SUM TOTAL
The families who start early arrive differently
Begin →Former VP & Director of University Enrollment · 30+ Years Inside Admissions · Former Presidents of Regional Counseling Organizations
We Counsel Families — Not Just Students
College planning is often treated as a student-only process. We believe it's a family milestone — one that touches aspirations, expectations, financial realities, and the future your child is beginning to imagine.
Our programs intentionally include parents alongside students so the entire family develops the knowledge, strategy, and shared understanding needed to navigate what's ahead.
"This was the first time our entire family understood the college process. We stopped guessing and started planning together."Parent Testimonial
A Roadmap for Every Stage
Early Risers
Grades 8–9
- Build confidence and self-awareness
- Explore strengths and interests
- Align as a family on expectations
Transfer & Graduate
College Students
- Navigate transfer applications
- Essay development
- Strategic positioning
How This Works
College planning is not just a student process — it's a family transition.
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.
Agency Is Built — Not Rushed
Why We Start Early
Starting early allows families to move from reactive participants to informed decision-makers — with time for the conversations that matter.
- More intentional academic choices — understanding course rigor keeps options open
- Stronger exploration of interests before the pressure of junior year
- Clearer understanding of college fit beyond reputation or rankings
- Healthier family conversations built on curiosity, not anxiety
- Less stress during application years when the foundation is in place
It's not about accelerating childhood. It's about giving families time, clarity, and choice.
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 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
You're asking 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.
Starting now means more time, more options, and better decisions later.
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.
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.
We deeply value our colleagues in school-based college counseling. Our programs prepare families to fully benefit from the services already available at their schools.
Students arrive at junior year informed, organized, and ready to engage with their school counselor from a position of knowledge rather than uncertainty.
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, 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.
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.
SUM TOTAL is a new company, but our experience is not. Our founders spent decades inside university enrollment offices — one as a Vice President of Enrollment, the other as a Director. 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. When no one else served families earlier, we built it ourselves.
Start your family's journey
Explore program details and schedule an introductory conversation.
Schedule a Conversation →A 20-minute conversation — no commitment, no pressure.