Your Journey

Everyone, calm down! There is a college out there for you if you want one.

Those stories about Johnny—who has a 4.8 in all-honors classes, captained the basketball team, won the state debate championship, and runs his own homeless shelter, but still didn’t get into any of the schools to which he applied—are urban myths.

While it’s true that applications to many competitive schools are on the rise, and it’s a good idea to have more than one “dream school” in mind, there truly is a sound process for finding a school that is a good fit for you – a school that will challenge and excite you academically and broaden your horizons socially and culturally.

Corners and Edges

The first pieces we put into place in the college application puzzle will frame the picture. We help students plan high school academics for a college-bound course load – rigorous, but not soul-crushing. We help with community service ideas, exploring internships, summer programs, and even job ideas. We do a personality and skills assessment that will help steer students in the direction of a purposeful life. We talk with families about the financial impact of paying for college and help them target schools that are a good financial fit. We discuss test prep strategies and testing dates so that the framework for success is in place.

Filling in the Picture

As we fill in the college picture, we will help you determine what you really want to gain from your college experience. We will encourage you to look beyond the obvious and consider details you might not think about when looking at the big picture. We use CollegePlannerPro to help you stay organized, track deadlines, add and delete selections from your college list, and consider your best plan of attack.

• Creating the List: The number of college possibilities can be overwhelming and panic-inducing. We help students create a solid list of colleges based on their interests, academic strengths, personalities, financial situations, and location preferences. Because students can apply to so many schools these days, and applications at all schools are extremely high, we advise students to have a few “dream schools.” We also advise them to at least consider a school or two that might be a bit different from their preconceived ideas about the ideal college. We walk them through the entire application process.
  • Deciding when and how to apply:  We evaluate with each student the pros and cons of Early Decision, Early Action, Rolling Decision, and Regular Decision, and discuss which decision processes and application systems are used by each targeted school.
  • Writing Essays:  We help with brainstorming ideas and editing essays, making sure that each student’s voice, personality, and strengths shine through in the final product. From the UC Personal Insight questions to the Common App essay to the supplemental essays, we have students covered.
  • Tracking Results: Using College Planner Pro, we help students keep themselves on track for test dates, application deadlines, beginning and finishing their essays (or catching up if they’ve procrastinated), putting together brag sheets and resumes, getting letters of recommendation, filling out financial aid forms, and filling out and submitting applications.

Putting in the Last Piece

This is the fun part: choosing the best college fit. We help students select a college that fits their personality and academic ambitions—and one from which they will graduate with mountains of career prospects and without mountains of debt. To do this, we assess financial and merit-aid packages, academics, campus atmosphere, social life, and climate.