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Text of "Winning Applications branches out"

REDDING -- Stephanie Klein Wassink has taken her experience on the admissions committee at Northwestern University's Kellogg School and developed a consulting firm of her own. Called Winning Applications, the service helps students prepare applications and essays that give them the edge in getting into top schools.
Now Wassink, a mother of four, is branching out and franchising the business model. By July she will be in full swing, starting a college consulting panel of franchisees with college savvy and writing skills.
"Colleges are looking for kids who stand out," said Wassink, a Brown University graduate, herself. "What I've done is identify aspects that not only help them standout but help them move more easily through the application process."
Wassink has helped high school juniors and seniors with the college application process for five years. The existence of her business spread quickly by word of mouth.
"Parents are very proud of their children and the colleges they go to," Wassink said. "So as my customers get into their colleges of choice, parents recommend me to their friends."
Gus Hampilos, of Ridgefield, has used Wassink's service for both of his daughters -- Katherine, now at Oberlin College, and Elise, now a senior at Wooster School who will be attending Gettysburg College in the fall.
"Katherine was considering transferring to Oberlin and needed help," Hampilos said. "Stephanie was so exceptional in the help she provided Katherine, we turned to her again when Elise was applying for college."
Hampilos found Wassink's strength being that she guides the kids through the college application process. The kids make all the decisions and are "in charge." But Wassink reminds them when each step in the application process has to be done. When they write their essays, she has proof-readers go over them and then reads them herself, making suggestions on improvements. Then it is up to the kids to make the changes or not.
Richard Flamberg, an adult and adolescent psychologist in New York State, used Wassink's service for his daughter, Jenna. Now attending Emerson College in Boston as a music major, Jenna was excited by the thought of attending college but was at first "overwhelmed" by the admission's process.
"Stephanie put us at ease," Flamberg said. "We were really impressed. As parents, we were not happy with how Jenna's high school initially led us into the application process for college in her junior year. She had a good counselor, but it wasn't sufficient. We were left in a quandary. It was very stressful."
Hampilos and Flamberg's kudos are just two of numerous positive endorsements of Wassink's service. Winning Applications was experiencing such strong market demand that Wassink decided to expand and franchise.
Would-be franchisees should have strong writing, marketing, organizational and people skills, Wassink said.
She worked with an outside consultant to develop a detailed training program. She also has specialists who will coach franchisees on topics relate to college admissions.
"There is a huge pipeline of kids who want help with a college application process that has changed dramatically since their parents applied," she said. "I am structuring the franchise as an admissions committee so I will always be in the background providing support."

For further information on Winning Applications, visit winningapplications.net or call 203-938-3878.

Contact Susan Tuz at stuz@newstimes.com or 731-3352