We absolutely loved working with Carolyn on the middle school application process.
She is incredibly knowledgeable about the secondary school landscape in Los Angeles. She really took the time to get to know our daughter and was able to walk us through each school that would be a possible fit for her and our family. She knows the ins and outs of all things admissions and her years of experience gave us so much confidence as we embarked on this monumental journey. Carolyn held our hand the whole way. She worked with our daughter to build on her interviewing skills and made sure she stayed on task with her applications. She was always available to us and we are so grateful to her. In the end our daughter was accepted at all the schools to which she applied! We highly recommend Carolyn to anyone entering the application process, she will be your best advocate!
Jenna P.
Parent at Windward School and Wise School
Even coming from a private school, where the school aids you in this process, it was invaluable to have Carolyn in our corner.
She is an insider who not only has a pulse on the schools themselves but on who your child really is and where they will thrive.
Jennifer S.
Parent Marlborough School and Village School
We worked with Carolyn cross country from New York on private school applications for our nine-year-old son for LA via Zoom and voice calls.
As a family that had recently moved to the east coast from India, and with an impending move to LA in the fall, were not at all familiar with how private school applications worked in the US and how to short list schools that would work for us. Carolyn helped us by giving us the lay of the land on LA schools and helping us identify which schools would work for us as a family, since community was als a key factor for us. Working with her via Zoom was seamless and we felt like we had known her forever even though we hadn’t met. She worked on getting to know our son’s personality, his hobbies, passions and goals and recommended schools accordingly. She gave us valuable input on the application process for each school. She also helped us parents prepare for interviews and with our son on school assessments, which played a big role in the process.
When our son got into all of our top-choice school, she helped us narrow down our decisions by listening to what we were looking for in a school and providing her input based on experience. We were able to make an informed choice based on her vast experience and are deeply indebted to her for hand-holding us throughout the process and always being available to chat. We found that Carolyn is well connected and respected in LA private school circles and a great friend, which made the process much less stressful.
Neha J.
Parent at Crossroads School (relocated from New York City)
Applying for private school can be a nerve-wracking process, filled with complicated and time sensitive steps.
Having Carolyn in your corner is a lifesaver! She has an unmatched understanding of the private school system throughout Los Angeles and her network of admission professionals runs both broad and deep. She becomes intimate with your child’s developmental profile and educational needs and works with the student and parents to find the right fit for the student and family. At various points in the application process, we would have been lost without her guidance and support. Carolyn is an invaluable partner and we could not recommend her more highly to other families.
David W.
Parent at Campbell Hall and Westside Neighborhood School
Carolyn was an amazing asset to our family during the complicated process of choosing the right school for our son.
She took the time to listen to all of our wants and needs and really got to know and understand our son. Carolyn shared her experiences with us and helped us to find the school that truly felt like home. We are all beyond grateful for the time and attention to detail and care Carolyn showed us, especially during the pandemic, which made things more difficult. Our son is so excited for the next chapter in his life, and we know that he is going to the best possible place for him.
Jessica J.
Parent at Crossroads School and Le Lycee Francais de Los Angeles
Imagine trying to find a new school for your ninth grader -- mid-year and during a global pandemic.
That's the challenge we brought to Carolyn -- who took time to learn about our family and understand what our daughter needed. With her guidance, we identified an opportunity at a school not far from home that was open for in-person learning and perfectly suited for our daughter's interests. We can't imagine pulling off this feat without Carolyn's expertise, warmth, and professionalism.
Chris Lacroix and Rollin Ransom
Parents, Ojai Valley School
Knowledge, wisdom, optimism, support, passion, kindness and professionalism
We decided to move to LA because we wanted to offer our children a better education. We are so grateful a friend recommended Carolyn. She was our rock throughout this overwhelming process.
Carolyn was incredible at breaking down the complex application process and comforting us along the way that we would find the right school for our children – even though we were extremely late in the process.
She earned our hearts when she introduced herself to our children on Skype. She took real interest in them as people and truly understood their needs and wants. She totally got our family and made recommendations that were spot on. Nothing was ever a problem and everything ran smoothly under her wise guidance.
Applications were submitted, interviews scheduled, school visits while jet lagged, exam taken, and when we least expected the time for a decision came. When we couldn’t decide, Carolyn connected us with other families in the schools so we could have other points of view. We called her for advice when our youngest son changed his mind and she checked on us first weeks of school.
Her kindness, insight, sense of humor and extensive experience made the process so easy for us. We couldn’t have made this huge transition without her.
We love Carolyn!
Andrea Nhuch
Parent, Westside Neighborhood School
After zeroing in, she helped open doors swiftly
Carolyn was truly a miracle worker for us. We found ourselves with a June change of heart and didn’t feel the school our child was attending would continue to be the right fit for middle school. Carolyn came to the rescue, spent hours with us and with our child, and helped us identify more than one school that would, indeed, be a more suitable educational and social environment.
After zeroing in, she helped open doors swiftly to admissions offices that can, at times, feel like knocking on the doors of Oz! We found ourselves welcomed warmly and with great understanding for our late admissions situation. Her word is golden, not only for us, but for the school admissions officers as well.
