Vielka Hoy Consulting is a college consulting business that specializes in working with underserved communities by creating better students and making the public school system work better for them. We add a curricular piece to the traditional college counseling model of test preparation and consulting.
Whereas general advice dominates the industry, we provide a one-stop shop to set students on their own individual paths toward attending the college of their dreams.
There is so much more to attending college than having the necessary financial resources or filling out an application properly. Knowing your opportunities, taking the correct courses, having teachers involved in the process, acquiring basic knowledge regarding college – these essentials are too often taken for granted. As early as the 7th grade, Vielka Hoy Consulting equips students with the tools and program to realize their academic goals.
We accept any student, and place college consulting within financial reach of the students who need help most.
Each student is singular, with unique talents and aspirations. Our one-to-one service begins with recognizing that no two students are alike. Our personal approach allows us to create the individual curricula and give the tailored advice that make all the difference.
A college education is widely recognized as the key to building a better future. The social, economic, and other benefits of a degree prompt students to spend an enormous amount of time and energy in pursuit of admission to their preferred academic institution.
Despite a record breaking number of students applying to university each year, far too many of them are inadequately prepared for the endeavor. Lack of proper assistance is a primary culprit. Consider the issue most frequently identified: money. Not to mention, that a majority of those entering college from an underserved community drop out within the first year.
Most college consulting is financially out of reach for students who need it most. Services that provide test preparation run $2000/class, or range from $200 to $450 per hour. Consultancies that review application materials, such as drafts of personal statements, charge flat rates upwards of $800.
Aside from excessive financial costs, there are systemic barriers. Most college counseling assumes a basic knowledge of college, including the necessary coursework and how to succeed in these courses (e.g. the importance of succeeding in Geometry). Often this basic knowledge is missing.
If public schools do afford access to preparatory courses, students often don’t know how to enter them or which ones are necessary for venturing down the right path. Take for example a high-achieving, low-income student of immigrant parents who are unaware of the university system in the United States. Her teachers and school counselors have already decided who is college-bound and allocated their attention accordingly. Where does she turn for guidance?
Regardless of student drive or issues of access, online courses that “teach” students typically deliver broad recommendations and instruction, and certainly do not take a proactive approach toward helping students with personal circumstances. Additionally, online tools lack pedagogy. They lean toward overview rather than cover specific topics that lead to success in the overall class.
Students need a more holistic, efficient, cost-effective approach.
Vielka Hoy Consulting represents a clear alternative to one size fits all solutions, to consulting and preparation that are low on individual attention and high on bad advice. We operate based around the one-on-one human interactions that are so vital to understanding each student’s academic ambitions and to giving appropriate recommendations.
We provide invaluable, personal consulting for affordable fees. This includes test preparation and working with 12th graders on their college applications, but so much more.
We work with students to identify their goals, then help students choose what classes to take. From grades 7-12, we see that students keep on the right track toward achieving desired outcomes. Unheard of in the industry, we play an active role in determining each student’s curriculum. We set students up for success in AP courses and trigger courses.
Everyone is different, therefore the process looks different for each person and family. We may decide that you need additional assistance in a specific course. Or maybe you need some insight into how your high school approaches college counseling. Or perhaps you are wondering what enrichment course would be most helpful. Because Vielka Hoy has been a middle and high school teacher and administrator and university instructor for nearly twenty years, she can provide that expertise as well as the actual service. Who better to tutor your student in Geometry or for an AP exam than someone who has actually written that curriculum? Vielka Hoy doesn’t just tell you what to do then hope for the best. She actually works with you to do it.
The Sevens Steps to Vielka Hoy Consulting College Counseling
When it comes to college applications, we base everything we say and do off ofwho you are and what school you want to get into. As opposed to developing applications in general, we focus on where you want to go and manipulate your application to get you there.
We also understand that students can’t get to their destination alone, which is why we look to involve schools and community organizations. We want to empower teachers to better serve their students through training workshops, even helping to establish physical locations for practice tests.
We’re emphatic about the importance of direct human interaction, not just because we care tremendously but because we know our approach works.
The results of students who receive consulting from Vielka Hoy are nothing less than astonishing.
The list of prestigious colleges VHC students were admitted to includes the following:
The majority of students Vielka Hoy has seen attend various public and private colleges and universities have done so with full-funding packages and are on track to graduate.
Having worked in diverse settings as an educator, Vielka Hoy was helping middle schoolers prepare for high school in 2006 when she was first asked to create the resources for non-wealthy high school students to get into college in 2010. She started her own business in 2013 with this high need population and discovered the enormous need for her services.
She had been steadily growing her business until the Press took notice. The Huffington Post, Newsweek, and Inc. all featured her during the same summer. That media coverage, as well as an additional review in the local Berkeley Parents Network, caused a 40-fold increase in request for consultations, in just one month.
She now consults nearly 50 clients and has her eye on expanding.
By adding an online platform to the business, she will reduce the manual labor involved (on both her part and the student) in entering transcripts, essay drafts, student goals, etc. This will both make client management easier and allow more face-to-face time to be devoted to consulting. The added technology will not only facilitate better service, but will keep costs down for students.
Substantial human interface with counselors will remain the hallmark of the business, while the online platform will be available for schools and community organizations to purchase in bulk.
The landscape of who has access to resources is about to change. Implementing an online platform will allow Vielka Hoy Consulting to guide more students of color, low-income students, and first-generation college students through proactive steps, beginning in middle school, that will ensure their enrollment and success in universities. The platform will also include a component for international students and a focus on English as a second language. The technology can also easily address differing requirements amongst colleges that are region specific.
Want to learn more about Vielka Hoy Consulting and future plans for the business? Make sure to request access to the Business Plan tab of the profile to see how you can get involved!
Vielka Hoy, Founder and Director of Vielka Hoy Consulting, has worked in education for nearly twenty years as a teacher and administrator. She started in college access when she wanted to see a larger end goal for her students, while the importance her immigrant parents placed on education and providing her and her brother with opportunities was never lost on her.
While working on her PhD, she was excited and dismayed to learn that she may have been the first Afro-Central American in California to earn a PhD. “That should not be the case in the 21st century,” says Vielka. “It is important to me that there is a larger pool of students in college, who are motivated, skilled, and capable.”
Cassy Huang
Reader for UC Berkeley applications, counselor for first-generation college students at First Graduate
JuanCarlos Arauz
Founder and Director of Education, Equity and Excellence who created a tool for assessing the college-readiness of high-risk students
Sally Matsuishi
Executive Director of Next Generation Scholars, a college access organization for first-generation students in Marin County