About Abbie
Abbie Rabin guides students in evaluating, choosing, and applying to colleges and universities. She has been helping students navigate the college process since 1998, when she founded the Department of College Guidance at Ma’ayanot High School in Teaneck, New Jersey. The school honored her, noting that:
throughout her tenure, not only has Abbie created a college guidance department that serves the needs of individual students, but she has also placed Ma’ayanot on secure footing by consistently representing the school in an expert and professional way to a wide range of colleges and universities.
Upon completing the Independent Educational Consultant Certificate Program at UC Irvine, Abbie established Personalized College Consulting in 2013.
Directly after college, Abbie began her career teaching economic statistics at the college level. Her BA from Barnard is in economics, and her MA and MPhil from Columbia University are in economics and health economics, respectively. But it was in college counseling that she found her true calling. As she works with students and gains their trust, Abbie helps them realize their own strengths and abilities, and helps them find the confidence to make sound choices with a strong basis.
As a professional member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) and the National Association for College Admissions Counselors (NACAC), Abbie is committed to the highest ethical standards. She counsels students with a range of interests and academic abilities, analyzes transcripts and scores, and advises students and their families on colleges to consider, investigate, and apply to. She visits numerous colleges and universities and meets with admissions officers and deans in order to stay up to date on current admissions trends, and to help students and their families choose wisely. She brainstorms application and essay development with students and reviews the applications before the student submits. Abbie does not write personal statements or essays for the students, rather, she helps them find their own voice. All applications are exclusively the work of the student, and her students take pride in the honesty and clarity of their work.
Abbie has helped hundreds of students understand their strengths, take ownership of the college process, and make good decisions.
From the very first meeting, our experience with Abbie was truly wonderful. She was informative, complimentary, respectful to my son, encouraging, realistic – just delightful! Of course, the stress of the college process can overwhelm, but Abbie certainly took an edge off it and propelled my son toward early planning. Abbie’s approach and attention respected him as an individual in his own right.
MIT
Before I leave for the summer, I just wanted to thank you so much for making this year a lot easier and less stressful than it could have been. You were an amazing college guidance counselor, as well as a friend. I’m so excited to be going to my Early Decision school and I appreciate all your hours of assistance with my essay and application as a whole. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
University of Chicago
Abbie, thank you for all your guidance these past few years. You made sure I was prepared for all of the stress, and your warm personality also helped mitigate it. It was a comfort to know that you were always available if I had any questions or needed advice. I am sure that your encouragement and advice were very instrumental in my college acceptance. I couldn’t have done it without you!
University of Pennsylvania