By DLV Financial
Your Child's Education in the U.S. Is a Major Investment. Plan It Wisely.
Navigating the U.S. university system from abroad can be complex and overwhelming. At Collegiate Avenues, we provide international students and their families with expert, personalized guidance to make informed decisions about one of the most important investments a family will make.
Where Families Struggle
What goes wrong, and what we do about it
There are many things that often go wrong for international applicants. Here are five of the most common ones, and what we do about each one:
Are we already too late to start?
Starting late takes away valuable time to build a strong application and forces important steps to become last-minute decisions.
Where we come in
We help your family plan ahead for standardized testing, letters of recommendation, activities, application deadlines, and other key milestones, so your child is prepared when it's time to apply.
Which universities are realistic for us?
From abroad, it's hard to tell which schools are realistic, which are affordable, and which are a good fit for your child.
Where we come in
We build a list based on your child's academic and professional goals, as well as your family's financial situation. We take into consideration real chances of admission, actual cost after scholarships and financial aid, and determine where your child will thrive.
How does my child stand out to a U.S. university?
U.S. universities weigh essays, extracurricular activities, and interviews alongside grades. What counts there often differs from what works in your home country. Most international students have never had to present themselves this way.
Where we come in
We identify what will strengthen your child's application, help them build it in time, and help them tell their own story so U.S. admissions officers recognize it.
Is there scholarship money we are missing?
Scholarships and financial aid for international students exist, but you need to know where and how to search for them. Every university has its own application process with specific forms and deadlines.
Where we come in
We identify what your child qualifies for and make sure they look at every opportunity worth pursuing.
How do we keep track of all of it?
U.S. university applications involve many different requirements, deadlines, and decisions, and it can be easy to miss an important step.
Where we come in
We simplify the process into a clear plan, so your family knows exactly what needs to be done, when it needs to happen, and what to focus on next.
We work with families to turn all five into one personalized plan, with a clear calendar of what happens when, so you and your child never miss a deadline or an opportunity, and always know the next step.
How We Help
Guidance across the whole application
University Selection
Create a balanced list based on academic, financial, and social fit.
Applications & Essays
Build strong applications and essays that enhance your child's admissions probabilities.
Activities & Academics
Strengthen the coursework, activities, and experiences that shape the application.
Testing & Deadlines
Understand which tests are better suited to your child's abilities and develop a study plan to maximize outcomes.
Scholarships
Identify universities where international students have meaningful scholarship opportunities.
Athletic Recruitment
Help your child showcase their talent to coaches and maximize admissions outcomes and scholarships.
Coordinated university planning
One team, every specialist your child needs
At Collegiate Avenues, we coordinate a team of admissions and funding specialists around each student. Here are some of the universities their students have been accepted to.
How It Works
Three steps, from anywhere in the world
Schedule your complimentary consultation
A video call with us, scheduled around your time zone.
Meet with one of our experts
Tell us about your family's situation and your child's goals.
Receive a clear university application plan
You will receive a proposal with next steps and how we can help your family throughout the entire process.
Schedule your consultation
Share a few details, then choose a time that works in your time zone.
What Families Say
Hear from families we've helped
When we started looking at universities in the U.S., we honestly didn't know where to start. The application process is very different from what we are used to in Mexico, and there was so much information that we couldn't digest. Manuel and Cristina helped us understand our options and put together a university list that made sense for our daughter. It was a big relief to have someone guiding us and telling us what we needed to focus on at each step of the way.
CarmenMexico What we appreciated most from working with Manuel and Cristina was that the university list was built around our daughter's skillset and goals and not just based on rankings. She ended up with several great offers and choices that were a good fit for her. In the end, we felt she had opportunities we would not have known about on our own.
AnaBrazil Our son wanted to study engineering in the U.S., but the university application process was complicated and was becoming very stressful for our family. There are so many deadlines and things to keep track of, and we were always worried we were forgetting something. Having a clear plan and someone our son could go to with his questions took a lot of pressure off us. We still felt involved, but we didn't have to figure out everything by ourselves.
DanielEcuador
Individual experiences. Not a guarantee of admission, scholarship, or financial outcomes.
Our Founder
Manuel de la Vega
Managing Director & Financial Strategist
With more than 30 years of experience advising families and five children of his own who have gone through the U.S. university process, Manuel understands firsthand how overwhelming applying to universities in the United States can feel.
Having lived abroad himself and raised a family across different countries, Manuel is familiar with the questions and challenges parents face when sending their children to study in the U.S. After guiding his own five children through the process, he turned that experience into a mission: helping other families understand their options, avoid costly mistakes, and make confident decisions about their children's education.
Fluent in both Spanish and English, Manuel helps make the U.S. university journey clearer, more manageable, and less stressful for students and their families.
Who You'll Work With
Our team of experts
University planning is personal. You work directly with our team throughout the process, with consultations available in English or Spanish.
Cristina de la Vega
College Planning & Operations
Your main point of contact, coordinating the university planning process from the first conversation through enrollment.
Cori Murphy
College Admissions & Financial Aid
Nearly 20 years in private university consulting and a gift for turning complex university planning and financial details into plain, easy-to-understand language.
Alaiza Becerra
College Coach
Holds a Master of Arts in Higher Education and guides students through the application process with clarity and encouragement, in a warm, reassuring style.
FAQ
Questions families often ask
When should my child begin planning?
Ideally, students begin two to three years before applying to university. This gives us enough time to work on shaping coursework, activities, testing, and creating the university list. Nevertheless, we also work with students who begin later in the process.
What does a U.S. university cost for a family applying from abroad?
Costs vary widely depending on the type of university, public or private, how selective it is, and how much demand there is for it. International students are generally not eligible for U.S. federal financial aid, and at public universities they usually pay higher tuition than students who live in that state. Many universities do, however, offer scholarships and financial aid from their own funds to attract students with a strong academic record, whatever country they come from. In some cases there are also opportunities for students who excel in areas such as music, the sciences or sport. We take all of this into account when we build the university list with your child, identifying the places where they are best positioned to receive a scholarship or other financial aid.
Can you guarantee admission or a scholarship?
It is unrealistic and unethical to promote these kinds of guarantees. It is impossible to know exactly what a university will offer a student. However, our role is to help your child build a strong, well-positioned application that will increase their chances of admission and academic scholarships.
We're not in the United States. How does this work?
The process is designed for families abroad. Meetings take place by video call and are scheduled around your time zone. We can work with families wherever they are located.
How many universities should my child apply to?
As part of our process, our students apply to 10-12 universities that we determine together to be a good fit for them. That way, students likely end up with several good offers to choose from.
Give your child a clear path forward
You don't need to navigate the U.S. university admissions process alone. Let's talk about your child's goals, where they are today, and how we can maximize your child's potential.