No two students are alike. Each family brings to this process different backgrounds and expectations. Lauren’s expertise in balancing the nuances of what can be a charged and often pressure filled process, is at the center of the work she does to help ease the emotion that underlies the college search and application experience.
In the ever changing field of college admissions it is crucial to be on the pulse of what’s happening admissions cycle to admissions cycle. Lauren remains current knowing the latest trends in the admissions marketplace, campus happenings and academic options by annually attending national conferences, seminars and college visits. As a Professional Member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) and The Ohio Association of College Admissions Counseling (OACAC), Lauren upholds the ethical values instilled and put forth in this profession.
Lauren’s love for college admissions began at Muhlenberg College where she served on the Board of Admissions, as well as dually serving as the swing person to the Office of Financial Aid. Muhlenberg laid the groundwork for an understanding of what the process of applying to a selective, small liberal arts college is like. While on the Board of Admission at Berklee College of Music, a world leader in contemporary music education, she traveled the country, leading a team conducting auditions and interviews, looking for the music industry’s future game changers. At both institutions Lauren has evaluated thousands of applications, read countless essays and conducted evaluative interviews.
Having experienced the college admissions side at both a liberal arts institution and in a conservatory environment, Lauren has developed a unique perspective around the college admissions process.
It was at Laurel School, where Lauren’s love for higher education and developing young people came together. Here she offered direction to her students emphasizing making the best match between college and student, guiding them each step of the way. Along with one on one work, she taught seminar classes focused solely on the college process. Lauren also helped to develop new curriculum for Laurel’s Lifeskills program, empowering Laurel girls to implement strategies of self-care, sharpen decision making, explore nutrition and fitness, topics on mental and emotional health, substance abuse and prevention, women’s health and public speaking. This is a curriculum Lauren implemented in the classroom starting in the upper school.
Originally from the Pocono Mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania, she now calls Northeast Ohio home. She’s the proud mother of a toddler and is married to her college sweetheart.
Westendorf Educational Consulting 