“Gabby was there every millisecond of the session.  I felt like I got a lot of attention.  She is calm, focused and brilliant.

You don’t have to traverse this mountain alone.”
— Idris Lepla, Yale University

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“I think the biggest breakthrough I had was the power of the free write.” — Mira Kittner, Barnard College  

“Gabby Glancy is amazing at connecting with teenagers.”

“We have worked with Gabby for our son (now a junior in the UC system) and currently she is working with our daughter who is in the middle of the process now .”

“Gabby does everything she can to make a real connection with our amazing young adults and to help them learn and develop the tools to be successful with the test-taking, essay-writing process.”  

Applying to college is daunting, but Gabby is there with the kids and the parents to guide the way! She gets very busy, so call her early. She’s very popular!”
— Leslie F., Berkeley HS Parent

 

My daughter is a senior in high school and missed the second half of her sophomore year due to an illness.  She came out of the hospital in June and had to start summer school right away.  College applications were the last thing on our mind as she started her junior year.  I contacted Gabrielle Glancy (as well as some other consultants) and found that Gabby’s style and approach matched our needs.  From the outset she respected my daughter’s experience and was all about listening to her and helping her discover her story and communicate it in a compelling way. I feel like Gabby is not trying to make my daughter into someone else just to look good in an application. 

The essay writing process in particular has been amazing and will have lasting benefit! 

The process of free writes, reflection, developing insights and meaning, and connecting meaningful moments into stories has been a wonderful growth process for my daughter.  She is becoming a better writer, even using some of the techniques in her school work. The reflective essay writing process has been a great opportunity for my daughter to think deeply about herself and authentically tell her story. This alone has been worth it.

Working via Skype has been terrific too.  No driving in rush hour to make an appointment and wasting time.  They pop into Skype together and get to work.  At the end, my daughter has her to-do list and knows what she needs to do. 

I have been hands off but check in and get involved only when necessary and it has been wonderful. I could never have guided this process myself. Each session is based on what my daughter needs – discussing edits or issues in an essay, working through writer’s block, strategizing about how to use various pieces of writing in different essays.  Wherever my daughter is, Gabby has a technique or approach to support her and help her move forward. My daughter started the process skeptical, with concern and some anxiety since she missed school etc., not sure she had anything to say, but she is really enjoying working with Gabby and has found her confidence and power. We’re applying early action, to UCs, CSUs, and some East Coast/Ivys.  It is a lot of work! But Gabby has created a very do-able process and flow of work. Gabby is busy, but I have found her flexible and supportive throughout the process.

— Andrea S, Daughter attending UCLA

 

Gabby worked with my daughter on her college essays and I’m so thankful we found her! What I found was that the process of digging deep to write an amazing personal college essay takes time and a lot of effort. Gabby uses a free-write process to get ideas flowing and gets these kids thinking outside the box to come up with something unique.  The results do not come overnight but THEY DO COME! Gabby is super busy. Scheduled back to back most days. But when it’s your time, she is there 100%. My daughter never felt rushed or stressed by Gabby. My daughter felt as if she was working with a trusted friend throughout the process. Make no mistake, this wasn’t cheap.

But my daughter truly received a master class in writing, and has already used techniques she learned from Gabby in applying for an honors program in college. 

— Elissa G, Oakland Tech Parent

 

Our daughter absolutely LOVED working with Gabby Glancy. 

I don’t think college essay writing can be done in even a few sessions; it really is a process, and in fact, requires a particular style of writing that many students don’t really learn in high school.  Our daughter worked with Gabby starting early in her junior year and through the mid-point of her senior year.  Gabby was a huge help, support and inspiration, and taught her some invaluable ways of writing.  Gabby taught her a whole new way of writing that really captures her unique voice and experiences, which is why the “free writes” are so important.  These college essays must really be the student’s authentic voice and experience — and that requires a process of discovery, experimentation, reflection, writing, editing, feedback and then more writing and editing.  We knew that the colleges our daughter were interested in place a high value on the quality of the essays, and that they really need to stand out. Using the writing techniques Gabby taught her, our daughter got into a very competitive summer fellowship (5% admissions rate), and she just got into a highly competitive, top-choice college Early Decision.

Gabby has a strategy for helping young adults dig deep within themselves and find ways to work through writing blocks to come up with compelling, meaningful, authentic and excellent essays. 

I would definitely give her a call.  She’s very organized, accessible and fun to work with. 

— Marissa B.

I would like to add to the many recommendations for Gabby Glancy as a college admissions counselor. She worked with my daughter on all aspects of the application process, from helping her choose the right schools for her, to SAT tutoring, to writing essays.

Gabby is a former college admissions officer and really knows her stuff. She helped bring up my daughter’s SAT scores significantly after just a few sessions, and really pushed her to write essays that she was proud of.

