This is why the students her team advises do not all follow the same curriculum. Instead, she said, advisers talk through general topics with students and their families and then plan an advising timeline with di fferent points of focus.
“Nobody’s college process takes the same format,” Dietz said. “One student might be applying to a really cool foreign language program. ... Another student might be writing an essay to start working on their [New York University] application.”
Students can come to Guru at any stage in their planning process, with many starting between ninth and 12th grades.
Roughly a third of Guru’s clients come from LISD and the Flower Mound area, Dietz said. Guru o ffers a free first session with one of its eight advisers who do their best to cover as much ground as possible.
“The college application process ... is way too convoluted, and it creates a big barrier for access for a lot of families,” Dietz said.
Guru also o ffers a number of opportunities for students to receive free advising, including a few programs at Lewisville ISD, such as Farmer Ready, an application-based program with multiple sessions.
In these types of programs, Dietz said, she is able to better educate students on their options for college, such as approaching schools that have higher price tags but may also have more financial aid opportunities than local schools.
For each family and student at Guru, Dietz and her team are upfront about the fact that college counseling is helpful but is not needed for everyone, she said.
“We do work with students and help them apply to some very competitive schools every year, and they’re successful in that, but we never want a business like ours to intensify the stress that families already feel,” Dietz said.
Guru Academic Advising
2300 Highland Village Road, Bldg. 2, Highland
Village
972-755-9507
www.guruacademicadvising.com
Phone hours: Mon.-Fri.: 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Flexible advising schedule
