Profile | Tim Croll, Stephanie Donich and son Jacob

Jake Donich-Croll was a 3.7 GPA student at the private Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences.

WORKED WITH: Judith Mackenzie (see above). They paid a discounted rate as they met her through church.

WHY A CONSULTANT: "Our counselor at school was great, but she's got 35 kids graduating," says dad Tim Croll. "We got more individual attention about where would fit Jacob."

DAD'S TIP: Pick a consultant with a broad knowledge of colleges around the country. "I'd never heard of the college Jake ended up going to. The types of schools we didn't know about — his main criteria were 'liberal arts and far away' — were exactly the type he was interested in."

THE RESULT: Jake mailed 11 applications and got eight acceptances, including Connecticut College, Occidental College, University of Redlands in California and Goucher College in Baltimore. His choice: Trinity College in Connecticut, where Jake was courted by professors to join a select, 30-student program in European civilization.

JAKE'S TIP: Work hard on your essays to make them unique and honest. "She steered me, and said, 'This is where they're going to appreciate a certain level of candor.' "

CONSULTANT'S TIP: If you want financial aid, spread the net wide, and be sure to apply to some schools where your student will be a standout candidate, says Mackenzie. Then, with a handful of acceptance letters in hand, you're in a position of strength to ask for a merit or need-based scholarship.