Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.
John Stuart Mill, in On Liberty
Milestone College Consulting understands the importance of recognizing each student as a unique human being, and we strive to champion your individuality not only to boost your academic performance but to respect your self-sovereignty. You are your own master. You decide what’s right for you. Our responsibility as educators lies in constantly guiding and reminding you to pave your own academic and career path.
A Practical Approach to Test and College Prep Based on Understanding, Strategies, and True Intellectual Growth
Strategy
Achieving a stellar performance on standardized tests like the SSAT, SAT, ACT, IELTS, TOEFL, and GRE requires more than just understanding the material. It requires a strategic approach as well as one cultivated by deep intellectual curiosity. Our personalized coaching methods help you master so-called shortcuts (e.g., skip the notes on Rhetorical Synthesis questions!), time management (e.g., with five seconds left on a combining-sentences problem on the SAT Writing, choose the shortest answer!), and stress reduction (e.g., play GTA V before your big test!) techniques, which will substantially enhance your academic performance, and we spend years identifying and collating from these tests patterns invisible to many other instructors. But we do even more.
Intellectual Growth
At Milestone, Raymond will instill in you a passion for intellectual thought and discourse for its own sake, yapping fervently about topics ranging from ancient philosophers who acted like dogs (the Cynics) to Professor Michael Huemer’s argument for anarcho-capitalism to the intersection of math, music, physics, and neuroscience to Douglas Hofstadter’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic Gödel, Escher, Bach to classic English literature. Cracking SSAT reading passages on literature and poetry? Check. Acing SAT materials on women’s suffrage? Check. Fully comprehending TOEFL psychology readings? Check. Killing it on a GRE passage on political philosophy? Check.
And again, only you know what’s most conducive to your growth as a learner, so if any academic area or specific books pique your interest, Raymond will read those books (that is, as long as you do too).
By simultaneously helping you internalize test-taking strategies and cultivating your unique and insatiable intellectual curiosity that Raymond eagerly spurs on, you will surpass the inevitable plateaus on your academic journey and lose all track of time when you learn, making your ultimate scholarly breakthroughs both on standardized tests and in college seem effortless to the casual observer.
Session Structure
But how is this blend of test-taking cleverness and collegiate erudition implemented? How can all this theoretical content be put into practice? Well, Milestone’s “No-Nonsense Approach” promises transparency and clear guidance (see About), and Raymond subscribes to this approach under all circumstances. Painstakingly designing each session to not only cover the essential test prep strategies, but also integrate the intellectual discussions that literally make you a gentleman/gentlewoman and a scholar, he created a snapshot of how a hypothetical course might unfold.
Hypothetical Course Snapshot
| Lesson | Progress | Assignment |
| 1 | Diagnostic test overview. A comprehensive list of subject-verb agreement errors on the SAT. Latin and Greek Roots for new vocab. | Complete an SAT practice test, timed. |
| 2 | Review first SAT practice test. Discuss the Harriet Mill SAT passage on women’s right before going over its questions. Play 20 minutes of Gimkit to assess student’s understanding of vocab in the context of cloze questions. | Complete an SAT practice test, timed. Read Harriet and John Mill’s The Subjection of Women for 15-30 minutes per day. Write a summary of the Mill reading. |
| 3 | Review second SAT practice test. Check for student’s understanding of The Subjection of Women. Discuss The Subjection of Women as well as areas for improvement in the student’s summary. | Memorize 50 vocabulary words and their corresponding sentences so you know how to use them in context. |
| 4 | Discuss the etymology of some of the vocabulary words. Discuss mnemonic devices for memorizing the vocabulary words. | Complete an SAT practice test, timed. Memorize 50 vocabulary words and their corresponding sentences. |
| 5 | Test the student’s understanding of all 100 vocabulary words in the context of cloze questions. Begin reading and discussing Richard Dawkins’s The Selfish Gene. | No homework. Relax before the test tomorrow! |
We refer to the above as a five-week plan for a “hypothetical course” because there is no typical course at Milestone. Clearly, given the diversity of academic interests and reading comprehension levels across a wide range of ages, not everyone is suited to read Mill or Dawkins.
