Dear Families,

 

Thank you for taking the time to visit this page! My name is Eda S. Chen, and I am the Owner and President of Élan Advising, the first higher education consulting firm to offer Academic Success Coaching℠, College Admissions Consulting and Career Consulting.

 

I started this company to fulfill what I perceive as a real and pressing need in the community. Following my graduation from the University of California at Davis, I became an SAT and ACT tutor for Kaplan. It was the perfect job for me at the time—teenagers are fun to work with!—and I was welcomed into the homes of countless high school students and their families as they diligently prepared for applications season.

 

Through Kaplan, I found that some families I worked with had a lot in common: the students were nearly always overworked and needlessly stressed. The parents were supportive, but had myriad concerns they often had little time or resources to address without some help: Which test is better for my child, the SAT or ACT? What should my high schooler do to increase her chances of getting into a good college? What should she write about on her applications essays? She may have B+ in all her classes, but isn't being well-rounded a good thing?

 

A number of families started preparations late in the game and I watched as they unfortunately experienced the repercussions: lower-than-desired test scores or grades, missed scholarship opportunities; worse, ineligibility to apply for certain colleges. College is such a big decision and important milestone in a young person's life, no one should have to make under-informed decisions. I wanted to help.

 

The purpose of this company is to bring some organization and clarity to the college admissions process without losing sight of the student’s individuality and independence. I look forward to working with families who agree that the college applications process is a student's own, unique journey, and that life skills and emotional intelligence should trump the supposed prestige or rank of any Ivy. Happy students are productive students, and I aim to help students achieve, in preparation for applying to college, a stress-free, successful high school career in the hopes that they acquire the skills to live a stress-free, successful life.

 

I have so much confidence in the services our company offers and am truly excited to see them in action. No other company offers both Academic Success Coaching℠ and College Admissions Consulting, yet I believe these two services combined are precisely the ticket to a better high school experience, a better college application, a better life. We are the first and only company on the market to have this insight, and we can't wait to work with you and your teen.

 

Please call us at 530-750-9066 or email us at elanadvising [at] gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

 

Most sincerely,

Eda S. Chen