College Advisory — Marin · Berkeley · San Francisco · Palo Alto · Bay Area
College admissions at Office Hours is approached first as an educational process. Drawing on doctoral research in learning, literacy, and education at UC Berkeley, we help students understand not only where they can get in — but where they are most likely to grow.
The work begins by building an educational profile: how a student learns, what drives their curiosity, the environments in which they thrive, and the academic choices that tell their story. From there, school selection, application strategy, and writing become expressions of a student already understood.
Because the goal is not simply admission. It is helping students become thoughtful authors of their educational lives.
Beginning Sophomore Year · 2–3 Year Engagement
What's Included
The most powerful college applications are not written — they are lived. When we begin working with a student in sophomore year, we have the time to do something no last-minute advisor can: build a genuine educational profile. We come to understand how this student learns, what excites their intellectual curiosity, where they thrive, and what kind of environment will let them do their best work.
From there, we help students make intentional choices — about coursework, about how they spend their summers, about the communities they move through. And here we are direct: we do not send students searching for activities that signal distinction. We help them move more deeply into questions, communities, and work they genuinely care about.
Whether that means working in a biomedical science lab, contributing to restorative ecology, or building something through civic engagement — the student who arrives at senior year having done meaningful work in the world writes a different kind of application. Not because they were coached to. Because they have something real to say.
By the time junior year arrives and college lists are being built, the student who has worked with Office Hours for two years doesn't need to manufacture a narrative. They have one. The application becomes an act of articulation, not invention — and admissions readers notice the difference.
Admissions is temporary.
Education is lifelong.
And the college application is just one chapter in a much larger story.
Beginning Summer of Junior Year · 12–18 Months
What's Included
For students who come to Office Hours in the summer before senior year, we move quickly and deliberately. The application year is demanding, and students who navigate it best are organized, accountable, and working with someone who knows the process deeply.
We begin by taking stock of everything: the student's academic record, their activity list, their testing history, and the story that has been built — intentionally or not — over the past three years. From there, we build a college list that is honest about range and genuine about fit, create a clear timeline for every deadline, and begin the work of helping a student articulate who they already are.
The essay work in this pathway is especially important. A student's story exists by junior year. Our job is not to invent it — it is to surface it, refine it, and give it the form and language it deserves. Their personal statement will reflect not just classes and grades and activities, but who they are as a person — and that is what admissions readers remember.
We keep students on track, ensure nothing falls through the cracks, and bring the same intellectual seriousness to a junior-year start that we bring to every engagement.
The college essay is not where self-discovery happens.
The college essay is where self-discovery is made visible.
— Office Hours"We don't just help students get into college.
We help them understand why they're going."
Selected Outcomes
Admissions outcomes result from students' own intellectual development and genuine engagement — not a formula. We don't guarantee outcomes. We develop students who earn them.
What Families Say
"Over two years, Rebekah dedicated time to getting to know our daughter, refining her writing, identifying summer programs aligned with her interests, exploring colleges, touring campuses, and strategically applying to schools that were a great fit."
"The college application process can be incredibly stressful for both students and parents, but Rebekah made it a balanced and manageable experience. We felt especially fortunate that our daughter and Rebekah formed a deep connection — a dynamic that made the entire experience feel personal rather than transactional."
"We are deeply grateful for Rebekah's steady leadership throughout this journey."
our daughter's Family
Longitudinal Advisory · Two-Year Engagement · University of Rochester, Class of 2028
Acceptances include: Boston University · Northeastern University · Lehigh University
Office Hours maintains a deliberately small caseload. We take on new students when we can serve them well — and we're honest when we can't. Request a consultation and we'll tell you what the work looks like and whether we're the right match.
