Dr. Jacque Trama is a remarkable woman known as simply Jacque to our family. This exceptionally intelligent but unpretentious woman is an honest and trusted guide, a confidante, and a friend to each of us. We respect her and appreciate her work ethic, her integrity and the breadth of her knowledge of educational institutions and their selection processes. Her experience and expertise were, and are, invaluable to us.

Our first contact and contract with Jacque occurred when our eldest (now 26 and in her first year of a six year plastic surgical residency) was a junior in high school.  My husband and I felt that it was important for us to allow our daughter to take the primary responsibility for the choice of her college. Jacque helped her explore all of her options, and even though our daughter thought she knew where she wanted to go, Jacque encouraged her to include one school she was not considering in her applications. Jacque was there to support her when our daughter was wait listed at her first choice. She was subsequently accepted at (among others) the school she applied to because Jacque felt it would be a good fit for her. Only after her acceptance did our daughter visit and fall in love with undergraduate alma matter, Northwestern. To this day we all believe that was the best choice for her. Additionally, Jacque helped this daughter with her medical school applications serving more as a mentor than guiding the workflow.  Again, our daughter was accepted to her first choice medical school with invaluable assistance from Jacque.

After such a positive outcome with our eldest, we started the college process with Jacque and our next child earlier. Unlike her older sister, our then sophomore wanted a small school in the Northeast. She has loved her four years at Middlebury. I have no doubt that she will work with Jacque if and when she decides to attend graduate school after gaining some “real world” experience in her chosen field following her graduation this spring.

After Jacque helped him explore his options, our youngest decided that Colgate would be the best choice for his education. Having watched his sisters’ experiences with the application process, he was convinced that an early decision would be ideal. With Jacque’s guidance and support he was able to complete his applications early enough to be considered for early decision, and was able to enjoy more of his Senior year without the stress of waiting to hear from colleges when he was accepted. Despite the academic challenges of attending a reach school he claims there is no place he would rather be.  Jacque has a “first Year” Program that guides students throughout that first year in college at no additional cost.  All three children took advantage of this program and were very vocal in how it helped them immensely.

Jacque saved my husband and me many a battle and sleepless night by ensuring each of our three children completed every component the applications in a timely manner. I doubt that we would have been able to motivate our over-extended kids to integrate the essays and other necessary work into their busy academic, extracurricular, and social schedules without resentment, but Jacque is adept at managing that feat. We were thankful that she and our children were the ones keeping track of the deadlines and ensuring that the process didn’t stall.

After watching Jacque work with our three very different children over the past decade, I am convinced that she has an uncanny ability to distill the essence of what each student needs and wants in a college, then help them find and apply to the schools that are the best fit. We have witnessed the extent of both her professional and emotional commitment to her students, and knows that she cares about each of her student clients as much as a non-family member can care about an individual. We have marveled at her ability to find what gets each of them to engage in, and take ownership of, the college selection process. We, and each of our children, will continue to praise her abilities and send her referrals.