How should my family prepare for the first meeting?

You don’t need to overthink it. The consultation isn’t an audition, and there’s no “right” way to show up. That said, a small amount of preparation can make the conversation more useful for everyone.

If you have a résumé, activities list, or transcript handy — even in rough form — bring it along. It gives us something concrete to respond to instead of working purely from memory. If you have a preliminary school list, share that too. And if there are specific concerns — a late start, a gap in the transcript, a disagreement between parent and student about direction — name them upfront. We’d rather spend the time on what actually matters to your family than walk through a generic overview.

One thing that genuinely helps is involving the student, even briefly. Parents often initiate the process, and that’s completely normal. But hearing directly from the student — even for five minutes — gives us insight that no secondhand summary can replicate. How they talk about their interests, whether they seem engaged or uncertain, how they frame their own goals — all of that shapes our thinking about fit and what kind of support would actually help.

If none of that is ready, come anyway. Some of our most productive consultations begin with nothing more than “we’re not sure where to start.” That’s a perfectly valid starting point — and one we know how to work with.