LAURA SERICO

Custom College Counseling

I grew up outside of Philadelphia, in the great state of New Jersey. I received my bachelor's degree in social work from James Madison University, where I was a peer writing tutor on campus. I worked at an alternative school in southern NJ before attending graduate school at the George Washington University. During my graduate work, I served as a program coordinator for a tutoring program and founded the Alternative Spring Break Program on GW's campus. Upon completing graduate school in 2004, I began work as a school counselor in Raleigh, NC.

For 11 years I worked as a high school counselor in Baltimore County, MD. Until June of 2023, I served as a college counselor and department chair of a large high school counseling department. I am a member of NACAC and PCACAC, and have been fortunate to visit close to 100 college campuses. When not researching colleges or editing Common Application essays, I enjoy perusing bookstores, planning overseas travel, and discovering new hiking trails. I am the mom of a 14 year old boy and a 10 year old girl.

EMpower

I got help from Laura when I was applying to college in 2019-2020. I knew exactly what I wanted to major in, but had no real idea what else I wanted in a college. Laura asked me lots of questions about my likes and dislikes and we ended up developing a diverse list of colleges, including a few reach schools. Laura helped me with supplemental essays and advised on additional things I could do to set myself apart from other applicants. In addition to helping me develop my college application list and edit my essays, Laura provided lots of support in the financial aid and scholarship process, which helped reduce my cost of attendance significantly. I was lucky to have this kind of help and support during my college admissions process.

-J.L., Class of 2020 Student

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Laura was a god-send helping us navigate the college application process. As a first time soon-to-be parent of a college student, she helped our son fine tune his list of colleges, complete the common application, and most importantly, develop and edit his college essays. With her extensive knowledge of various colleges and acceptance rates she was able to assist him in developing a well rounded list based on size, location, activities available, and advised him when to submit optional test scores. I am happy to report my son got accepted into all five of his colleges. With two more children to guide through the process, I am less stressed knowing I have an ally and expert to support in their journeys.

-R.P., Class of 2023 Parent

In my capacity as a college counselor at a Maryland public high school, I have directly advised over 1,000 students through the college application process. A sampling of the colleges and universities at which my students or private clients have been accepted are below (all acceptances listed are from 2018 - present):

SERVICES & PRICING