoroughly enjoyed working with her which created a successful partnership. Both students were accepted ED into their first choice of schools, which was a reach for them and there is no doubt that Riley Baker was a contributing factor. We are grateful for the tremendous support and highly recommend! read more

I feel Riley Baker was well worth the investment in my son's college planning! We hired Barb in August of my son's senior year. She got to know my son and helped him through the whole process of the college application. I never had to ask my son to do anything with his applications. He worked with Barb and listened to everything she recommended for him. He often told me that he didn't get stressed out because Barb was helping him along the way. Even when he went for college interviews, Barb had a list of questions he may be asked and what things he might want to ask the interviewer. I looked forward to having Barb help my next child in the college application process in the next year!! read more

Riley Baker was a fantastic investment for my son's future. We hired Barb in the beginning of my son's senior year, and she guided him through the whole application process. My son enjoyed working with her and everything that she expected from him to accomplish, be it essay writing or filling out the application in a timely manner. I look forward to having Barb help me with my daughter in a year. Well done Barb!!! read more

Best investment we ever made. We learned about Riley Baker when our niece applied early decision and got accepted to a prestigious college in the Southeast. She recently graduated and had the most amazing college experience. Based on their experience, we engaged Riley Baker to work with our daughter when she was a sophomore in high school. What I have learned: The team at Riley Baker is at the top of their game. They are all about getting to really know their students and helping them get into the best, right college. They have made the experience of preparing for and applying to college a positive one. Our daughter has a clear plan on target, reach and likely schools, all of which she would feel great about attending. They have literally taken the stress out of the preparation by working closely with our daughter so she is prepared at every step. The counselors get to know their students on a different level than their parents. Her counselor communicates with her in an encouraging, non-emotional way that gives her a logical perspective. As a result, our daughter has taken real ownership in the process. Our daughter's teachers have commented on how our daughter is way ahead of her class in being motivated and having a clear idea of what type of school and curriculum she is interested in. I can't say enough about the experience and have recommended Riley Baker to other parents who are also thrilled with their experience. If there is one thing you want to get right, this is it. read more