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One coach works with your student from first call to final submit. With a small number of families each year and no hand-offs, Bello Advising gives you the thoughtful, individualized guidance usually reserved for those with a lot to spend, with flat pricing and everything virtual.
No commitment required — just a conversation about where your student is right now.
Every student deserves a thoughtful, personalized path through the college process — not just those with the means to buy it.”
— The mission behind Bello Advising
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Your student is capable and motivated, but their school counselor is stretched across hundreds of kids.
You want expert, individualized guidance without paying a premium private-consultant price.
Your student is more than a résumé. You want help showing colleges who they really are.
You've looked into outside help before and closed the tab the moment you saw the price.
Flat, transparent pricing. No assumption that this kind of help isn't for you. If that sounds like your family, let's talk.
Bello Advising is intentionally small. Many college advising firms hand families off to a rotating roster of associates. Here, your student works with me, Maggie, every single session, from building the college list to clicking submit.
No hand-offs, no starting over with someone new. I get to know your student's story, goals, and voice, and that continuity shows up in every essay, every list, and every decision.
I take on a limited number of students each year, so every family gets real time, real attention, and a coach who actually remembers the details.
I don't outsource coaching to junior staff or contractors. Every session, every round of essay feedback, and every strategy conversation is with me.
Boutique attention, without the boutique price tag.
Every package includes flat, upfront pricing — no hourly surprises.
Best for self-driven students who want a second set of eyes.
Get StartedBest for families who want full support from the start of application season.
Get StartedBest for families who want the most complete support, starting earliest.
Get StartedHow essay feedback works: Essay feedback happens live in session and in writing between sessions. Written feedback is part of the session and counts toward your session time.
One-hour sessions, up to 10 students, on focused topics like building a college list or starting your essay.
Focused, one-on-one support on essays, applications, or whatever your student needs most right now.
Self-paced access to all four modules — a lower-cost option for independent students.
Refer a family to Bello Advising, and once they sign on for any 1:1 package (Application & Essay Polish, Guided Application Season, or Full Two-Year Arc), you'll receive $100 as a thank-you. Open to current and past Bello Advising families.
We'll talk through where your student is, what kind of support fits, and answer your questions — no commitment required.
A single session, a focused package, or full support from sophomore year through decision day — whatever fits your timeline and budget. You'll fill out a short intake form so I can get to know your student before we dive in.
Regular virtual sessions at a pace that matches your package — building the list, strengthening the application, finding the essay.
Applications go in complete, on time, and true to who your student actually is.
Every student works through the same proven process — the one that helped a student get into Cornell.
Identifying and ranking what matters most, then researching and building a personalized, data-grounded college list.
Taking stock of activities and academics, identifying themes, sorting the list into safety/target/reach, and closing gaps.
Studying strong examples, brainstorming authentic topics, drafting, and structured feedback on the Common App and supplements.
Deadlines, portals, and tracking submissions so nothing falls through the cracks during the busiest stretch of senior year.
Want the modules without one-on-one coaching?
I'm Maggie, co-founder of Bello Advising along with my daughter, Helena. I've spent the last 25+ years doing pretty much everything you can do in a school building. I started out teaching fifth grade in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Dallas, became a principal, and spent over a decade in leadership roles at a high-performing DC charter school, eventually serving as its Chief Academic Officer. These days, I coach school and district leaders across the country as an Associate Director at a national education nonprofit — but the work I've loved most has always come back to one thing: sitting down with someone and helping them figure out their next step.
A few years ago, that "someone" started being a high schooler. Word got around that I was good at helping students think through the college process, and I ended up walking a student through her college search, applications, and essays — all for free, all through word of mouth. She was accepted to Cornell, and I realized how much I loved this particular kind of coaching.
I also noticed something else: DC has no shortage of college counselors, but almost all of them are priced for families with a lot to spend. That's a big part of why Helena and I started Bello Advising together. We wanted families — many of them the first in their family navigating this process — to have access to the same kind of thoughtful, individualized guidance, without the five-figure price tag.
I bring a doctorate in Educational Leadership and a career spent designing the kind of learning experiences that actually stick — which is also just a fancy way of saying I've built a process, not just a pep talk. And as the mom of two daughters, my oldest, Helena, a Posse Scholar and graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and my youngest finishing up her senior year at Yale, I've used this same process at my own kitchen table, worry and all. I know what you're going through.
As for me, when I'm not working, you'll usually find me on my screened-in porch in Takoma DC with my husband, our daughters when they're home, and our cat supervising from a windowsill.
Helena Bello is Bello Advising's co-founder, and the idea for the business grew out of her own college search. We went through the whole process together, from building her list to writing essays to hitting submit, and along the way we saw firsthand how much good guidance mattered and how many families were priced out of getting it. We founded Bello Advising together so more students could have that kind of support.
Helena was named a Posse Scholar, one of the most competitive leadership scholarships in the country. Students can't apply on their own; they have to be nominated by their high school or a community organization, and about 20,000 students are nominated each year. Those selected earn a four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarship, complete 32 weeks of training before college, and attend a partner school alongside a "posse" of about 10 peers who support each other.
