Testimonials

I reached out to Peg when my son was a sophomore in HS. We learned that due to our financial profile we would not qualify for financial aid. We wanted a small private liberal arts school, so we focused on schools that offered merit aid. We decided to apply 'early decision' to my son's dream school. It was a bit of a gamble, since it would not allow us to play a bit of hard ball with offers from other schools. He was accepted, but with no merit aid. Peg helped us with a letter to appeal the offer. The college came back with a $12,000 merit aid scholarship, which put us in a more comfortable financial reality. Way of the Quad was a good investment, saving us $48,000 in tuition over 4 years!

Thank you so much for the help. As you could surely tell this whole thing is super stressful for me and I can't wait to move on to the next step of just waiting for letters in the spring and figuring out how much to work to pay for it all. It was super helpful, and another hurdle of trying to figure out how the finances and process works. My forte is heading to work and taking care of people's medical problems, and it's so lovely to have people help me with the other things I am just figuring out how to manage.

I just wanted to thank you for your thoughtful, professional assistance to my family as we worked through our first time applying for college financial aid.  Although my daughter attended a high school with a good college counseling program, I found parents like myself pretty much “on our own” when it came to applying for aid. My personal finances are not complex, but I nonetheless found the process daunting, particularly because the directions for the aid forms are minimal and making errors regarding what and how to report one’s data can be so costly. I knew from attending one of your seminars that you were knowledgeable and approachable, but I also greatly appreciated when working with you that you were so focused on my circumstances during our sessions, so responsive to my follow-up questions, and so genuinely interested in helping me with matters once the aid offers were received. I especially want to thank you, too, for being so frank, yet not judgmental. I have worked with financial advisors in the past who have seemed rather disinterested in my outcomes because I was not, shall I say, a financial high roller. You made our meeting times a cost-effective approach to working through the financial aid process and I have truly valued your support.

After finding that an in state, public university was not the best fit for our daughter, we consulted Peg Keane Keough, (waytothequad.com), for her advice and guidance regarding appealing the financial aid package initially offered by a private, California university. With Peg’s help, we contacted the school’s financial aid office and provided additional, relevant financial information, which we weren’t able to convey in our FAFSA submission. Our request/appeal resulted in a 25% increase in aid offered to our daughter. The fee we paid for Peg’s help reaped dividends. Peg is professional, yet personable and a pleasure to work with. Her depth of knowledge concerning financial planning and how to pay for college is impressive. We highly recommend Peg.

I just wanted to say thank you for all your help.  I am so glad we signed on as clients. I was actually feeling quite hopeless about getting Greg into ABC College, or one of his other top picks, and getting Marcia back into ABC University and now I feel like we have much more understanding about the possibilities, and I am hopeful.

Peg, you're awesome! I'm always sharing your name with people I meet in these circumstances. I happily share how awesome you are, how you help navigate all this stuff, and that your level of service and follow through are Out of This World!!! Also, my son Alex appreciated how you brought clarity to him and actually gave him a plan, reports, and next steps.

I couldn’t have navigated this process without you, Peg. By having you as a source of information and support for me, I was able to guide my son through this process of exploring and then deciding. It’s been great. Hard, but with very little excess anxiety, for which I’m grateful, especially when I hear other parents describe some of their angst. It was an added bonus that the appeal process that you guided us through produced an additional $17,500 of aid per year.

Peg Keough is a huge source of knowledge and support for me. As a professional college and career planning consultant, I sometimes have families with complicated financial situations. Peg consistently provides the information and guidance my families and I need to make sound college planning decisions. The world of college financial aid is a pretty confusing world at times and Peg helps makes sense of it in a calm, professional, and supportive manner. In addition, she is incredibly reliable, conscientious, and responsive. I am grateful to have Peg as a college financial planning resource and highly recommend her to families of college-bound students.

As if it wasn't overwhelming enough that my daughter had reached the age where we needed to start looking at colleges, the reality of applying for financial aid to make it happen was equally daunting. I could not be more thankful that a friend recommended Peg at Way to the Quad after hearing her speak at a high school event. We sat side by side and went line by line through those miserable forms. Peg had an amazing amount of knowledge. Not only did she understand the ins and outs of the forms, but she knew exactly what each school would want and what little adjustments to make in order to secure the best financial package for us. She was able to explain the items I found confusing and help me to better understand how the entire process works. I have to say that she was spot on. We received what we were hoping for. I have zero doubt that without her help we would not have come even close to receiving the help we are getting next year. This was the first investment towards my daughter's years at Stanford and it was money well spent. Thanks Peg.

Working with Peg Keough made a big difference to our family. The estimates she generated regarding what we could expect in terms of financial aid from different colleges helped us think about our options. Peg suggested that our son apply for an outside scholarship that resulted in an additional $20,000 in aid over the course of his four years in college. Talk about money well spent on a financial aid advisor! Throughout the whole process Peg was kind, caring, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and encouraging. We highly recommend working with her.

I wanted to say thank you for all your help with the FAFSA financial aid stuff and coordination in getting my daughter into college! She is all moved in and yesterday was her first day of classes. I'm feeling proud, excited and a bit sad all mixed into one, with the realization that nothing will ever be the same. Thank You from the bottom of my heart, as none of this would have been possible without all your wealth of knowledge and help.

We did a lot of upfront research with other college financial planning service providers before we found Way to the Quad. The personal connection and trust with Peg was immediate, and she made us feel like she was part of our family from the very first call. She truly had the best interest of our family throughout the entire process. Peg was always available to answer questions, and her communication follow-up was the best we have ever experienced with any service provider. We were so impressed with Peg personally and the results we received, we decided to use her for our overall financial planning needs as well. Peg exceeded all our expectations, and we feel we gained a lifelong friend in the process.

My nephew was accepted to his dream school at University of Montana however his father’s income could not support the tuition and fees. Financial Aid can be daunting so I called Peg for help to maximize grants and loans so that Jackson could attend the school. She was incredibly knowledgeable and very responsive in helping me on short notice and she called University of Montana to help me facilitate the process. I would highly recommend Peg for anyone who needs assistance with financial aid and college planning.

I recommend Peg at Way to the Quad to everyone considering college for themselves or their students! Peg has helped us with 3 years of college so far and I wouldn’t consider moving forward to senior year without her help. For just this school year after reviewing the financial aid package she pinpointed an error. After a conference call with Peg and the Financial Aid office we netted an additional $3,000 in grant aid. Peg is the best all the way from initial planning to execution while your child is in school!

Today, as we are enrolling our daughter as an upcoming freshman, we have Peg to thank for not feeling scared or unprepared. And it won't interfere with our retirement! Peg is smart, accessible and fun to work with. She connects with parents and kids - easily. Not only has she lived through it herself, but the combination of her professional knowledge and her personal experience makes her an excellent resource for so many people. I will use her in a heartbeat for our #2 child!