Thinking about getting my twins into college was overwhelming; I had no idea where or when to start, what to do or what it would cost. Joe came in and got to know our family. He took the time to learn about who my kids are and got an understanding of where they were academically and emotionally. Joe then used that knowledge to craft plans for getting each of them through testing, college selection, financial aid applications and college applications. He didn’t just help my kids get to any college, but helped them understand their options and got them to the right colleges for each of them. I’m proud to say that I have two kids headed to college this fall (2017) and that Joe and his team of tutors, associates, and mentors were instrumental in getting us there. I honestly couldn’t have gotten them as far without Joe ’s guidance, he exceeded all expectations.

Joe Eberle provided our family with a great Return on our Investment. He took the emotional complex and tedious process of looking for a right-fit college to a more sensible level. We are thankful for the relationship he and our son have built through the course of the past year and a half. He is knowledgeable about each and every step along the way on this college journey. His experience and background as a college coach is evident. We are so glad we choose Joe!

As college quickly approached for our oldest child, the logistics of trying to make the right decisions, look at the correct options based on goals and meet specific timelines for scholarship monies was overwhelming. We began working with Joe during our son’s Junior year of high school and he came highly recommended through a family friend and existing client of Joe. The specific feedback on Joe was his knowledge, planning and preparation made the research and decision points much easier less stressful for their family.

Joe provided a lot of mentorship and guidance for our son and was always available for questions or clarifications that came up. Through the results of practice test, Joe to put a very effective tutoring program in place that helped prepare for the ACT test. As a result, our son scored very high on the ACT test and capitalized in the areas that were lacking prior to the tutoring program.

Most importantly to us, Joe held our son accountable in many ways. Sometimes this was uncomfortable to our son but ultimately was very well received by all parties and ultimately has paid off. We feel this tough love was the catalyst in helping our son secure a full ride scholarship to his school of choice which speaks volumes of Joes’ his knowledge persistence.

To: Any Parent Seeking Guidance for Their Son/Daughter In Sorting Through 4000 College Choices

My wife and I have had the good fortune of discovering Joe Eberle and The College Store through word of mouth. We have hired Joe for his coaching and advising our two daughters over the past couple years.
Our first daughter graduated from High School in 2014. She is now entering her junior year at Northeastern University in Boston. This was one of Joe’s top recommendations. His coaching comprises several elements: career choices, ACT preparation, mind set and self-confidence building, and phone calls to various college admissions offices. (He has an impressive “rolodex” of contacts across the USA.)

Our second daughter is headed to University of Utah. Joe made a phone call for us and got our daughter the WUE (Western University Exchange) scholarship for $53,000. Joe knows this Director of Admissions at Utah (as well admissions directors at dozens of other colleges!). Without Joe’s personal call, we would not have received this scholarship. He literally separated our daughter out of the huge pool of applicants in the mind of the admissions director.

Additionally, Joe Eberle works in partnership with other college coaches. In particular, we engaged Joe along with his constituent who focuses on sports-in-college aspiring high schoolers. His partner launched a special golf website for our second daughter at the beginning of her junior year. In the first week, she received over 60 phone calls, text messages, and emails from college golf coaches around the country. (This is very different from the spate of marketing emails you’ll be receiving from several organized marketing machines.) She was literally wooed and offered golf scholarships (albeit not full scholarships) at several colleges from Boston to LA. Incredible results from Joe and his team.
I wish to thank Joe for his hard work. He is clearly very knowledgeable about how college entrance works in this highly competitive country. He takes a very personal approach to each student. His work is arguably life changing. If Joe had never participated in that stage of life called “getting your kids into college”, I am convinced our daughters would be in a totally different college today.
Any questions? Feel free to reach out to me.

To prospective College Store participants,

The College Store, specifically Mr. Joe Eberle, was a wonderful investment for our son and us.
Looking back on our experience with Joe, I realize just how valuable his expertise is.  The greatest benefit of having Joe onboard with our family during our College search and admittance process was helping keep our son accountable, meeting all the deadlines necessary to get into college.

Keeping our children accountable is one of the most challenging aspects of parenting.  We becoming “nagging” when we push for essays to be done and applications submitted.  Joe took all of this off our shoulders.  His organization had our son complete his college essay long before the application deadline.  Once completed an expert from The College Store reviewed and critiqued the essay so changes could be made and the essay reviewed again, building a standout essay, not one completed the night before application deadlines as so many of our friend’s children.  After visiting 7 universities we learned that this essay is one of the most important aspects of the application process!  Essays make the difference when choosing between applicants.   Our son’s essay was outstanding!

