FOUNDER
Jeff Knox
With over two decades of experience in education and admissions counseling, Jeff Knox is the trusted educational consultant for students and families, both in the DC Metro Area and around the globe.
Jeff founded Moxie College Counseling to help families manage each moving part of the admissions process. His resourceful and customized approach to high school planning and college admissions motivates students to boldly develop their plans and execute real action.
Along with his team, Jeff continually monitors the ever-changing admissions landscape so that he is always ready to recommend accurate, effective, and meaningful guidance. Relying on his experience and continuous research of college admissions requirements, programs, and trends, he suggests colleges that will appropriately complement each student’s specific strengths and personal preferences.
Jeff has worked both in college admissions and as a high school and middle school English teacher. Through his previous work at the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, he has observed the college admissions process from the inside and uses that knowledge to help his students stand out in a compelling and genuine way.
His writing on admissions has been featured in the Washington Post and has been quoted in The Atlantic and Washington Monthly. Additionally, he is a former member of the University of Pittsburgh’s Admissions Advisory Board, serving as a consultant to help admissions officers understand what to look for in promising applicants. He is currently the chairman of the board for Story District, a Washington, DC nonprofit arts organization named the “gold standard” in storytelling by the Washington Post.
Jeff holds a Master of Art in Secondary Education, a Bachelor of Science in Public Health, and a Bachelor of Art in English Writing from the University of Pittsburgh. He subsequently completed post-graduate coursework in special education and holds an endorsement in gifted education from the University of Virginia. He is a voting member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA), and Higher Education Consultants Associate (HECA).
“As parents of an independent school senior, we were really happy to work with Jeff Knox and his team. Jeff understands the independent school environment and helped us navigate the process extremely well. He also had a style that matched that of our daughter; he was approachable and kind and, at the same time, had a way of fostering accountability.
Not an easy balance to strike!
And, with us parents, Jeff was a helpful sounding board throughout the entire process – someone who is up-to-date and very knowledgeable about this ever-shifting admissions landscape. In the end, our daughter got in early to her dream school! We feel fortunate about the outcome and also happy about the process and the way that our daughter was able to lead and bring her full self to the work.
We are very grateful for the terrific support we received from Jeff and the Moxie Team.”
“What we valued most about Jeff Knox was that he met each of our boys where they were, worked with them in very different ways to help guide them through high school course selection, extracurriculars and summer opportunities as well as the college application process. They applied to college in very different environments relative to COVID and had very different goals, personalities and college preferences.
Jeff treated them as individuals without value judgment on those differences and guided them each through the ups and downs of the process to the perfect respective schools. We are so appreciative of his time, energy, effort, understanding, and expertise.
“We first called Jeff because he came highly recommended by a friend on the East Coast who had great experiences with him for her kids. We immediately liked him and thought that his style would be a good fit for our son. Our only concern was that being from California it would be difficult for Moxie to understand the special circumstances of a Bay Area-student, but Jeff quickly put those concerns to rest.
While not an easy process, Jeff helped our son get through it with as little pain as possible. He also did an amazing job helping us understand our role as parents and what would be beneficial (or not) during the process. When our son was rejected from his early decision “dream” school, he helped us understand the reasons and move on to submit many strong applications in the days to come.
Our son was accepted at many great institutions but waitlisted at the school he had come to love most. Jeff helped him handle the delicate dance of assuring the school that he was still very interested and motivated to attend without coming across too strong. Two days after decision day our son received a call from admissions at the school that waitlisted him. His screams and celebration when he hung up the phone as a an admitted student were worth all of the stress of the past year. We really could not have done it without Jeff and hope that he will consider helping our youngest navigate the process in two years.”
“Jeff Knox is a gem, and we could not imagine going through the college application process without his guidance and support.
Jeff helped both our sons and us parents think about the entire arc of upper school so that experiences and class work built upon each other. Jeff takes students very seriously while being extremely approachable, positive, creative, and excited about the college application process.
Moxie breaks down the many steps of the college application process to make it less overwhelming, helping alleviate a lot of the pressure that comes with multiple months, steps, and expectations. Moxie provides guidance in course selection, developing close relationships with teachers, attaining good letters of recommendation, testing preparation and schedules, as well essay writing. Jeff was fantastic in brainstorming interesting and relevant summer experiences, programs, and opportunities.
Jeff creates connections with parents but also close and trusting relationships with students. He brilliantly made the process student-centered with parental involvement rather than the reverse. He is a great listener, interested in finding the right environment where students will thrive and skillfully teasing out students’ passions, strengths, and areas of interest. Jeff has personally visited many colleges and therefore has firsthand knowledge about campuses and programs.
In areas where Jeff is not an expert, he has a large roster of specialist consultants on whom we can draw. For instance, our son was interested in visual arts and Jeff connected us with a wonderful specialist who recommended various art programs and gave our son direction to develop a compelling portfolio for his college application.
Jeff understands that college rankings matter but they are not everything and, therefore, will prioritize students’ interests, alerting them about fit, including positives and negatives, and helping to manage expectations and even the rejections that come with every successful process.”