Gerene Keesler’s parents were told she would not live past the age of two. She grew up having seizures and her parents were told it meant there was a 98 percent chance she had epilepsy. But, for most of her childhood, she was shepherded along the standard path.
“They could not handle having a differently wired kid,” says Keesler.
She did her K-12 education and was taken off anti-seizure medications when she was around 12. Then, while studying at Loyola University of New Orleans, she had back-to-back seizures in the admissions office. But she persevered.
“No one thought I’d get one degree, much less two,” she said. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in counseling from Loyola.
She later found out she suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome. Later tests revealed that she has no left hemisphere, no corpus callosum and an orange-sized cyst on her skull.
Keesler theorized that having the episodes in the admissions office now smacks of irony. Or, it was the kickoff to what became a three-decades-long career journey. At Loyala, she said to herself, “hey, I can do this professionally because I get it. I was very motivated to figure out how to work around my challenges.”
A third-generation Tampa native, Keesler would start a business, Admissions Untangled, geared to help high school students combat the challenges, and mystery, of admissions, financial aid, college essays and more.
There are many steps between when a student first approaches Keesler and their first day on campus.
Once she is contacted, Keesler will have a parent send her an unofficial transcript, so she can vet the student on grades and other factors. Next, she makes sure the family understands her role; usually, they don’t.
A main priority, she emphasized, is flexibility, making sure students aren’t locked into certain schools.
“I tell them, if you come in saying, ‘I’ll only look at X school,’ well that will make that journey harder,” she explained.
She will try to break down preferences, such as urban versus rural, large or small, and coed or single-sex. Very often, she says, students haven’t thought about these things for the simple reason that no one has asked them.
Keesler will feed the student’s answers into her program’s software and create a list of potential schools.
There will be safety schools, where the student, based on their academic credentials, are likely to be accepted.
Then there are target schools – likely matches – and reaches or super reaches such as Ivy League schools and Cal Tech.
“I’ll tell them, it’s a longshot, but it’s a longshot for everyone,” she says about the reaches. “I remind them that the higher tier a school they’re shooting for is, the more [effort] will be asked of them. I told one student that the school wanted 30 essays and you need a plan, because if they’re due January 4, you can’t send them all to me January 3 to edit.”
She also discussed the rigid standards that now exist, saying the average GPA for students entering state schools is 4.4. “It was not like that 30 years ago,” she explained. That might mean, in Florida, looking at the University of North Florida, in Jacksonville, or the University of West Florida, in Pensacola, versus only the University of Florida, Florida State University or the University of South Florida. “Those schools have the same standards, the same credentials,” she says.
Keesler feels a calling, as a paid service, to make the experience as affordable as possible and is proud that last year, every one of the students using her service received full scholarships.
She currently has 25 students under contract; almost all are high school juniors or seniors.
Some – but not all – clients have disabilities or challenges similar to Keesler’s. She tries to comfort and assure those who are reluctant to share that information with a university, emphasizing the school’s confidentiality policies.
“So, I tell the students who have challenges, look if I can do it, you can do it. You just have to understand that there are certain things you can do, there are certain things you can’t do,” she explained. She makes sure that the students understand that there’s a difference between chasing an occupation where they can make a lot of money and a more realistic career where they have a gift and can make a contribution.
Keesler said that many companies provide the same service as hers and that she must stay in her wheelhouse. She shared that she recently turned down a student who was looking to go to graduate school because Keesler had not been to graduate school nor has edited a graduate school paper in many years.
“I thought I’d be doing them a disservice,” she said. If someone is looking for help in the performing arts or sports, she sends them elsewhere.
Students with special needs will be able to find Keesler on the website of the Independent Educational Consultants Association once she has hit a goal of visiting 50 schools. She will then be published on their website as a provider. Currently, she’s visited over 30. She hopes to get to 50 as soon as possible, but “for someone like me, with my challenges, it’s exhausting.”
The cost for a comprehensive package is approximately $4,000. But a student looking at in-state schools would pay less than that and less than someone looking at top-tier schools. It can exceed the $4,000 if a student is looking at multiple states and international schools.
Keesler, who lives with her miniature poodle in the Carrollwood area of Tampa, tries to steer her customers into the comprehensive package which includes assistance with financial aid, scholarships, the admissions process and essays. She posits it not as an upsell, but as a reminder that every part of the process is challenging and requires assistance. They will pay more if they add services a la carte.
Keesler said the service ends up costing approximately $180/hour, especially if they choose the comprehensive option.
She also has a certificate from the University of California San Diego and recently received her cognitive coaching certificate through IBCCES, an international licensing board.
These services have been around for 30 years and the math suggests they are needed. Keesler said studies show that the average counselor-to-student ratio is around 1:500 and the average student is seen by university counselors a total of 13 minutes over four years.
Given her own challenges, Keesler feels that what she is giving back to her clients is essential.
“You couldn’t be in this one field for three decades without feeling the students are getting a great service,” she said. “You’re able to provide them support they may not get elsewhere.” She’s also bilingual and can therefore help Hispanic students.
”I just want to make sure students feel heard, that they feel advocated for, that someone is listening for them and listening to them,” she says.
