Meyers Advising, LLC provides college admissions counseling throughout Westchester County, NY, and the United States.

Founder and owner Darren Meyers helps students find colleges that match their academic, extracurricular, social, and developmental needs. His student-centered approach promotes self-discovery and intellectual growth.

From the initial college search through list building and application submission to the enrollment decision, Darren offers comprehensive plans and individual sessions to meet your family's needs. The Plans and Packages page provides specific details on the support you can expect. 

All prospective students and their families are encouraged to schedule a complimentary introductory consultation by completing the contact form below.

Applying to college is akin to taking another high school class. And just as each student and their family is different, so too will be the amount of assistance they require. Therefore, I offer inclusive packages and individual counseling sessions, which are listed on the Plans & Packages page. Students needing full support may require up to 30 hours of support and meetings to complete their applications, and the packages are priced accordingly. My prices are competitive for the Westchester County, NY market, and will be disclosed when you determine your student’s needs. If cost is a prohibitive factor, I am confident we can find a solution that works with your family’s budget.

The college process is a fantastic educational endeavor that is outwardly and inwardly directed. As students gather information about campus cultures, academic and extracurricular offerings, student populations, and geographic settings, they simultaneously discover things about themselves: what they value, the kind of community they wish to join, what career they may aspire to have, the kind of person they wish to be, and how they want to improve the world. College counseling is decidedly not about helping students shape or mold themselves into whatever colleges are looking for. Though wanting to be wanted is natural and understandable, such an approach can become an unhealthy pursuit, as admission to any college cannot be guaranteed. Also, such institutional priorities are inherently unknowable. Therefore, my work with students has always been about helping them discover who they are and what they want, out of college and out of life. From this perspective, the college search becomes about helping students find the colleges that provide the environment and programming that will enable them to thrive and flourish.

Each student will respond to the fear and anxiety that the college process can elicit differently. Some will retreat and disengage, while others will dive in and want to meet frequently. And many students must watch their friends in the grade above go to prom and be celebrated at graduation before they are ready to commit to their college process. These reactions are completely natural and normal; none is a sign that something is wrong. However, what distinguishes applying to college from high school assignments is that students cannot ask for an extension; application deadlines are firm and inflexible. So, staying on top of things is paramount.Regardless of how a student responds to the pressures of the college process, they (and you, as their parent or guardian) will receive clear and timely communications that identify the focus at each stage of the process and what must be done by when.If you decide to hire me, the questionnaires you and your student will be asked to complete will help me learn about and understand your family, and, most critically, your student. When students see that I am interested in who they are and what they do, they become motivated to do the work asked of them. For this reason, I always make sure to ask about a game, play, concert or other activity that students participate in. Moreover, by establishing an atmosphere in which students feel comfortable making mistakes—a critical condition for learning—they will see that with dedicated effort, they can produce an application that tells their story to the colleges in the best way possible.I value advising and mentoring students and learning about who they are as individuals.

Families can begin working with me as early as the late spring of 8th Grade to discuss making the most of the high school experience. But as suggested in the Recommended Timeline, midway through 10th Grade is when most students are ready to begin their college process.

The key difference is caseload size. Public high school guidance counselors can be responsible for well more than 200 students, usually equally split across the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. Additionally, they are often pulled in multiple directions: academic advising and scheduling, mental health support, and disciplinary incidents, limiting their ability to attend to college advising. Though independent school-based college counselors have lower caseloads of 60-80 students spread across the 11th and 12th grades, and focus solely on college advising, they too are often challenged to deliver the personalized, individually tailored, and highly responsive attention I consistently provide to the considerably smaller number of students and families I work with.

Because of the close relationships I will cultivate with your student and your family, you can be assured that your student will find excellent colleges that align with the college experience they want most and will prepare them for the career and life they imagine. Though I cannot promise admission to any college, especially those that are highly-rejective, like those in the Ivy League, you can be assured of clear, timely expert advice that reduces anxiety.