Joe also opened our eyes, and more importantly, our son’s eyes to colleges we had not considered.  In some cases colleges that are smaller, more obscure, but still outstanding universities that would suit our student well. This gave our son a broader choice in universities beyond the typical choices, both in and out of state, that most families consider.

Tutoring for the ACT and Calculus was another wonderful benefit in working with The College Store. The tutors Joe employs are outstanding, very intelligent, young adults who excel in their chosen field.  Tutoring in Calculus, in particular, helped our son pass the AP Calculus exam with a high score receiving college credit for the course.  Something our son did not believe he could do on his own.

Lastly, Joe has been a wonderful mentor for our son.  He has an amazing ability to connect with our son in ways we cannot begin to.  Joe’s mentoring defiantly bolstered our son’s confidence, helping him to believe in himself, his abilities, and his future.

I write this letter three years after Derek graduated from high school which allows us to reflect on how valuable the services that Joe and The College Store have provided to our family have been.

Derek, I believe, was not the typical client for Joe and at the same time he was very typical. You see Derek is a student who is totally blind. We have always taken the approach that we would support him in any interest or activity he chose to pursue with the attitude that he would be successful and we could make adaptations until he proved we couldn’t. I don’t recall a time when one of his pursuits could not be accomplished. When we approached Joe with the prospect of working with our son, we felt Joe approached the prospect of working with him in the same manner.

By the time Derek reached high school he was one of those kids who had a general idea of what he wanted to do. Go to college, be an inventor and help people with computers. This is where Joe entered our lives. Joe met with Derek and through some initial personality testing and interest matching,, Joe helped Derek refine those interests into the pursuit of a computer science degree. Joe immediately had some ideas for schools and they were top rated schools in the field and felt Derek was a good candidate. Joe met with Derek several times and gave Derek some great recommendations for schools. Derek and honestly the rest of us were not ready for him to leave the state and he settled on pursuing choices in Colorado.

One of our biggest concerns for Derek was preparing for the ACT. It was clear that any prep courses that his sighted peers had access to would be problematic for Derek. It was also clear that the material was not easily adapted to Derek’s needs and his early prep exam results were not reflective of his knowledge. Joe, with an open mind, contacted the College Board to inquire about what adapted material could be acquired. He also set up two tutors that Derek worked with, one on one, in preparation for the ACT. Neither of these tutors had worked with a blind student or knew Braille but they were not afraid and open minded. Derek helped them to help him by devising ways to work together and immediately the sessions were successful. First we were reassured by the fact that they were well versed in the subject matter, second was the discovery that Derek already had a great handle on the material. Lastly, and probably the most invaluable knowledge Derek gained were some great tips and techniques for taking the test. These tips Derek uses to this day in his college exams. Joe’s network of tutors is truly invaluable.

Joe gave me an idea that proved to be the most important strategy we used in determining the right school fit. We scheduled personal interviews with all of Derek’s choice schools. Derek didn’t care about what the school looked like, or the fancy new gym, but the advisors, professors and heads of the computer science departments did matter. How open to his unique adaptation needs? Were they welcoming and enthusiastic? What did their curriculum offer? Had they worked with others with a similar disability and how did they make necessary accommodations? Would he have sufficient opportunities for open office hours to meet with professors and TA’s if needed? He met with each schools disability services to find out how they worked and how he would work with them. He met with housing for each university as it is critical for him to have an organized living arrangement as we knew this would be a challenge in a dorm setting.

Derek was accepted to every school he applied to with top scholarships awarded with each. He had the opportunity to compete as a finalist for one of the schools biggest scholarships which was a rewarding experience in itself. I do not believe this would have been the case had we not had Joe in our corner. Derek settled on the University of Colorado Boulder and was accepted into their engineering honors program. He has experienced much personal growth and success in college and it’s been a joy to watch him mature. He has just completed his third year. He has traveled to Hawaii for a team competition with a research group he became involved with in his Freshman year and brought home a second place trophy, to Orlando for a leadership conference his Sophomore year where he was able to attend some fabulous business leadership sessions, and this past fall to Lisbon Portugal where he presented a paper that he co-authored with a tenured professor in human centered computing on a research project he worked on. All of which were opportunities that an undergraduate does not often get. He has secured a paid internship in human centered computing this summer. The field he and Joe discovered in the final high school years.

