368: How to Start a College Admissions Counseling Company w/ Kevin McMullin, Collegewise [Main T4C episode]

Kevin McMullin— the founder and Head of Talent at Collegewise, the world’s largest college admissions counseling company. Kevin founded Collegewise in Irvine, California, in 1999 using his last paycheck from his previous job. He started out that fall working with nine students at their kitchen tables to help them find the right colleges and complete their applications. But just one year later, over 100 families were enrolled in the Collegewise program, and Kevin was no longer the only counselor.  A popular public speaker, Kevin has given over 500 presentations to discuss college admissions planning, employee engagement, and small business success. A graduate of UC Irvine with a double major in English and history – Kevin has been asked: “What will you do with those majors?” approximately 783 times.  He also has a college admissions counseling certificate from UCLA. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE: What qualities make a great independent school college counselor Why being able to ‘read’ the room is such an important skill How Kevin didn’t have a grand plan to grow Collegewise Why famous colleges aren’t better colleges How the United States has the most open & accessible system of higher education in the world Why high schoolers should not focus on the best known 40 school out of about 2,400 colleges/universities What are the most important qualities a college student should cultivate