It is never too early to start laying out a path to higher education, but for some, compiling essays, transcripts, letters of recommendation and extracurriculars can feel like navigating space. 

Carbondale resident Robin Colt first realized the complex nature of the college application process while teaching environmental science and serving as a dorm parent at Colorado Rocky Mountain School. From learning the ropes of high school education to inspiring the next generation to pursue higher education, Colt continues to make her mark on the educational landscape in the Roaring Fork Valley.

In the nearly two decades since moving to the Roaring Fork Valley, Colt has gone from a green scientist just out of her master’s program to running her own college consulting firm and creating Star Map, a comprehensive college-planning course.

“I named it Star Map because I see Common Application, the widely used application form accepted by most colleges in the country, as different stars,” Colt explained. “Things like the activities, the letters of recommendation, their standardized test scores, transcripts, and essays need to be connected in a compelling way that paints a positive picture of the student to an admissions reader.”

Star Map is a self-paced course designed for high school students, ranging from those just entering ninth grade to seniors months away from receiving their diplomas. The video course covers the full arc of planning for higher education — anything from finding the right school to applying for financial aid to essay workshops. 

“Star Map is a video-based course that spans the full arc of college planning from ninth through 12th grade,” Colt said. “I built it to provide students access to college counseling in a space that either they lack because there aren’t substantial college counseling resources in their schools, or they just can’t afford to work one-on-one with an independent counselor. This program covers the full college counseling resources and content that I work one-on-one with, but at a fraction of the price.”

Colt, a University of California, Los Angeles-certified college counselor, has 15 years of experience in education and one-on-one work with students. She said the course, launched two weeks ago, has already been adopted by college-prep institutions from Colorado to Connecticut. 

She said she worked to make sure the students using Star Map get the same sort of guidance that those who work with her one-on-one receive. 

“Everyone comes into this at their own pace,” she said. “Students who work with me one-on-one are going to get 40 hours of face-to-face meetings, and I tried to build that into Star Map through these accessible five to 10-minute video chunks that cover the same content, but students can do them at their own pace.

“A big part of what I do in the one-on-one work is getting to know the student and really figuring out what their goals, interests, and values are and how those might fit into a college setting,” Colt continued. 

The content includes eight modules and over five hours of instruction, plus live Q&A sessions with Colt during peak application season. She said her initial audience is turning out to be college-access programs that can’t afford full-time counselors.

“(Star Map) is truly comprehensive,” Colt said. “A real differentiator of the course is that I’m offering live office hours in the fall. There are plenty of courses that you can sign up for online, where you can kind of plug and play, but it’s really critical that students can receive expert advice and be engaged with a college counselor during peak admission season — September to December.

“I’m finding that it’s college access programs who are like ‘We can’t afford full-time year-round college counselors, but this has everything we need,'” Colt continued. 

Since growing up in New Hampshire to moving to Boulder for her master’s degree, Colt has always known her career would flow through education, but didn’t find her niche until she began teaching at Colorado Rocky Mountain School in 2012. She explained that the teachers at CRMS aren’t just teachers. 

“We wear so many hats there. I was a coach, a trip leader, a dorm parent, and I was in charge of the senior dorms,” Colt said. “I was in there many nights and would help students by working through their essays and applications. We would talk about their goals, what they were looking for, and how they envisioned their lives, and I really loved that work.

“You get to know these kids so well and really be able to build relationships with them,” she continued. “It is really a magical thing when you’re able to leverage that rapport into them wanting to do work correctly, and they feel seen and heard — they’re willing to show up.”

Colt said the most magical part for her is seeing the students grow into contributing members of the community. 

“I really try to make the college access piece the forefront of my work,” she said. “It is just so incredible to see where these students end up and the incredible things they go on to accomplish.”

For more information about Colt’s counseling firm or the Star Map program, visit Robincoltconsulting.com.