About Karen Hott, Two Bridges, and Essays

About Karen Hott, Two Bridges, and Essays

I’m a lifetime educator with more than 40 years of experience working with teens and young adults. I’m committed to helping students make informed choices about colleges, in the process educating parents as well. Seeing too many students choose schools

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Services Offered

Services Offered

Free half-hour consultation. If you aren’t sure you need the services of an independent college adviser (also called an independent educational consultant, or IEC), I can meet with you and your family to discuss how I might be of help. 

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Contact

Contact

I offer a free half-hour consultation, which you can request by filling out the contact form, emailing or texting me directly, or linking to the “free half-hour consultation” on my Calendly scheduling tool. You can schedule a free half-hour consultation

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Recent posts from the blog

Avoid Writing Trite

College admissions counselors find these topics most frequently addressed: admiration of a person, being on a sports team, and community service. That doesn’t mean you can’t write about Uncle John or your team’s hard-won victory or your week in El Salvador building houses. It does mean that your writing must be one-of-a-kind, something only you could write. Think about details that show the college who you really are.

Parent Testimony

We found this process to be extremely helpful and painless for us. I am a good writer and do it for a living, but I didn’t think my kids would be as responsive to my suggestions as they would be with an outsider. You have established credibility working with this age group, and that shows in how Philip has followed up on your recommendations. College and scholarship essays have so much riding on them that [your] working with Philip has made us all confident that his essays are the best they can be while still being his own product. And for sure the writing instruction you are giving him is useful beyond his college essays – his high school senior year, college and into the workforce.

Jerri Kamiker

Students say…

Thanks for all the help with admissions this year. It was greatly appreciated. I feel that you helped expand my college search and really made my essay better. It was fundamental in helping me get into UMD, which I believe was more selective this year.

~Dave, class of 2021

Students say…

I wanted to thank you again for helping me with my personal statement! I got accepted into my top choice universities of Georgia Tech and Carnegie Mellon University, and I have no doubt that your invaluable revisions and advice helped make that possible.

N.G., class of 2021

Two Bridges College Consulting, and specifically Karen Hott, provided our child with the direction and guidance needed to make the college application organized and less stressful for all involved. The counseling services were tailored to our child's specific interests and needs and were not just generic suggestions. Karen worked long and hard hours with our child during application crunch time and was always only an email or text away for last-minute questions. She is very accessible. Karen provided our child with lasting instructional skills in essay writing as well. I cannot begin to express the stress relief we, as parents, felt knowing she was there to guide our child through this complex process. I look forward to working with Two Bridges College Consulting when it is our second child's time to apply for college. Our next step is to review the multiple college acceptance letters our child received with Karen and pick "THE ONE"!

parent of student in class of 2022

Parents say…

Two Bridges brought this mom and student into reality. I’m more aware now that college is going to be a huge financial investment and I'd better get prepared. Karen helped us determine which colleges would suit my child’s learning styles, abilities, and financial situation. She helped us choose colleges that would be the least financially burdensome and offer the greatest value. Not only did Two Bridges teach me the value of college but I believe my daughter has a more realistic vision of her future, how much it is going to cost, and what will be required of her to be successful.

Parent in Centreville, Md.

Parents say…

Thank you so much for all the wonderful work you did with A., Karen. It is an overwhelming, emotional process, and we were so grateful for your knowledge and guidance during this time. The college exploration and application process is a difficult time, for the teen and everyone else involved. We really appreciate all the advice and support your gave to A., how you helped guide her toward mapping out exactly what she did and didn't want in her college experience. Your support enabled her to become more confident and independent in her final application decisions.

Parent in Severna Park, Md.