Harvard-trained. Former Harvard graduate school admissions. Now working virtually with Boston families.
Boston College Admissions Consultant — Harvard-Trained, Story-First Strategy
HM College Consulting works with Boston-area families remotely from Colorado. Herb Miller holds a Master's in Higher Education Administration from Harvard University and spent years in admissions at Harvard graduate schools and a selective Boston-area college. If you're a Boston family looking for a consultant who genuinely knows the Northeast admissions landscape from the inside, you're in the right place.
- Harvard graduate (Master's in Higher Education Administration)
- Former admissions experience at Harvard graduate schools
- Worked in admissions at a selective Boston-area college
- Familiar with BLS, BU Academy, Belmont Hill, Milton, Winsor, Roxbury Latin, and area independent schools
- Strategy for Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BC, BU, Northeastern, Wellesley, and the broader Northeast set
- Virtual meetings — Eastern time hours available
- Free 30-minute consultation
Why a Harvard-Trained Consultant Matters for Boston Families
Boston is a college town inside a college region. Your student isn't just applying against the rest of America — they're applying against a dense pool of equally strong applicants from BLS, the exam schools, the suburban publics like Newton North and Brookline, and the independent day and boarding schools. Admissions officers at top schools see that profile constantly, which means the bar for standing out is higher. Herb trained inside that system. He spent years in admissions at Harvard graduate schools and at a selective Boston-area college, reading exactly the kind of applications your student will eventually submit. He knows what makes a Boston applicant blur into the pile — and what makes one earn a second read. That experience translates directly into how we build your student's story: sharper positioning, fewer wasted activities, essays that don't sound like every other strong Massachusetts kid.
Working With Boston Families Virtually
Almost all of our work with East Coast families happens over video, with essay drafts shared asynchronously. That's how most modern college consulting works now, and it has real advantages: scheduling is easier, students can meet from school or home, and parents don't have to drive anywhere on a Tuesday night. We schedule Eastern-time hours for Boston families — typically afternoons and early evenings ET. Communication is direct: you and your student talk to Herb, not a rotating cast of junior associates. We usually start in spring of junior year, but we work with strong sophomores and motivated seniors too. The earlier you start, the more strategic the activity, course, and testing decisions can be.
Schools We Help Boston Students Target
Most Boston families we work with are targeting some combination of the Ivies (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Penn, Columbia, Cornell), MIT, the strong Massachusetts privates (Tufts, BC, Wellesley, Williams, Amherst, Smith), the urban research universities (BU, Northeastern), and a thoughtful set of out-of-region options — often the Claremont colleges, Chicago, Duke, Vanderbilt, Michigan, or the UCs. We also do real work on financial fit. Merit aid is harder to come by at the most selective Northeast schools, so part of the strategy is usually building a list that includes schools where your student's profile earns meaningful scholarship money. For high-stat Boston students, that can mean tens of thousands of dollars a year — money that wouldn't exist at the reach schools alone.
What's Next
Book a free 30-minute call. We'll talk about your student, your timeline, and whether HM College Consulting is the right fit for your family. If it's not, Herb will tell you honestly — and usually point you toward someone who is.
Ready to start your story?
Free 30-minute consultation with Herb Miller — no pressure, just a conversation about your student's path.
Book Your Free 30-Minute Consultation