• Home
  • About
    • Brand College Consulting
    • Jolyn Brand
  • Press and Awards
  • Client Testimonials
  • Make a Payment
  • Contact

Brand College Consulting

College assistance for families

Student Dashboard

Schedule an Appointment

  • College Admissions
    • College Consulting
    • College Consulting Registration Form
  • Blog
  • Pro Bono Advising
  • College Students

Timeline for Taking the SAT or ACT

September 10, 2022 By Jolyn Brand

The SAT and the ACT are very different college entrance exams and most colleges are now accepting both. This has led to most students taking both the SAT and the ACT tests, although that is not required or suggested by many professionals in the college admissions field. Junior and senior year of high school are already very busy times so planning ahead really helps! When should my child take the SAT or ACT? While it looks like there are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ACT and SAT, For Juniors, For Seniors Tagged With: ACT, college acceptance, college advice, SAT, scholarships

Creating Your Student Resume for College Admissions

January 15, 2022 By Jolyn Brand

  When you apply to college, admission officers look at more than just your grades — they also take note of what you have done outside the classroom. Your extracurricular activities, such as jobs, sports, clubs and volunteer work, give colleges a better sense of who you are and show them what you can bring to their campus community. Remember that college folder you were supposed to be collecting throughout high school? The one stuffed with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Juniors, For Seniors Tagged With: college, college admissions, college advice, college applications, college counselor, college financial aid, college help, college letters, college students, essays, financial aid, scholarships

Five Things to Know About Scholarships

December 2, 2019 By Jolyn Brand

As the cost of attending some the nation’s colleges exceed $60,000 a year, many families start looking for scholarships to help cover the cost. However, too many people don’t understand the basics of college scholarships including the source and average amounts. Fortunately, educating yourself about these facts will help you find scholarships that can significantly reduce the cost of a college education. 1.  The largest source of scholarships … [Read more...]

Filed Under: FAQ's, Financial Aid Tagged With: college, college admissions, college advice, college applications, financial aid, scholarships, TCU scholarships, University of Texas, UT scholarships

Can my ACT score get me a scholarship?

June 22, 2019 By Jolyn Brand

Guest post by: David Recine, Magoosh The link between ACT scores and getting accepted into school is obvious. Meet a school’s expectations, and you’ll get in. But what about the connection between ACT scores and paying for school once you’re accepted? That is never quite so obvious. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at how your ACT score can translate into money in your pocket… or at least, money applied to your tuition bill. Which … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ACT and SAT Tagged With: ACT, college acceptance, college advice, college financial aid, scholarships

College Acceptances for Class of 2018

April 30, 2018 By Jolyn Brand

Yay! All of our college admissions decisions are in and all of our clients have selected their college for next school year. We assisted 24 current seniors, class of 2018, through the college admissions process. They received a total of 112 college acceptances. Some great stand-outs at out of state universities include: Two admits to Case Western University One accepted at Georgia Tech, Johns Hopkins, and NYU Two students accepted to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: FAQ's, Testimonials Tagged With: class of 2018, college acceptances, college students, scholarships, Texas A&M, University of Texas

Scholarships for National Merit Finalists at Texas Colleges

April 12, 2017 By Jolyn Brand

The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships conducted with the PSAT administered every Fall to high school juniors.  Of the 1.6 million entrants, only about 50,000 (3%) with the highest PSAT/NMSQT® Selection Index scores (calculated by doubling the sum of the Reading, Writing and Language, and Math Test scores) qualify for recognition in the National Merit® Scholarship Program. In … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Financial Aid Tagged With: college scholarships, PSAT, scholarships

10 Most Important College Financial Aid Terms

January 10, 2017 By Jolyn Brand

Your college education is an extremely important and expensive investment. Before you shell out thousands of dollars for an advanced education, you need to give yourself a basic education in the financial aid process. Navigating the college financial aid process can be hard enough even for the most highly educated people. So to help, I’ve put together a quick reference guide on the 12 most common financial aid terms used. 1. FAFSA (Free … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Financial Aid, For Juniors, For Seniors Tagged With: college, college admissions, college advice, college consultant, college financial aid, college help, financial aid, scholarships

How to Prepare for the ACT Test

December 10, 2016 By Jolyn Brand

The ACT is a national college admissions examination that consists of subject area tests in: English (grammar) Math Reading (passages and comprehension) Science (charts and graphs) The ACT Plus Writing includes the four subject area tests plus a 30-minute Writing Test. The ACT includes 215 multiple-choice questions and takes approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes to complete, including a short break (or just over four hours if … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ACT and SAT Tagged With: ACT, college, college advice, college applications, financial aid, SAT, scholarships