Thank you, Carolyn, for your kindness and wisdom, for making our child feel seen and deeply appreciated, and for helping me and my husband through a stressful decision. We look forward to working with you again when we start looking at high schools!
Andrea Nevins
Parent, Willows Community School & Crossroads School
Carolyn is extremely knowledgeable… Alexis White was amazing.
We have worked with Carolyn White twice, once while we looked for a middle school for our son and more recently as we looked for high schools. Carolyn is extremely knowledgeable about every LA area school and makes a point of keeping up with each school as they change and evolve. More importantly, Carolyn got to know our son very well, bolstering his strengths and rallying around his weaknesses. The phrase is used a lot, but it’s more difficult than it sounds to find ‘the right fit’. As a parent, some schools are difficult to fully evaluate, while also considering how a child may change and develop during formative years. We wanted to search deeply to find schools that would challenge our child, while also ensuring that he would not be in over his head. With Carolyn’s experience, skill and attention to detail, we are confident that in both cases we found the right school for our son.
Applying to private schools in LA can be like running the gauntlet. Getting to know the schools, narrowing your choices, deadlines, test prep, interview prep, deciding on a school as your first choice – can be fraught to say the least. Carolyn guided us through each stage, making the whole process more meaningful and less daunting.
When it came to test prep, Alexis White was amazing. She assigned the perfect tutor for our son and ensured that practice tests were given in the right environment at the right intervals. Needless to say, our son scored better than expected when it came to the real placement tests!
As a family, we couldn’t have achieved any of this without Carolyn and Alexis White and we are eternally grateful for their help.
Jason O'Mara
Parent, Campbell Hall
Carolyn is one of a kind – a true gem…
When we were faced with the daunting task of applying out to high schools in Los Angeles, we considered other educational consultants, but one meeting with Carolyn convinced us that she was the perfect partner to assist us through the process. She was a breath of fresh air in what felt like a most stressful period, and she calmed our nerves and helped us see the forest through the trees. She was able to debunk all the myths, cut through all the hype, and give us an accurate picture of the high school landscape. She took the time to really get to know our son and our family, and with her vast experience and wealth of knowledge about schools, helped us navigate the application process, prioritize our choices, prepare for interviews and interface with schools. She knows what schools are uniquely looking for in candidates and worked with us to ensure that we had the best possible chances to make a great first impression. Her sage advice pulled us through the tedious application period, as well as a difficult decision making process, and we will forever be grateful for the time, care and support she lovingly provided to our family. Carolyn is one of a kind – a true gem, and we feel extremely fortunate to have had her by our side. With her in our corner, we felt confident, prepared and truly ready to take on the world. Our son is now a 9th grader enrolled at Harvard-Westlake, and he could not be happier! Thank you, Carolyn, from the bottom of our hearts!
Cynthia Csato
Parent, Harvard Westlake
Carolyn and Alexis White have been a life support…
Carolyn and Alexis White have been a life support to help me navigate the LA school system. Starting with my relocation from NY back in 2015 and not knowing anything about the school system in LA, to then facilitating for my son Henri to advance to one of the best independent High Schools in 2018, this journey of academic success for my son would have not been possible without these two incredible humans. As a single mom, it is already stressful enough to make life happen. The added pressure of making sure one’s child experiences the best and most rewarding school education possible could make things even more stressful. It was truly the greatest comfort to know that Carolyn and Alexis were there to make it all happen. I cannot stress enough how much their support has meant to me and I would like to thank both from the bottom of my heart! I highly recommend their services. Thank you so much for everything you have done for us!
Henri Camposano,
Student
By the way, our son got into every school he applied to.
Our family was supported by Carolyn during the admissions process last fall, and we couldn’t recommend her more highly. She is a wealth of knowledge about the schools with her years of experience in admissions, which gave us confidence in our decision making. But even more helpful, her demystifying the process helped us actually enjoy admissions. By the way, our son got into every school he applied to. Thank you Carolyn!
Song Oh
Parent at Geffen Academy
As a family, we couldn’t have achieved any of this without Carolyn and Alexis White. We are eternally grateful for their help
We have worked with Carolyn White twice, once while we looked for a middle school for our son and more recently as we looked for high schools. Carolyn is extremely knowledgeable about every LA area school and makes a point of keeping up with each school as they change and evolve. More importantly, Carolyn got to know our son very well, bolstering his strengths and rallying around his weaknesses. The phrase is used a lot, but it’s more difficult than it sounds to find ‘the right fit’. As a parent, some schools are difficult to fully evaluate, while also considering how a child may change and develop during formative years. We wanted to search deeply to find schools that would challenge our child, while also ensuring that he would not be in over his head. With Carolyn’s experience, skill and attention to detail, we are confident that in both cases we found the right school for our son.
Applying to private schools in LA can be like running the gauntlet. Getting to know the schools, narrowing your choices, deadlines, test prep, interview prep, deciding on a school as your first choice – can be fraught to say the least. Carolyn guided us through each stage, making the whole process more meaningful and less daunting.
