SUM TOTAL — Whole Family College Coaching

How This Works

College planning is not just a student process — it's a family transition

Our programs bring students and parents into the conversation early so families can move forward together.

Family-Centered Conversations

Students and parents participate in guided discussions about aspirations, expectations, and possibilities — creating space for every voice in the family.

Understanding the Landscape

Families learn how admissions, financial aid, and timelines actually work — from counselors who spent decades inside enrollment offices — so decisions are built on knowledge rather than assumptions.

Aligned & Prepared

With shared information and stronger communication, families approach high school ready to make thoughtful choices with less stress and more confidence.

Families approach the college journey informed, aligned, and confident.

What Families Wish They Had Known Earlier

Each year, we meet families who share a similar reflection

"We wish we had started this conversation sooner."

The college journey unfolds over several years. Many of the most important decisions — academic choices, extracurricular exploration, financial planning — begin long before applications are submitted. Families who start earlier gain advantages that simply can't be created at the last minute.

More Intentional Academic Choices — Understanding course rigor and academic pathways helps students make decisions in 9th grade that keep options open in 12th.

Stronger Exploration of Interests — Students have time to discover what genuinely excites them, rather than scrambling to fill a resume.

Clearer Understanding of College Fit — Families begin evaluating colleges based on academic, social, and financial fit — not just reputation or rankings.

Healthier Family Conversations — Starting early creates space for thoughtful discussions about expectations, opportunities, and the future — before the pressure builds.

Less Stress During Application Years — When foundational decisions are made earlier, the junior and senior years become far more manageable.

Our Philosophy

College planning is one of the first major transitions families navigate together. It involves aspirations, expectations, financial realities, and important conversations about the future.

We built SUM TOTAL because we saw — from inside university enrollment offices — that the families who started these conversations earlier arrived in a fundamentally different position. Not because they were wealthier or more connected, but because they were informed.

By starting early and including parents in the process, families gain the clarity and shared understanding needed to approach the college journey thoughtfully — rather than reactively.

Common Questions

Questions Families Ask

Isn't 8th grade too early to think about college?

You're asking this question because you're a planner. That instinct is exactly right.

Our early work isn't about college applications — those are years away. It's about helping your family understand what motivates your student, how to make thoughtful academic and extracurricular choices, and how to have productive conversations about the future before those conversations carry the weight of deadlines.

Eighth and ninth grade are the last years your student has the freedom to explore without a transcript being evaluated. Course decisions made in 9th grade shape the academic profile colleges will eventually see. Starting now means more time, more options, and better decisions later.

How are you different from other college counselors?

Most college counselors begin working with families in junior or senior year and focus primarily on the student.

We start earlier — because we've seen from inside enrollment offices what happens when families wait — and we include the whole family, because the decisions ahead aren't just the student's to make. From choosing colleges to understanding how education will be funded, parents are part of every major decision. Our approach creates space for shared conversations, aligned expectations, and informed decision-making.

Your counselor serves as a navigator — helping the entire family move forward with clarity while discovering opportunities and possibilities along the way.

Our school offers free college counseling. Why should we work with you?

We deeply value our colleagues in school-based college counseling. In fact, our curriculum was shaped by the very conversations counselors have with families every year — especially what they wish families had known earlier.

Our programs prepare families to fully benefit from the services already available at their schools. When students reach the junior and senior years, they arrive informed, organized, and ready to engage with their school counselor from a position of knowledge rather than uncertainty.

If families choose to continue working with us, we ensure our guidance aligns with the school's timelines, processes, and expectations.

What outcomes should we expect?

We do not promise admissions to specific colleges — no ethical counselor can. What families gain is clarity, strategy, and preparation: a student who understands their interests and goals, a family aligned on expectations and financial realities, a thoughtful academic plan, and the communication tools to navigate the years ahead together.

Families consistently tell us the most valuable outcome is the shift in how they talk about the future — from guessing and worrying to planning and understanding.

What if my student isn't interested in doing this?

This is common — especially with 8th and 9th graders. Thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds don't typically volunteer for conversations about their future.

What we've found is that when a young person feels genuinely listened to — not lectured, not directed — they open up. Our student sessions are designed to be engaging and student-centered. We meet them where they are, not where we think they should be.

Your company is new. Why should we trust you?

SUM TOTAL is a new company, but our experience is not. Our founders have spent decades inside university enrollment offices — one as a Vice President of Enrollment, the other as a Director of Enrollment. Both have served as presidents of major regional college counseling organizations.

We started this practice because we saw the same pattern year after year: families arriving at junior year with decisions behind them that couldn't be undone. We believed the counseling industry should serve families earlier — and when no one else did, we built it ourselves.

Our goal is simple: to help families approach the college journey informed, aligned, and confident — long before the pressure begins.

Flourish.

We Counsel Families — Not Just Students

A Roadmap for Every Stage of the Journey

Early Risers

Sophomore Launch

Junior Strategy

Senior Application Strategy

Transfer & Graduate Strategy