Beach Cities College Consulting 2025

Beach Cities College Consulting (BCCC) was founded by Elsa Gerard, an associate member of IECA—the Independent Educational Consultants Association. She earned her certification in College Counseling from the University of California, Los Angeles. The BCCC team has visited dozens of colleges and universities across the country and helped students achieve a 90% success rate of attaining acceptance to one of their top choice universities. Elsa lives in Manhattan Beach and has three children in the school system as well as the highly-stressful personal experience of helping her child find the right college.

The BCCC process:

Starting with a comprehensive discussion with parents and student and reviewing applicable academic and test records, we create a profile to understand each student’s and family’s values, priorities, and preferences, as well as student’s strengths, needs, and learning style.

Throughout the process students and their families get in-person meetings and unlimited phone, Skype and email correspondences and, if needed, communication with colleges on the student’s behalf.

BCCC services:

High School Planning and Guidance
• Creating a detailed plan for high school coursework and making sure students are taking full advantage of course offerings at their high school

Extracurricular and Academic Interest Refinement
• Helping students apply their extracurricular and academic interests to maximize their experience in these pursuits
• Suggesting specific opportunities for the student based on extracurricular pursuits

College Selection
• Teaching students to research and evaluate information about colleges
• Developing and finalizing a list of colleges to which the student will apply
• Identifying colleges to visit and learning what to look for on college visits

Essay Advising
• Brainstorming ideas
• Assessing common application and school specific essay requirements
• Reviewing essay drafts

Application Review
• Helping the student highlight strengths
• Reviewing applications for correctness and completeness

Letters of Recommendation
• Helping student decide which teachers / mentors to ask for recommendations
• Coaching students how to approach teachers for the best results

Interview Preparation
• Preparing students for on campus and off campus interviews and meetings with admissions officers
• Practicing interview questions and expert responses

Test Scheduling
• Establishing a standardized testing schedule
• Exploring test preparation strategies/classes

Summer Experiences
• Suggesting opportunities to maximize summer plans

Exploration of Financial Aid and Scholarships
• Discussing financial aid goals and how to achieve them
• Reviewing key financial aid strategies and options
• Suggesting various avenues for finding scholarships