Dear Joe,

This letter is targeting those parents who are debating on utilizing your services, but at this point wonder what you bring to the table.

Joe has worked with three of our children over the past several years. To me one of the most important things that I saw was that he approached each child individually. Joe strives to understand what makes them tick, what their goals are and matches his style and resources to that individual need.

For me that is critical as the “easy” path is to have a “canned” approach that you apply universally and not worry about learning each child’s drivers.

Second is Joe’s amazing knowledge of different schools across the country. He presents multiple options to consider that are tailored such that the child has the best chance of success at gaining a fit for purpose education. Joe has been doing this work for quite a while, and as such the real life experiences that he brings to the table are extremely solid and valuable.

Third is Joe’s desire to understand and meet that delicate balance of budget, desire, ability and chance-of-success. His approach is straight forward and candid – which is something I deeply appreciate. He will outline the probability of you getting your “first pick” school and meeting your budget estimates, and to date has been pretty darn accurate with us.

Lastly but certainly not the least is his network of tutors that can be drawn from to help the students. My son earned a perfect SAT score, and credit goes to Joe’s team for helping him get to that level of testing proficiency. You will find that he spends substantial time and energy thinking about which tutor is the “best fit” for the child – thus maximizing the learning experience. The screening level is quite impressive as well for I have not witnessed any of his staff that I was disappointed in.

Joe works hard to maintain his reputation and provide a value-add product. Sitting on the front side of the journey with our first child I was hesitant to commit, and frankly, bowed to my wife’s “go-forward” call. Now that I have three children in his system I can tell you honestly that it was a “no brainer” investment.

Joe – thank you for what you have done for our family.

“I’ve had the pleasure to work with and know Joe Eberle for over 20 years. He is passionate about his current business and loves to work with and help kids. Joe is currently assisting our oldest son in his college efforts.”

“Dear Joe: I just wanted to take a moment and reflect on all the things you have done for our family. First and foremost, you helped Samantha get into Duke University!!! You knew how important it was to her to get into one of the top schools in the country and she did. But not only did she get into the school of her choice, but also received a scholarship that totaled more than 75% of her tuition.

“When you came to see us the first time, Samantha had about a dozen majors in mind and wanted to apply to as many schools as possible. Your calm work with my daughter allowed her to focus and start narrowing down the exorbitant number of choices to be made during this process. You also helped me to stay on track with the overwhelming number of forms and deadlines. You kept me sane and for that I, and my family, will be eternally grateful.

“Through all the work and preparation that goes into this exciting but confusing process, you remained a guiding light and, in the process, became a friend. I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for our family and I will be forever grateful for your help.”

“When our son began his college search during his junior year we believed the only College options would be an in-state school due to the cost of out of state tuition. As we became educated through the college search process, and by our college coach as to the different options for both in-state and out-of-state colleges our eyes were opened to the vast amount of choices we thought never existed.

Through our search for colleges it became apparent that a private University was the right type of school for Tyler. With Tyler’s extra curricular activities, grades, ACT score and leadership involvement he was offered Merit Scholarships to help bring down the cost of a Private University. By taking the time to become educated on the whole college process made Tyler’s college search enjoyable and given him options we never thought available.

“We strongly recommend hiring Joe Eberle as your son or daughters college coach. Joe has helped us over the past 1 1/2 years understand and navigate our way through the college application process. With his help and direction our son has received several scholarship offers from four different Universities to help pay for school. Thank you Joe!!”

“Joe, now that Tiago has graduated from high school and he is set to attend American University, we would like to thank you for your services.

“With Tiago being our oldest child, this college search experience was a little scary for us. Meeting with you last year was vital in helping us prepare for the college application process. We all agree that you demonstrate a great deal of knowledge and dedication to your clients. We truly believe that you take the time to match the student with a school that fits his personality and interests. Tiago feels that you have been quick in responding to any of our questions or concerns and he thinks that you take a special interest in helping each student individually.

“We appreciate your sharing the many resources available to college students such as scholarships, loan information and materials for college testing and preparation. Without your help, Tiago would not have learned of the many colleges that were good fits for him. We are very impressed with what American University has to offer him. He will not only get a great education, but will also have incredible internship opportunities in the D.C. area.

“If there is anything we would have done differently, it would be to have met with you sooner. Tiago would have benefited even more from your services if he had met with you early in his junior year instead of right before his senior year. He might have become a more accomplished student and certainly better prepared for the college application process. Thank you very much for all your help. We wish you a wonderful summer and will definately be in touch.”