Jonathan Perkins

Dear Parents & Students, I tell my kids I want them to do three things every day: Ask questions, try hard, help people. Those three things matter to me, and they are why I enjoy doing college planning and applications with families. Each family is unique, so I need to ask questions to clarify for me (sometimes for them, too) what they value. Understanding what matters is the starting point for figuring out how students should plan their time, which colleges students should apply to, and what students should write about in their application essays. Also, because I want as many families as possible to have access to whatever I know, I try hard to write it all down, whether through my blog posts or my books. Writing is as miserable for me as it is for my students, but that is the price of trying to connect with other people. A skeptical student once asked me, “Do you really think what you do makes the world better?” I hope that I can help students by giving them confidence that, yes, they can handle a grueling task like college applications and yes, they do have something special to offer the world. At age 17, students stand at the threshold, and I like being there to help nudge them across into unknown terrain. Is college counseling the highest and best use of a B.A. from Stanford and a J.D. from Harvard? Not from the perspective of making money. But I am fine with that. Working with families is my best chance so far to live out those three values of asking questions, trying hard, and helping people. I have been at college planning since 2011, and I have no plans to stop. I hope that you and your family find guidance and encouragement in the books I have written! Jon