Author: Daryl Capuano

When a Great Student Has the Wrong College List Ellie, a junior at a Guilford high school, had everything a college admissions office likes to see: strong grades, a leadership role on her robotics team, and a summer job at a marine lab on the shoreline. Her mother, Karen, called us anyway, and she sounded […]

David, a twenty-year-old from Old Saybrook, CT, who decided not to go back to college his junior year, looked at me with exasperation: “I know they mean well. But I don’t want to answer another question.” He meant his kind parents. I only know most clients through a working relationship. But I know David through […]

Charlie, a junior at Lyme-Old Lyme High School, walked into our offices with no interest in studying for the SAT. He was, he told me, “a bad test taker.” “How do you know?” I asked. He pointed to his PSAT results, which were far lower than he had hoped. “What did you do to prepare?” […]

Fall is always my busiest season. By this point, I’ve been working with many of this year’s juniors since early summer — we typically start with SAT prep, then roll directly into college counseling while continuing to refine test scores along the way. My seniors follow the same arc in reverse: I’ve usually known them […]

My favorite subsidy of The Learning Consultants is Career Counseling Connecticut. Career Counseling Connecticut has partnered with James Folgia, a brilliant and caring construction executive who wants to help educate young adults in the last part of his career. We did so, in part, due to the growing number of articles and interest in the […]

My work in career counseling emanated from a mission to help young people transition into adulthood. Historically, the handoff from high school to college put parents at ease, because they assumed that from there, the kid would either figure it out or a job would be waiting for them on the other end. Neither is […]

The Learning Consultants has partnered with James Folgia, a brilliant and caring construction executive who wants to help educate young adults in the last part of his career. We did so, in part, due to the growing number of articles and interest in the trades.  Interestingly, as I became excited about Jim helping us, I […]

College Planning and Career Planning Must Become One Process Many families in Connecticut still approach college planning in isolation. They concentrate on grades, standardized testing, extracurricular activities, application essays, and admissions strategy. These things matter. But gaining admission to college is not the ultimate objective. College is an extraordinarily expensive and influential developmental experience. The […]

Preparing High Schoolers for Higher Education in the Age of AI Every admissions cycle at The Learning Consultants, I sit down with Connecticut high school students—and their understandably anxious parents—who are trying to map out a four-year college plan in an educational landscape shifting faster than ever. Generative AI has moved from a novelty into […]

I’ve spent twenty-five years at The Learning Consultants reading applications, coaching essays, and sitting with families the night before a decision drops. In that time, I’ve seen the SAT go test-optional, I’ve watched the Common App reinvent itself more than once, and I’ve navigated Connecticut families through affirmative action rulings and admissions scandals. None of […]