What Hire Stuart Nachbar

Growing up in Central New Jersey, I had three major interests: car design, history and politics. My mother had an art degree. She taught me how to draw in two and three dimensions. But one day, when I was 14, I read an article about car design in Car and Driver. There were few design studios back then, and very few jobs for new designers.

So, I gave up on one dream and tried to find another.

I got into Rutgers, figured that I’d study economics or political science, maybe go to law school. I took an introductory course in urban planning during the last semester of my sophomore year. As I went through the course I thought “Wow, there’s issues about design and public policy.” I found my academic home, my grades went up. I graduated with a dual major, got accepted into a hands-on program in practical politics, and won a full-tuition award to study urban planning in graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Two years later, I worked in urban economic development in Newark, New Jersey. There were many opportunities to put my education to the test. More important, I learned things that you don’t learn in school about human relations, loyalty and leadership. The best among my students learned these lessons earlier—in college. They’re fortunate for it.

But what does all this have to do with being a college, graduate and professional school and law school admissions advisor?

Plenty, it turns out. No matter the generation, many college students have been just like me, with only faint ideas of what they wanted to do, even after they get their first job.

The purpose of college is not just to get a job.

It’s to help you see what it will take to improve your life. You learn to watch and learn, to see how to advance, or change your career ambitions and have a better life outside of work.

In my case, I learned that I had to go back to school.

I wanted to run an economic development agency, and for that I needed an MBA or a law degree.

But again, I gave up on one career and pursued another.

Four years and two jobs after I finished the MBA, I helped start a company, College Central Network (CCN), that designs and manages web-based tools to help college students find internships, co-ops and jobs. CCN grew into the oldest company still in its market, serving over 300 colleges, managing online job fairs for many more.

Since then, I’ve written about colleges for 14 years, visited and profiled over 350 schools, and written two editions of a book, The Good College. I not only tour campuses, I look at what’s working and what’s probably not, and I share my insights online and with you.

As a graduate, professional and law school admissions advisor who sees how students move through “the system” at various colleges. Many enter college with ambitions towards further education. I’ll tell you if a school might make it easy or hard to attain those ambitions.

I’m a Certified Educational Planner, a credential earned by less than one percent of the professionals in my field. I earned it because I’ve gone further to learn how colleges do what they do and how to help my clients find their Good College. I’ve profiled over 350 schools since I started this site.

I put my knowledge to work for you, to personalize your search, address concerns that really matter to you, and help students craft persuasive essays that enhance their chances for admission. Every admissions situation is unique because every student is unique. There’s no such thing as “packaging” for the families who work with me.

When you look at colleges, it’s not just about admissions. Colleges are:

• They might teach the same subjects. But they try to teach differently, have different expectations for their students. A student who might succeed in one school might be less successful in another. Academic fit is not just about offering a major; it’s about the teaching, too.

• Places to live. When you choose a college, you’re choosing a community where a student should feel educated, happy and safe. Students must be able to quickly get acquainted and get around. Colleges try to be unique communities. You need to know how to choose between one or another.
• Pathways to rewarding careers. I know what it takes for young people to develop resumes, find internships, co-ops and rewarding full-time work after graduation. Ideally, your Good College should offer pathway choices, give your student an opportunity to change direction.
• Networks to make connections. You should feel confident that your Good College will be a place where your son or daughter will make friends and connections for life after college. Graduates are alumni far longer than they’re students.

If you’ve started this process, you’ve seen that many colleges are priced like houses, but sold like cars.

• I’ll help you to understand all of your costs, including those a college might not list, as well as the financial aid process.
• No matter your finances, you should get the best value for your money-and you want long-lasting value and sustainable debt. It’s one thing to apply to a reach school; it’s quite another when it’s also a serious financial reach.

So, what else do I do differently?

I want my clients to have a list with their Good Colleges.

A few, usually one or two, might be reaches.

But students should have a reasonable chance of getting into the rest on their list, possibly into an honors or special academic setting, possibly with scholarships.

• A Good College will not always be the school that turns away the vast majority of those who apply or gets the highest ranking in a magazine.
• Each Good College will be a school that offers what a student wants academically and socially while being as affordable as possible.
• A Good College will do well at retaining and graduating the students it attracts and help them into rewarding careers or further education.

I want my students to get as many “musts and wants” as possible from their Good College. That is the true point of going through college admissions. It’s not to give up on a potential academic opportunity or career for the sake of getting into a “highly tanked” school. It’s about having the opportunity to pursue academic and career directions and change them if necessary and make friends for life. Just as I did.

If your family is looking to find their Good College from among a list of Good Colleges—they don’t need to be “highly rejective” schools beyond affordability—and needs help to apply—then I want to be your college advisor.

Let’s arrange a meeting to talk!

Want to know more about Stuart Nachbar? Check out these podcasts!

Buy my new book, The Good College!

Check out  this interview about my new book, The Good College!

Learn more about me at ‘Tests and the Rest’ with Amy Seeley and Mike Bergin !

Listen to my talk, What Exactly Is a Good College? hosted by test-prep experts Amy Seeley and Mike Bergin on Tests And The Rest!