I have known Carmel since 1998, when we served together on the board of an international school in Kiev, Ukraine (Carmel chaired the board). Having witnessed first-hand her extraordinary intellect, drive and competence – this is a woman who undoubtedly would be CEO of a Fortune 500 consumer company had she not chosen to leave the corporate world to raise her 4 kids – it was a no-brainer to turn to her for help when my oldest daughter commenced the college search process as a high school junior in Moscow. I cannot overemphasize the peace of mind it gave me to have such a unique resource guiding my daughter – and her parents – through the intimidating and complex process of selecting and applying to US colleges having lived abroad for so many years.

While Carmel’s “value proposition” to non-US families is clear, my experience has shown the equally valuable contribution that Carmel can make to American parents whose children were schooled internationally. I have degrees from Bucknell and Harvard and considered myself very informed about the US college admission process and about the colleges themselves, yet I recognized that not only do international students require unique packaging, but that an awful lot has changed since I was a college and graduate student. I felt that the college admission process was going the way of the US income tax system – more complex each year to the point where those of us without plain vanilla situations find it nearly impossible to “file” properly without specialized assistance. Enter Carmel. Whether you are non-US citizens with kids looking to attend US colleges, US citizens with kids who have grown up internationally, or good ol’ US parents with kids who grew up in the US – I give Carmel my highest recommendation without reservation. I look forward to Carmel’s help with my other 4 kids’ college applications!

B.Foresman, Deputy Chairman, Renaissance Capital
Moscow, Russia