College Selection Guidance
The rich tapestry of academic pursuits, extracurricular interests, and personalities that we often see in students makes our guidance to college selection customized for each student as well. Do you abhor physics but love computer science? Brown’s Open Curriculum might be a good fit. Do you aspire to join an exceptionally strong collegiate equestrian team? You may have to forgo the Ivy League. Do you want to join a countercultural movement in a residence hall established by a libertarian philosophy professor? Vanderbilt’s infamous McGill Hall, established by John Lachs, may be a good match. Do you wish to work in Silicon Valley? Between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and Dartmouth, we suggest UIUC. Or do you dream of attending the most consistently top-ranked school on the USNWR National University ranking you can possibly gain admission to? Princeton, here we come. Whatever your preferences, we will seek to maximize the number of schools that fit them. (Incidentally, we do have a one-of-a-kind interactive line graph displaying the ranks and trajectories of more than 120 schools from 1983 to 2024, so be sure to check it out at USNWR Rankings 1983-2024.)
Application Strategy Sessions
The Importance of Storytelling
Would you rather be known as simply President of the Student Council or the humble hero who saved a drowning baby from a shallow pool? Do you want to be known simply as a student majoring in biology with an AP Bio score of 5, or an aspiring biology student with an interest in business, who applies her mathematical talents to promote effective altruism in order to maximize the number of lives saved in areas rife with malaria? Crafting an outstanding application requires high-caliber storytelling that showcases your strengths and personality. Without a knack for writing college application essays, being the president of a student club, for instance, does not automatically evince leadership traits. By the same token, not being the president of any organization does not preclude you from writing a memorable and compelling essay.
Also, however mundane you think your life is, Raymond’s mental dexterity with finding inspiration in the banal and interconnections between seemingly disparate disciplines and interests (in this case, biology and business) will greatly enhance the storytelling that is so essential to your application.
Interviews
But great storytelling lies not just in writing, but speech and body language. Your brilliance as a raconteur rests on an ability to captivate your audience through subtleties like word choice as well as eye contact and other nonverbal gestures, all of which must bring out your eloquence and confidence without suggesting grandiosity or arrogance. Keeping this in mind, Raymond can prepare you for college interviews, enabling you to stand out as an applicant with a distinct and memorable personality.
Letters of Recommendation (LORs)
Additionally, remember that you are not the only storyteller. Your recommenders, too, may be pivotal in your admissions success. Raymond’s advice? Be wary of recommenders who promise to write outstanding LORs. At the same time, don’t just ask your teacher if he or she can write an LOR for you; ask the teacher if he or she can write a great LOR. And while it is rare for recommenders to allow you to review their letters, it does not hurt to politely ask whether they are willing to do so.
At Milestone, Raymond will guide you through every step of the application process, from essay brainstorming and editing to preparing for interviews and selecting recommenders. His approach ensures that your application truly reflects who you are and what you bring to the table.
Scholarship and Financial Aid Assistance
Understanding the financial aspect of college education is crucial. We demystify the process of searching and applying for scholarships and financial aid, providing you with the resources and guidance needed to make college education financially accessible.
There are, for example, some common misconceptions about financial aid that are particularly relevant to international students. While a few colleges, like Amherst College, have a need-blind policy that also applies to international students, this is not the norm for most tertiary institutions.
A significant exception to the norm is Dartmouth College, which recently became the sixth U.S. college or university to offer need-blind admissions to international students, alongside meeting 100% of all students’ demonstrated financial needs. This indicates a growing but still limited trend among U.S. colleges in adopting universal need-blind policies.
However, the broader landscape shows that among the thousands of degree-granting institutions in the U.S., as of November 11, 2023, only a handful (i.e., Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Amherst, and Dartmouth) are truly need-blind for international students, meeting the full demonstrated need of admitted applicants. Overall, about a third of the approximately 100 colleges claiming to have a need-blind admissions policy extend this to some degree to international students (e.g., Cornell and Georgetown), with the vast majority still distinguishing between domestic and international applicants in this regard.
Ongoing Support and Mentorship
Our relationship doesn’t end with your college acceptance. Raymond offers continued support throughout your college career, providing mentorship and advice to help you make the most of your college experience and prepare for life post-graduation.
Or, if you simply want to grab a drink and chat over a game of pool, that will be great too. Raymond has been known to get into friendly boxing matches and pushup-and-pullup competitions with both students and former students, who often find it refreshing to simultaneously talk with another friend they can confide in.
The cornerstone of Milestone is this commitment to authenticity, whether it be in the classroom or beyond. Remember, you are a unique human being. You are thus worthy of developing your mind to the fullest, and hence worthy of remaining a trusted, lifelong friend.