We provide highly customized college planning and application guidance to high school students around the globe.

We are dedicated to getting to know all our students individually, understanding their personalities, interests, learning preferences, strengths, weaknesses. To guarantee the quality of our services, we work with a small number of students every year.

OUR SERVICES

We deliver tailored college admission guidance to help you gain acceptance into the best-fit colleges

Comprehensive packages

if you need help navigating the entire college planning and application process from start to finish.

9th and 10th Graders:

  • Exploring academic and extracurricular interests

  • Selecting high school courses and extracurricular activities

  • Developing time management skills (both at and outside of school)

  • Creating a personalized four-year college planning timeline (i.e., when to start researching colleges, take campus tours, write essays, complete and submit applications, etc.)

  • Creating a comprehensive standardized test plan (i.e., what tests to take, when to take them, and how to properly prepare for them)

  • Choosing and applying for summer programs (e.g., summer camps, research opportunities, etc.)

  • Exploring college majors Exploring academic and extracurricular interests

  • Selecting high school courses and extracurricular activities

  • Developing time management skills (both at and outside of school)

  • Creating a personalized four-year college planning timeline (i.e., when to start researching colleges, take campus tours, write essays, complete and submit applications, etc.)

  • Creating a comprehensive standardized test plan (i.e., what tests to take, when to take them, and how to properly prepare for them)

  • Choosing and applying for summer programs (e.g., summer camps, research opportunities, etc.)

  • Exploring college majors

11th Graders:

  • Selecting academic courses for 12th grade

  • Creating a personalized college planning timeline (i.e., when to start researching colleges, take campus tours, write essays, complete and submit applications, etc.)

  • Creating a comprehensive standardized test plan (i.e., what tests to take, when to take and how to prepare them)

  • Selecting extracurricular activities

  • Developing time management skills (both at and outside of school)

  • Creating a student resume for college applications

  • Researching colleges (e.g., what resources to use, what to look for, etc.)

  • Planning campus visits

  • Analyzing the pros and cons of colleges

  • Creating a balanced list of best-fit colleges

  • Developing a college application strategy (i.e., which colleges should be applied to early [November versus January], etc.)

  • Writing college application essays

  • Reviewing applications to ensure they have been completed correctly

12th Graders:

  • Monitoring application timelines to ensure all deadlines are met

  • Reviewing finished applications, including essays, to ensure they are flawless

  • Preparing for interviews for admissions

  • Reviewing acceptance letters

  • Selecting a college to attend

Flexible Package 

Cost-effective hourly packages are great if you only need help with certain parts of the college planning or application process.


Carmen Liao, Founder

After earning a Bachelor of Arts in English from Sun Yat-Sen University, China, and a Master of Science in Management from Lancaster University, United Kingdom, I worked as an audit and risk management consultant at Ernst & Young and Deloitte, amongst other companies, for eight years. During those years, I developed solid research and analysis skills and became very detail-oriented.

Toward the end of my years in the audit and risk management field, I started a family and began raising my children. It was then that my interest in consulting began to shift toward educational consulting. As I transitioned into that field, I spent six years helping immigrants in Singapore navigate the K-12 school application process there. Looking to continue to challenge myself and learn more, I started guiding high school students through the college planning and application process. I found that work to be very fulfilling. I enjoyed utilizing all of the work experience I had acquired leading up to it to get to know my students at a deeper level and hone in on their unique attributes and strengths, allowing me to provide them with highly personalized academic guidance.

Eager to learn more about education consulting, I enrolled in University of California, Irvine’s Independent Education Consultant program. Upon graduating from it, I became an associate member of the Independent Education Consultant Association (IECA), which provides ongoing professional development opportunities for its members and holds them to the highest ethical and best practice standards. In addition to being a member of IECA, I also keep up to date with evolving college admissions requirements by attending various professional development workshops and conferences monthly as well as visiting approximately 15 colleges annually.


Contact Us

E-Mail：carmenliao@greatlandconsulting.org

Wechat：carmengreatland