Christina Büchmann College Consulting — Palo Alto, CA
"I can't tell you just how relieved and proud I am. Relieved to have finished in time, and proud to have submitted something I couldn't have done any better. For both of those feelings, I thank you."
"Christina helped my daughter find her authentic voice and express it beautifully. Christina's style is one that encourages students to stretch themselves and take creative risks which distinguish them in the college process."
"If you want attentive, personalized tutoring for your student, Christina is the best! She is very perceptive about her students' needs and extremely clever in motivating them to tackle challenges—with excellent results."
"Writing was not our son's strength, so his essay took numerous drafts. The final essay, however, read like our son jumping off the page."
"The passion with which Christina approaches her work with students gets results. Our sons produced their best writing and were accepted to excellent colleges."
"Christina's keen understanding of character made me feel that she grasped immediately who I was, intimately. Just as importantly, she appreciated in me the qualities that I was trying so hard to articulate through my writing, and pushed me to write more boldly and more honestly than I had dared to previously. Christina helped me weave together the threads of my narrative into a tapestry that showed exactly who I was. I went on to be accepted at Harvard, where I completed my undergraduate degree in English."
"Christina has the gift of being able to make each student feel special. She brings the best out of each student, even when the student does not feel he/she is good at writing."
"Christina is much more than a College Application Coach—she is a mentor who stretches the boundaries for her students and instills in them a high level of critical thinking. Our two daughters returned to her, on their own, for her astute guidance when applying for a Fulbright Scholarship and law school. She is outstanding!"
"Christina's experience, knowledge, intense dedication, and brutal honesty made me feel like there was someone extraordinarily competent on my side. In the fall I am attending a school I am thrilled about, and to be frank, I don't know how I would have fared without her."
"Christina worked miracles to reengage and inspire our son, a college dropout with a rather complicated academic history, to apply to colleges he had never heard of, which turned out to be so interested in him that he was accepted on a merit scholarship."
"I'd thought my essays would be the weakest part of my application, but arguably they are now the strongest part."
"Sending my daughter to Christina was the best gift I could have given her as preparation for college! Christina worked with my daughter on her writing skills, but mainly made her reach inside herself and discover who she really is and what her strengths are. My daughter is now a much more confident young woman."
"He made it to Stanford! I want to thank you for all the help you have given him and his sister. I keep bumping into people who ask me about the recipe for Ivy kids. I think one of our key ingredients is you and I would refer them to you."
"As a student from an international family I thought that personal statements were boxes that didn't fit me; Christina helped me craft an essay that showed both my intellectual and my artistic sides. Her deep understanding of the process of transforming lived experience into concise, witty, and moving writing is only matched by the boundless energy with which she approaches each student as an individual."
"I ended up accepting a spot at the Rochester Institute of Technology with $12,000 per year scholarship. Thank you so much for everything you did to help me in this process. I definitely wouldn't have been accepted into this caliber of school without you!"
"Christina is very tuned-in and perceptive about her students' strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and creativity. When it comes to learning differences, she is especially patient and becomes both the student's and the parents' best ally for coping with these differences."
"I didn't know how to convert the ideas in my head to words on the page. Christina taught me how to engage with the reader to effectively make my points. The skills I learned with Christina carried me through college and now, the law-school application process. Her coaching has been an integral part of my education."
"There was no sugar coating of the competitive reality of the college admissions scene, but at the same time, Ms. Büchmann's approach was very supportive, encouraging, and confidence building."
"Right from the start, Christina formed a special bond with my daughter, one that worked magically in managing the stress and anxiety which had kept her from working efficiently even though she had always been a very good student."
"Just wanted to remind you: You said I should apply to X University because when I got my first acceptance, I'd be glad to have that option. I just got into X University. ARE YOU ALWAYS RIGHT?!"
About
Working with college applicants is an unusual opportunity because the situation makes students extra receptive. They need to figure themselves out and—quickly—learn to write about their mature selves. My goal is to produce applicants confident enough to hold themselves to higher standards. It's an exciting process.
My preparation includes my own education, teaching in universities and high school programs, and training in the college admission process. The result is familiarity with the admission office perspective, knowledge of how various personality types fare in different educational environments, and a sense of how far a student can be pushed to work more ambitiously.
Education
- Ph.D. in English, U.C. Berkeley
- B.A. in English, Yale
Teaching
- Yale College Bass Writing Program
- U.C. Berkeley, Department of English
- Castilleja School, Palo Alto, CA
- Academic Talent Development Program, U.C. Berkeley
Training & Experience
- Interviewing for the Yale College Office of Admissions
- Supervision of college applications of more than a hundred seniors at Castilleja School
- College essay workshops for the Academic Talent Development Program at U.C. Berkeley and for its International Division
- Western Association for College Admission Counseling
- Overseas consulting with applicants to American colleges
- Staying in touch with students to hear their college and work experiences
- Over ten years as an independent counselor
Services
Recommended Plan for the High School Years:
9th grade
- Introductory consultation about the student's and parents' expectations.
- Optional: Potential activity advising
- Curriculum priorities
- Parent orientation
10th grade
- Student pursues studies and interests.
- Planning ahead and consultation about college visits
- Optional: Summer internship planning
11th grade
- Decisions about testing
- SAT and ACT testing prep
- Reflective writing prep
- Recommendation planning
Summer between 11th and 12th grades
- As much of the application-writing as possible
12th grade
- Completing applications, reading acceptance letters, choosing where to go to college.
- Optional: Interview prep
- Portfolios
International
International students may need additional support in areas such as:
Orientation
- American programs of study
- Types of institutions
- The American ideal of well-rounded students
- Explaining one's educational system
- Showing extracurriculars
- Reflection in the personal essays
- Interviewing skills
- Guidance for recommenders
- Finding scholarships
Practical
Planning for future entrance in professional programs
I have worked with international students visiting Palo Alto, as well as over Skype, internet, telephone, and overseas visits.
Students have come from
Frequently Asked Questions
What can strong students get from advising?
An objective sounding board, encouragement to take good risks, more college options, more scholarships, help squeezing in more information, ways to make the information show more of them, higher standards.
When should a student start working on his/her applications?
Ideally the writing should start the summer before senior year of high school.
Does everyone need to spend the same amount of time with a college counselor?
Not at all. Some come in only at the beginning and the end; some make a weekly routine of showing work; some only consult about the writing.
Is it useful to apply early?
It doesn't always help, but this can be figured out based on the particular student's profile.
Is it worth polishing my essays to apply to the UC system?
Yes, the UC admissions officers read essays quite alertly, looking for specific information.
Do others use college counselors?
Yes.
Do people ever not finish their applications in time?
It doesn't happen.
Will I get into college?
Yes. But you have to apply.
Signs of Progress
"The student shows up looking taller and broader, beaming because he has finished his first essay."
"The student who hates writing about herself discovers that short sentences work. They just have to add up. They can juxtapose interesting information."
"The student finally fills out the Special Circumstances box—and discovers that no one else thinks he should be ashamed."
"The student mentions that she now offers editing help to her friends at school—"they have a lot to learn.""
"The student, halfway through the season, announces that he will try a new topic—"I've cared about this for years; I just didn't think anyone else would be interested.""
"The student gets an acceptance and merit scholarship while still working on her other applications."
"The student lets his parents see his finished essays and everyone exclaims that they can hear his voice as they read."
"The student returns to the first draft of her first essay and laughs tolerantly."
"The student returns from college to tell me that I must tell others to come to his college because it's the best place he can imagine."