What Makes My Consulting practice different
The right college list starts with knowing your student
Most families start with rankings. I start with the student. Together we discuss and discover who they are, what energizes them, and what they want their future to look like. My four-step process turns that self-knowledge into a personalized list of colleges worth exploring.
Three Assessments: Strengths & Interests
Every student begins with three proven assessments that reveal their natural strengths, their genuine interests, and the futures they can imagine for themselves. No guesswork, no generic quizzes, but a real foundation of self-knowledge before any college talk begins.
Career Exploration Report
The assessment results come together in a personalized report with detailed guides to careers worth exploring — confirming majors your student is already considering and suggesting new ones they may not have thought of. Each career guide includes a forward look at how AI and technology may shape that field, plus an introduction to concrete ways to explore it beyond the report.
College Attributes Report
In a guided working session, your student defines what they truly want in a college — size, setting, culture, community, and more — including the things they absolutely don't want. The result is a clear picture of the campus where they'll be happiest.
College List Exploration
Everything comes together here. We take the colleges already on your student's radar and blend them with schools matched to their strengths, interests, and preferences — then organize the whole list by admission likelihood, so the family sees realistic reaches, solid matches, and confident admission options.
The result: a researched, personalized starting list — grounded in who your student actually is, not just where their friends are applying.
Ready to aim higher?
Let's build a college journey that starts with your student — and ends with choices the whole family feels confident about.
Start the ConversationMY fundamental goal is to help your child develop self-awareness, skills, and self-confidence.
I am 50% educator/coach, 50% project manager,
but 100% caring!
Important Note
My goal is to serve as many low-income students as possible.
The limited slots I have for paying clients help make that work possible. I participate with national organizations such as QuestBridge, MatchLighters, and ScholarMatch, but also with local Denver area high schools.
Please contact me if you want to explore possibilities. You can book an introductory meeting here.
Education changes lives
Word cloud created from compliments from this year’s students and parents
Kudos from students and parents (see more)
• "Before working with Dan, I was dreading the college application process and in fact I avoided thinking about my future at all. But he helped make the process much more manageable and as a result I felt less lost. Working with Dan made me get excited about college and no longer be hesitant about working towards my future." - J.O. (student)
• " I will be going to Princeton this fall! Your advice and kindness truly meant a great deal to me, and I’m incredibly grateful for the time and effort you invested in helping me - I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you so much for all of your kind words...." - J.X. (student)
• "Working with Mr. Reust at AHEC was a game changer for me." – S.M. (student)
• "I am incredibly pleased with the personalized support my daughter received from Dan Reust at AHEC." – J.F. (parent)
• "Applying for college was daunting and hazy; we didn’t know where to begin nor what steps to follow. Meetings with Dan made everything manageable. In guiding my daughter through the application process, he shared wisdom that will be fruitful into adulthood. One of his suggestions even helped her to discover a career that she’s excited to pursue!" G.V. (parent)
• "Before working with Dan, I was dreading the college application process and in fact I avoided thinking about my future at all. But he helped make the process much more manageable and as a result I felt less lost. Working with Dan made me get excited about college and no longer be hesitant about working towards my future." - J.O. (student) • " I will be going to Princeton this fall! Your advice and kindness truly meant a great deal to me, and I’m incredibly grateful for the time and effort you invested in helping me - I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you so much for all of your kind words...." - J.X. (student) • "Working with Mr. Reust at AHEC was a game changer for me." – S.M. (student) • "I am incredibly pleased with the personalized support my daughter received from Dan Reust at AHEC." – J.F. (parent) • "Applying for college was daunting and hazy; we didn’t know where to begin nor what steps to follow. Meetings with Dan made everything manageable. In guiding my daughter through the application process, he shared wisdom that will be fruitful into adulthood. One of his suggestions even helped her to discover a career that she’s excited to pursue!" G.V. (parent)
College Planning Overview
Admission Offers each year (number of students or notes in parentheses)
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Bentley
California State - San Jose
California State - Chico
California State - Sacramento
Colorado College
Colorado State University
Columbia - (student received Columbia likely letter, which is sent to 100-200 top notch students each year as a pre-acceptance notification and later admitted)
Northeastern (honors)
Princeton
Regis University
San Francisco State University
Scripps (4 year full ride scholarship via QuestBridge match)
Seattle University
Smith
Southern Methodist University - BBA program Cox School of Business / Honors Program
Texas A&M (2)
University of California -Merced
University of Colorado - Boulder (3)
University of Denver (2)
University of Indiana - Kelly School of Business
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School (out of state applicant)
University of Northern Colorado
University of Texas - Austin, McCombs Business School (2 - 1 student business honors and 1 double honors - business and engineering)
University of Texas - Dallas - Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business (full ride scholarship)
University of Virginia
Important Note: These lists of admission offers above speak more to the ability of the students rather than to my ability as a consultant. Did I help them achieve admissions to amazing schools - yes. But the students’ hard work and abilities were by far the most important factors.
Support education!
Meet Dan
Ready to cut through the confusion and find your path to college? Dan (Opa - that’s grandpa) Reust is here to help.
Dan earned his BA in Economics with minors in Statistics and data science from the U of Colorado and his MBA from CSU, then spent decades geeking out on data and tech as a manager in healthcare IT. Along the way, he published more than a dozen short "Awwww" stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Now he is on a mission to empower students with the power of data and storytelling to craft their college applications.
At a more fundamental level, though, he wants to help each student understand their own interests and strengths. This self-awareness builds the confidence to explore options and find better matches, both for a college choice and what lies beyond. His curriculum is thorough, including a work unit on responsible student use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The future is here now, and students who learn to use these tools wisely will be better prepared for it.
The journey won't begin on its own. As the Tao Te Ching says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Help your student take that first step. All it takes is curiosity, some effort, and a guide who's been there before.
“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
Services
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This is best for independent students who need guidance in specialized areas like the personal essay or college list building.
Essay only and career exploration plans are available.
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Best for students who need more guidance. You’ll find this offering is more extensive than many consultants offer.
Timeframe varies, but often begins as junior in high school through end of senior year.
Junior - High School
• Review of initial questionnaires, academic performance
• Assessments and visioning
• Budget meeting (parents and student)
• Standardized tests (SAT / ACT / others)
• Assessment review and discussion on potential career interests
• Activity list creation and review
• College data collection - initial college list
• Common Application and other applications
• Early Decision (ED), Early Action (EA) and all the other admission variants
• Financial aid / FAFSA / CSS
• Net price calculators / loan calculators
• Scholarship discussion
• Recommendation letters
• Class selection planning
• Student interest-centered activity exploration and planning
• Essay prepTypically about a dozen meetingsSenior - High School
• Essays and personal statement completion• Finalize college list
• Senior kickoff - readiness review
• Recommendations
• Standardized tests
• Application checklist
• Timeline checklist
• Scholarship applications and review
• Evaluation of offers and decision support
• Financial aid appeals
• Transition review
• College class selection planning
• Celebration!!Typically 8-10 meetings, most prior to December of the senior year
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Curated Resources
Must Read/Listen To Books
These are the three most important books for parents to read or listen to to help understand and cope with this process.
Read more
Set up a complimentary consultation today to discuss your student’s needs.
“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”