My daughter said that her writing skills, which were already good, have improved so much since working with Gabby, and I think that that is worth its weight in gold. Gabby also clearly enjoys working with kids at this stage in life and really understands them. She acted as a therapist to my daughter throughout the process, giving her pep talks exactly when she needed them. I only wish we had met with her earlier in the process….my son is a freshman, and I’m going to take him to see her this Spring! 

For parents of teens who are flummoxed by the complexity and competitiveness of SAT prep and college application process, I have a recommendation: Gabrielle Glancy (415-637-1955) of New Vision Learning.

Everything you need to know about the results is on her website, but what really convinced us to find the money to get our two high schoolers tutoring with her was the woman herself. I was skeptical when I heard about the service and results she promised; my son was WAY behind on college prep; it was already October of his senior year and he hadn’t begun to apply to schools, and though his grades were passable, his SAT scores were only 1530. My daughter, a hard-working Junior, wanted to get a head start on her SATs and needed help with writing and vocabulary in particular. Grudgingly, I scheduled a consult with Glancy in San Rafael. I was immediately taken by her intense passion, her ability to connect to my kids and motivate them with specific goals and the encouragement that only someone who has spent a good number of years in education could muster. Glancy is determined to help students find their own strengths and work with them to identify the possibilities without selling them pie in the sky. My son’s SAT scores have risen to 1730. His math and writing have improved, and he’s been motivated to apply to colleges and follow up like never before. He’s already been accepted at Long Beach State and UC Riverside. We never thought we’d be promoting an SAT and college prep tutor, but Glancy has taken two concerned kids and their parents and given us all the tools and wherewithal to not only survive today’s college application process, but even enjoy it. 

–North Bay Parent

Gabby is presenting a workshop for 11th graders and their parents for navigating the college admissions process. It costs money, but there will be multiple experts there: for example, an admissions officer and a college counselor. Gabby has been a great tutor for my daughter and she’s helped many students through the process. Check in with her about this event. If you miss this workshop, she may do more in the future, so call her.

 

You get what you pay for. Gabby’s a master. She goes around the country giving talks on writing college essays and wrote a book on it.

She took our son through the process from beginning to end. It wasn’t cheap, but he got into UCLA and some other great schools. You feel like you’re in expert hands working with her. 

 

I highly recommend Gabrielle Glancy as a college counselor. We went through the process without a counselor for our oldest, and decided, given the personality of our second, that it would be a good idea to enlist some outside help. Gabby worked with our daughter for 8 months (from spring of junior year through applications submission on 12/30), and, thanks to her, most of the stress at home around college apps was eliminated. This meant that our home was not a battlefield but rather a calm place–very different from two years ago when our oldest was at the same stage. Sophie stayed focused and on track both with the apps and with working to get her grades up (part of our agreement with her and with Gabby).

She heard from her first school last week–she was accepted into their honors program with a scholarship that will cover 50% of all expenses. Gabby is worth every penny! –— Deirdre, Albany

 

Gabrielle Glancy is truly the best. Our daughter worked with Gabby two years ago and got into her top-choice school.

We started our son at the same time as our daughter even though he was only a sophomore. Gabby helped him every step of the way — with SAT’s, his college list and the entire college process. As a rising senior, he is now working with her on his college essays. In this area, I cannot imagine anyone better. She has helped him come up with really unique topics that express his true essence, is teaching him how to write in ways he and we could never have imagined and has helped him gain confidence in himself throughout the process. I have seen them work together and they have a great rapport. She’s easy to talk to but really sharp and on her game. He always comes out of her office (or SKYPE) smiling. He’s calm around her and she gets his creative juices flowing.

— Parent, Walnut Creek

Gabby is the best in the business! I have three sons and I have never met someone who has as much expertise and rapport with kids as Gabby has.

She’s truly an expert in her field. As a former Admissions director, she knows from the inside out what students need to get into college. Working with Gabby is really one-stop shopping. She is worth every penny!

— Parent, Albany High 

We did our college process from start to finish with Gabrielle Glancy and everything that is said about her is true.

Our daughter had done previous preparation for the SAT’s, but eight sessions with Gabby was worth all of the rest of it put together. She has some techniques that seemed to unlock previously locked doors for Sophia. And then she helped her find her voice and write the most beautiful essays. 

 

This was a life changer.  At first it felt incredibly daunting to open up a document and just flesh out my ideas — no structure, and most importantly, no deleting anything.  Gabby taught me to trust the free write and give myself the freedom to get it all out there.  Many times I would panic and say to Gabby, “How is this going to fit in a 200 word essay!?”  And every single time, Gabby would tell me NEVER to think about the word count beforehand because you can always cut it down and choose the best parts.  I can’t feel constricted at the beginning or else the ideas won’t flow.  The first time, there might be nothing there.  Maybe the second time too.  But if you keep writing, somewhere, hidden in there will be that one paragraph, that one sentence, that one phrase that will suddenly make you say “Yes!” This is it!” That is the most gratifying feeling!”

— Mira Kittner, Barnard College

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