Horizon Consulting
The Right Match for Every Student
About Horizon Consulting
Getting into the right school can be the most important and stressful decision a young person makes. It can create tremendous impact on his or her college years and their career to follow.
Preparation for admittance to America’s highly-competitive top colleges and universities begins early in a student’s career, with planned steps that are carefully orchestrated to fit the rigorous requirements set forth by admissions departments. We tell students that every step counts.
We understand the anxiety that can accompany these important developmental years, as well as the pressure of the selection and application process to colleges. We went through the process ourselves and have helped numerous families. We learn your child’s strengths and weaknesses, and coach them to strengthen skills and overcome challenges along the way. Then, with organized plans in place, and ongoing tracking and communication, tasks become routine and accomplishments are celebrated.
Trust us to know the application process, deadlines and school requirements inside and out. That is how we can lead you to select and apply to schools, and field questions, responses and acceptances effectively.
One thing you can truly rely on is our honesty. We’ve had parents ask, “Can you guarantee my child will get admitted?” Neither we nor anybody else in this industry can guarantee admission to any school. What we can provide, however, are our best efforts using our years of acquired experience and knowledge to deliver your desired result, and we only take on clients for whom we believe we can deliver. Our list of successes speaks for itself.
We invite you to review our list of Services that include Educational Planning and Coaching, and College, Private and Independent School application processes. We would love to work with you.
About Elaine Lin
Meet Elaine Lin Wang, Founder and President
Elaine works with students from various cities in the U.S. including Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, as well as with students coming from countries located around the world, including China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the U.K. and Canada. Her incredible ability to connect with both American students and International students, and to guide them through the highly-competitive and stressful admission process, stems from her personal background, academic training and more than twenty years of field experience.
Moving to the United States from Taiwan, Elaine began her studies in the U.S. as a fourteen-year-old student near Boston, Massachusetts. During her time in Boston, she assisted dozens of other young boarding school students transitioning into the U.S. cultural and educational system, as well as her own younger siblings.
Elaine attended Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts as an undergraduate, and graduated from Tufts summa cum laude. She later received her Master’s degree in Higher Education (M.Ed.) from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she specialized in Higher Education Administration with concentrations in Student Affairs (College Admissions and Career Counseling) and International Education. Post-college, she continued pursuing her passion for work in international education. She developed and managed numerous summer exchange programs on the university campuses of Harvard, Yale, and Brown Universities and the University of California system schools.
In the spring of 1996, Elaine published her award-winning book, Why I Chose to Study in the U.S., to document her experiences in a U.S. high school and her own application process to U.S. colleges. Following its publication, she was invited to speak at many schools in Asia and wrote for an education magazine for several years.
As Elaine worked with her summer exchange programs, parents of international students began asking if their children could come to the U.S. for education in its high schools, and in particular, its colleges. She started taking them on as her first clients. Soon afterwards, she expanded her clientele to include students from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. Organically, her United States market began to explode as well, and she began to work with students from various cities in the U.S., including Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
In 2001, Elaine founded Horizon Consulting, INC with the goal of placing American and International students in the educational programs and paths that suited them best.
To stay up to date with admission news and development, Elaine regularly visits schools and programs, meets with admissions personnel, and attends professional conferences hosted by educational organizations. She has attended such events as the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) Summer Institute and the Harvard Summer Institute on College Admissions to meet and interact with admissions personnel from various outstanding universities as well as high schools, and review the many critical issues concerning the process of college admissions. She is also an active alumna of Tufts University. Most importantly, these activities enabled Elaine to build a network of tutors, test prep experts, skill enhancement providers and educators who can facilitate and enrich the learning processes of her students.
Elaine lives with her husband and two children in Great Falls, Virginia, a suburban city near Washington D.C. She is an active member of her children’s PTA and Girl Scouts organizations.
Meet Our Team
Wei Ying Lin
Wei Ying has extensive experience teaching in private schools such as The Thacher School in California, as well as in international schools in Hong Kong and South Korea. She is now a Senior Admissions Consultant for Horizon Consulting. Wei Ying received her B.A. from Wellesley College in Massachusetts and her M.A. from Middlebury College in Vermont.
Olive B. Long
Olive brings more than 40 years of experience with independent schools to the Horizon Consulting team. Her broad-based knowledge of boarding and day schools located throughout the U.S. serves to inform families about the best educational choices for their children.
Award-Winning Book
Award-Winning Author of Why I Chose to Study in the U.S.
Elaine Lin received two awards from Taiwan for her book, Why I Chose to Study in the U.S.
The Best Study-Abroad Guide for International Students, 1996
Selected as one of the 13 Annual “Must Read” Books for High School Students
Following publication of the book, Elaine has been invited to speak at various high schools around the globe on the merits of studying abroad and the American educational system.
Locations
Horizon Consulting is based in Northern Virginia in the United States, with close proximity to Washington, D.C. However, we CAN and DO work with students from across the U.S. and around the world using face-to-face meetings along with virtual consultations via Zoom and other technologies.