Capital College Counseling

"Corin went above and beyond in my college counseling experience. Applying to college certainly isn't stress-free or easy, but Corin is there to help you every step of the way. I'm really glad my family invested into this. Corin made an effort to understand my personal background applying to college. We were able to paint the best picture possible about myself as an applicant, and more importantly, formulate a vision for my future after some tough times in high school, and worry/uncertainly about college. Of course, Corin is also highly skilled in helping students "optimize" their college applications in their presentation of essays, presentations, portfolio, interview, etc. This is reflective in the results of my application cycle with scholarships and (although we didn't take this school) surprise "reach" acceptance. Thank you Corin for all you do!!"

"Corin was very helpful and kind. He answered all my questions and he definitely is the one you are looking for. I highly recommend him ! Thank you !"

"I wholeheartedly recommend Corin Hamilton. Corin worked with my youngest of 3 to apply to 10 schools, that ultimately resulted in a successful result. For my older two children, I also worked with a college counselor to apply to college. I can honestly say that Corin was patient, kind and focused on exactly what my youngest wanted. Corin had a very structured process that helped narrow the college selection process. He was knowledgeable and up-to-date about what the process was at each school that made the short list of 10 schools that our child applied to. This was especially helpful on the heels of COVID, where every process had special circumstances. Clearly, Corin had real world experience that was based upon his latest work with others. Corin tailored his thoughts to help our child to narrow her choices that focused on her specific needs. Corin then looked at the attributes that made her most attractive to the school that would be reviewing her application - prioritizing her accomplishments, academics, awards, extracurriculars, etc., that would demonstrate who she was. Ultimately, this work resulted in 100% success! She was fortunate to receive acceptances to ALL 10 schools that she applied to - with meaningful scholarships to each school! Thank you Corin!"

"Corin is the greatest! He was patient, thoughtful, flexible and kind. Every time I had a question, he took the time to get to the core of what my concern was. I truly feel that Corin help me develop an application that reflected me. He directed me to the universities that had all the qualities that I wanted and then helped to focus on those schools. On each tour of all the schools that applied to, I could see myself being successful at that campus. I fortunate to be offered acceptance to ALL the colleges that I applied to - with meaningful scholarships! When it came to deciding on my chosen university, Corin helped me to narrow in on the schools that made the short list. While he did not direct me to one school over another, he helped me to navigate what was most important to me. I ultimately chose a school that I feel totally comfortable with, and my dream school. I would most definitely recommend Corin without ANY reservation. He is truly a great individual."

"Corin was my college counselor, and to say that he made the application process easier would be an understatement. When my friends talked about how their college applications were stressing them or hadn't even started their supplemental essays, I realized how much more straightforward and organized Corin made applying to colleges. I could not recommend Corin enough. When my brother applied to college, I remember him and my mom sitting on the couch, spending hours writing essays, finding out when the deadlines were, and stressing over everything. During my college applications, my parents didn't even bother to ask what we were writing about for essays. I would simply show them the final product, and they would read it and say it looks good. When I started with Corin, he gave me a very clear layout of what we had to do and when we had to do it. We were to start and finish the common app essay and all four of the UC essays during the summer after my junior year. The first hurdle to overcome was figuring out what I wanted to write about for the common app essay. At first, I thought I didn't have enough experiences to draw from to create a meaningful essay. However, Corin showed me that there was plenty to write about. The first exercise he had me do was to answer a series of questions about my life in high school and some open-ended questions such as why I want to pursue my career. While Corin cannot invent high school experiences for you, he can bring out experiences you may not even realize are note-worthy. In this process alone, I could think of many things I did in high school that I could write about, so it felt natural when it came to a first draft. With Corin, there is always something you can write about. And writing the essays themselves was also easy. For my first few drafts, I would go home, spend an hour writing a draft (often entirely skipping a conclusion and intro), and then return to our next meeting, where he would tell me what I had to improve and where. I'm a computer science major, so when I write about what I do, I almost always leave out the intricate details because I assume it is uninteresting to most. What he showed me, though, is that those details can add concreteness and clarity to your writing. He would often engage with me on specific topics I found exciting and clearly takes interest in various subjects. So for future essays, I would simply write about the things I cared about, and Corin was able to direct me on how to integrate those parts into my story effectively. And he fills in the gaps in your writing abilities, which in my case was the use of figurative language. The final product feels like you baked the cake, and Corin added the frosting on top (see, I learned something :P). In the end, you feel like you came up with an essay that reflects your genuine thoughts and feelings, and Corin just gave you that nudge where you got stuck along the way. After finishing the common app and UC essays (all before I even started my senior year), the supplementals were simply a matter of writing two, maybe three drafts for each topic (often-times copying and pasting between essays because the topics were so similar). It wasn't something I stressed, and I never spent more than a couple of hours per essay. My senior year was relatively stress-free, and I have Corin to thank for that."