How High School Courses Impact SAT Scores

February 9, 2016 By Jolyn Brand

Every year, high school juniors and seniors take the SAT. More than 1 million students annually across the nation participate and many take it more than once. Many students have been preparing for months after realizing how important high SAT scores are in college admissions and scholarship awards. Others don’t prepare or study much, many believing that it’s an ‘intelligence test’ and can’t be studied for, or that they want to just see how well … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ACT and SAT, For Juniors Tagged With: college, college admissions, college advice, college consultant, college counselor, college financial aid, college help, college students, College tests, financial aid, SAT, scholarships

How To Prepare for the College Interview

January 12, 2016 By Jolyn Brand

Some colleges require an in-person interview with all applicants. Other colleges allow the students to request an interview if desired, and will consider it as part of the admissions file. In both situations, college interviews provide an opportunity to learn more about the college and whether or not the student would be a good fit on the campus. If you are applying to a college that doesn't require, but does allow for, college interviews, you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: For Seniors Tagged With: college, college admissions, college consultant, college counselor, college help, college interview, College tests, college visits, scholarships

Next Page »
Press and Awards
Recent Articles

Google Reviews

Brand College Consulting
Brand College Consulting
5.0
Based on 5 reviews
powered by Google
review us on
Joel Delgado
Joel Delgado
16:37 27 Sep 19
Our experience with Jolly Brand was exceptional.
Jacob Gunter
Jacob Gunter
04:27 06 Jul 19
Shannon Robbins
Shannon Robbins
16:26 14 Apr 17
Our experience with Jolyn Brand was exceptional. She was very responsive to us and offered valuable guidance throughout the college preparation and application process. My daughter got in to all of the schools in which she applied, even her stretch school. We credit Jolyn with helping us to make sure her resume, application and essays were top notch.
Marylee Olson
Marylee Olson
00:29 08 Mar 17
Brand College Consulting was GREAT for our son! We met Ms. Brand when my son was in 7th grade! We saw her for an hour consult yearly to help him select his classes, plus a little algebra tutoring in high school. He was ahead of others course-wise and we were able to get 21 hours dual credit in high school, he made the Dean's List, Phi Theta Kappa, and Natl Society of High School Scholars. We are a family of Texas State Bobcats and it's very competitive now to get in but he did and we are thrilled! I recommend Ms. Brand and her services! Marylee Olson, Silverlake, Pearland (Dawson High School)
Chaplain Forever
Chaplain Forever
23:49 05 Oct 16
My youngest daughter attended tutorial services with Ms. Brand. Due to the exemplary, SAT preparation services, my daughter was accepted into several top colleges including the University of Houston, Texas State, Lamar University, and Sam Houston. As a college student, she received scholarships and has been on the Dean's list every semester. Ms. Brand instilled confidence in my daughter. I will be forever grateful.
See All Reviews
js_loader

Client Testimonials

avatarI was very happy with all aspects of the service, but Anna and I were especially happy with how responsive you were to requests and how quickly you returned emails.  Anna liked that if you were going away or were not going to be available that you sent e mails notifying her and gave dates to complete things before you became unavailable.

(Note: Anna was accepted to Case Western University, Boston University, University of Pittsburgh, Stony Brook, and University of Rochester. She also received scholarships totaling $58,000 a year.)

Maria Swetz
Parent, Class of 2016
Read more››

About Jolyn Brand

Jolyn is a certified teacher who holds a Doctorate in Higher Education from Northeastern University. After years of experience teaching high school and college students, she began assisting with the college process. She's the founder of Brand College Consulting and works with families across the country virtually. A note from Jolyn: I started working with low-income high school students in … More...

Article Categories

  • ACT and SAT
  • Essays
  • FAQ's
  • Financial Aid
  • For Juniors
  • For Seniors
  • Grad Schools
  • Seminars
  • Testimonials
  • Upcoming Events

Recent Articles

  • Spring To Do List For Juniors
  • Timeline for Taking the SAT or ACT
  • Does the PSAT Matter? Should You Prepare?
  • Creating Your Student Resume for College Admissions
  • 10 Things to See and Do on a College Tour
  • Law School Applications Surge
  • After College Applications
  • Open House Days at Texas Colleges

Brand-College-Consulting-header-02.jpgDr. Jolyn Brand

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2025 | Brand College Consulting