When it came to test prep, Alexis White was amazing. She assigned the perfect tutor for our son and ensured that practice tests were given in the right environment at the right intervals. Needless to say, our son scored better than expected when it came to the real placement tests!
Jason O'Mara
My daughter had a great experience with the admission process with very little stress…
With her calm demeanor and extensive experience in admissions, Carolyn puts the whole family at ease and adds a dash of lightheartedness to achieve an effective middle school application process. Her thoughtful questions help both you and Carolyn to understand who your child is and to create an authentic list of options. Her questions also enable your child to take a moment to understand her strengths, passions and dreams. With each visit, Carolyn encouraged my daughter to fulfill her potential, boosted her confidence, and helped her leave any anxiety in the dust. Carolyn’s mock interviews are a must to prepare for the big day. We are so happy and grateful that our paths crossed with Carolyn. My daughter had a great experience with the admission process with very little stress, and now she is enjoying being a 7th grader at Brentwood School, which was her number 1 choice.
Katya Sonman
mother of Kaila, Brentwood 7th grade
I cannot imagine navigating the private school landscape without Carolyn’s experience and insight.
The process of applying to private school in Los Angeles is one of the most significant endeavors your family will undertake. In a city of 14 million people, community can be difficult to find and while all schools offer academics, they provide the first experience most children have of community.
There is no way as a parent that you will be able to know the Ins and outs of all the schools available to your child. A decision this important should be made with most information possible about each school rather than a cursory look on 1 hour school tour.
Carolyn provided our family with both the in-depth understanding of our options, and even more importantly, an assessment of how she saw our family as whole and where she believed our child and our entire family would have the best experience possible. She was 100% right, and she wasn’t afraid to do the heavy lifting that is required throughout the application and interview process.
I cannot imagine navigating the private school landscape without Carolyn’s experience and insight. Everyday when I walk our daughter into kindergarten, I am filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude that she and our whole and family get to grow up in what I can honestly say is the most magical school ever. Without Carolyn we could not have even begun to sort through schools. I can’t imagine being anywhere else…Crossroads has become our home away from home and the place where we have met some of our best friends. Our daughter breaks into a wide grin everyday when she walks through door…the one that Carolyn helped us open.
Brooke Peterson
Parent, Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences
…superhero genre for an intellectual and accomplished mother/daughter duo
Hi Alexis and Carolyn.
What a pleasure it was spending time with both of you today! Though I’m not sure if there’s room in the superhero genre for an intellectual and accomplished mother/daughter duo…the two of you would definitely have my vote.
Alexis…Caleb left today’s ISEE prep session feeling self-assured and excited to tell me about the new concepts he learned. Quoting him verbatim, “Mom, I learned more with Alexis in that one hour than I did in the last six sessions with the other tutor (from the ‘shall remain nameless company’)” Thank you!
Carolyn…beyond being an obvious wealth of information, you are delightful and bring a calming insight to this process that I sincerely appreciate. I really look forward to you getting to know Caleb!
Again, I am so grateful to have met you, and genuinely look forward to the journey ahead!
Raina Rosenblum
Parent, Windward & Brawerman Schools
Carolyn White was a true angel for our family
Carolyn White was a true angel for our family. After a long, unsuccessful school search for our son, she managed to lead us down a path, that we didn’t even know existed, to a school that is a perfect fit for our boy. Her insight into the endless options of schools in LA is unprecedented. She introduced us to TREE ACADEMY, a brand new school in its early stages of creation that has turned out to be such a blessing for our son. By spending time with him and getting to know him, she understood that he would thrive in an environment that provided lots of one-on-one instruction, a dynamic variety of electives and an inspired faculty who creates a joyous learning environment for the students. Carolyn’s greatest ability is to match a student’s special needs with a school’s specific educational style. She uses her skills and knowledge to feed her passion for helping students and families. Carolyn White is a solution-based master in education placement and any family who has her on their side is extremely fortunate.
Molly Tuttle
Parent, TREE Academy
I simply cannot recommend Carolyn and Alexis White highly enough
We worked with them as we applied to middle schools and prepared our child for the ISEE exam.
Carolyn’s knowledge of the LA area schools and her warm attention to every aspect of our child’s application was immensely comforting. Carolyn made us feel as though we had a family member on the inside who could explain every phase of the process and who cared deeply about our child. She was accurate in her every suggestion and understood us as a family amazingly well. Our child was admitted to every one of her top choice schools, all of which were extremely competitive. I know with confidence that Carolyn was a huge contributing factor to this success. She is a delight and I would use her again without hesitation. Rarely in life does one meet a professional who can marry this level of skill with compassion, experience and commitment. Carolyn is one of those rare gems.
Alexis White brings not only an immense knowledge to her test preparation but an ability to communicate with teenagers that is amongst the best I have seen. Through this she gets to know each child and thereby to really understand which school would be the best fit for them. The application process is challenging on many levels for the whole family and Alexis has the ability to connect immediately and to provide the answers once needs to feel heard and guided.
Our experience with both Carolyn and Alexis from the initial stages of assessing schools, to ISEE prep, to completing the actual applications and managing wait times and results was better than we ever imagined. Their help and guidance not only made the process easier but lead to results that far exceeded our expectations.