Helena graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in May 2026 with a B.S. in Legal Studies and Environmental Studies and certificates in Criminal Justice and Public Policy. In 2025 she was named a Udall Scholar, a national honor from the Udall Foundation, a federal agency, given to just 55 students that year for leadership and public service on environmental issues, Tribal public policy, and health care. In college she interned with Midwest Environmental Advocates and the Tribal Court of Appeals Project, worked in campaign finance compliance for Senator Tammy Baldwin's 2024 reelection campaign, served as an environmental advocacy intern with the Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance, and developed a proposal for a bird-safe building ordinance in Milwaukee, which she presented at the Wisconsin Ideas Conference and published in the Wisconsin Ideas Journal. On campus, she served as a Student Judicial Advisor, supporting fellow students as they navigated the university's student conduct process, and worked as a peer notetaker for the McBurney Disability Resource Center, taking class notes for students with disabilities. She plans to attend law school to become an environmental attorney.
Helena runs the operations side of the business, from scheduling and onboarding to keeping everything organized behind the scenes, and she collaborates with me on our content, including the newsletter and Instagram. Having just been through the process herself, she brings a student's-eye view of what's actually helpful and what isn't.
Outside of Bello Advising, Helena loves birding, thrifting, and sewing, and spending time with her friends.
Real results
A student I worked with, through word of mouth alone, was accepted to Cornell University. That same process is now what every Bello Advising family gets.
No one honestly can — and you should be wary of anyone who says otherwise. What I can guarantee is a thoughtful, personalized process: a well-researched college list, a strong application, and essays that actually sound like your student. That process is what gives every student their best shot.
School counselors are stretched incredibly thin, often managing hundreds of students at once. I work with a small number of students at a time, which means real one-on-one attention, a structured process built from years of experience in education and leadership development, and someone fully focused on your student's application.
Yes. Bello Advising exists specifically because DC's college advising market is priced for families with a lot to spend, and we don't think good guidance should be out of reach for everyone else. Costs are fixed, flat fees — not hourly rates — and well below the DC average.
It depends on how much support your student needs and when you're starting. Application & Essay Polish is a lighter touch for students who mostly have things handled. Guided Application Season is full support through the whole process. Full Two-Year Arc starts earliest and adds the most complete support. I also offer customizable one-hour sessions if you're not sure a full package is right yet.
Not at all — that's actually the ideal time. Starting early means more time to build a strong activity list, address any gaps, and go into senior year with a plan instead of a scramble.
I offer scholarship search support and feedback on scholarship applications as part of the Full Two-Year Arc. For FAFSA and CSS Profile guidance specifically, I'd recommend connecting with your student's school counselor or a financial aid professional.
No — and honestly, colleges can tell. My role is to help your student find their real story and sharpen it through feedback and revision, not to write it for them. The essay needs to sound like your kid, not like me.
Everything is done virtually over Zoom, which means we're not limited by geography. I work with families across the DC area and beyond.
That's available too — self-paced access to all four modules for a one-time fee, best if your student is more independent or you're looking for a lower-cost option.
Yes. Your family's information — academic records, essays, and any other materials you share — is never sold, and is only shared with your consent, with the service providers who help run the business (like payment processing or scheduling tools), or if required by law. Materials are stored on secure, encrypted platforms, and only the Bello Advising team (Maggie and Helena) has access to your student's information. You can request access to, or deletion of, your information at any time. See the full Privacy Policy in the footer for details.
Yes! If you refer a family and they sign on for any 1:1 package, you'll receive $100 once they've signed up and paid. The referral program is open to current and past Bello Advising families. It's our way of saying thank you for the same kind of word-of-mouth support that got Bello Advising started in the first place.
Bello Advising was co-founded by Maggie Bello and her daughter, Helena Bello. Maggie personally does all of the one-on-one coaching with students and families; it is never handed off to anyone else. Helena mostly runs the operations side of the business, like scheduling, onboarding, and making sure everything runs smoothly, and she collaborates with Maggie on content such as the newsletter and Instagram.
Book a free intro call. We'll talk through where your student is in the process, what kind of support makes sense, and answer any questions before you commit to anything.
I can’t say enough about how great it was to work with Maggie. More than anything, Maggie’s sincere interest in my success helped build my confidence to push through the uncertainty of the college application process. Every time we met, she came with strong suggestions and advice while still empowering me to own this process. Without a doubt, Maggie was an essential part of my success in landing at the best school for me.
— Evelyn
Working with Bello Advising, I got extremely helpful, detailed, and thoughtful line-by-line feedback on the central messages, theme, authenticity, and structure of my college application essays. After receiving feedback, I would make edits on my own and often have Maggie look them over for final feedback before submitting. Maggie’s feedback was extensive and direct. After my first sessions, I found writing my later college essays easier because Maggie had guided me how to better articulate my message and fully answer essay prompts.
— Drew, Class of 2027
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Book a free, no-commitment intro call. We'll talk through where your student is and what kind of support makes sense.
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