"A million thanks to the Cialfo team who has brought us warm and kind support each year."
Seeking responsive support and reliability
Before implementing Cialfo, SWFLA had experimented with other similar platforms but encountered significant challenges with customer support responsiveness and issue resolution speed. With a large student body preparing for international university applications, the school couldn't afford errors or delays in the application process.
"Before using Cialfo, our school used other similar SAAS platforms. However, we found that the custom team's response speed of those platforms was relatively slow, and they could not quickly address some of the feedback we provided," explains Lei. "Given that our school has a relatively large student population, we were very concerned about potential mistakes in the application process, so we later decided to switch platforms."
A platform with local understanding
SWFLA selected Cialfo for three crucial reasons: localized customer service and support, cultural alignment with Cialfo's China team, and the comprehensive capabilities of the platform itself.
"After meeting Cialfo's China team in person, we felt a strong cultural fit and knew we'd collaborate effectively," Lei notes. "The Cialfo platform's capabilities impressed us—not only does it streamline application submissions, but its comprehensive features also provide end-to-end platform support for every stage of our college counseling process, significantly boosting our daily efficiency."
Building a comprehensive counseling ecosystem
SWFLA has developed a robust partnership with Cialfo, leveraging different platform modules throughout the academic year to optimize their counseling workflows and application management.
Student Management
The school organizes students into class groups within the platform, with senior cohorts highlighted on the dashboard via "Create View" tags for quick access. Each student benefits from a trio of dedicated counselors—homeroom teacher, college advisor, and recommendation writer—who collaborate using the "Notes" feature to build comprehensive student profiles. "These notes capture academic performance, projects, extracurriculars, test scores, and personal strengths, while flagging areas for development," Lei explains. "Shared with students, this collaborative data helps them refine their college strategies."
College Readiness Tools
Students in grades 10–12 are encouraged to use the "Universities" module for early college research. Meanwhile, counselors curate relevant opportunities from the "Events" feed and use the "Broadcast" function to simplify mass communication with student groups.
Administrative & Application Support
"As system admin, I use the 'Reports' module to reconcile application data with our internal records, enhancing analytical accuracy," says Lei. "The 'cDocs' feature is our cornerstone for application season, reliably handling all document submissions to universities."
Since 2003, SWFLA has consolidated application workflows—starting with UK's UCAS—into Cialfo's "Direct Apply," centralizing processes to optimize efficiency.
Transforming college counseling
By implementing Cialfo's integrated platform, SWFLA has achieved significant improvements in college counseling efficiency and student support:
- Streamlined Applications: Centralized tools for faster, error-free document submissions
- Enhanced Counseling: Shared "Notes" profiles improve team communication
- Early Preparation: Students research colleges sooner while counselors target resources by grade level
- Data Insights: Quick analysis of application trends and compliance tracking
- Time Savings: Platform consolidation frees counselors for meaningful student interactions
Oxford application success story
Lei shares a memorable success story about Cialfo's impact:
"For students applying to Oxford and US EA schools simultaneously in mid-October, the process was tense and uncertain. Cialfo's support for our UCAS applications provided immediate solutions to operational issues, building student confidence."
"Previously with UCAS, we manually reviewed every entry in application forms. With Cialfo, our review process was dramatically shortened, with their team helping identify potential issues and providing counselors a sense of security," Lei concludes.
Image credits: Shanghai World Foreign Language Academy;
