Picking a college counselor is a personal process. First, you have to be clear about what you’re looking for and what your expectations are. Some people are just looking to meet with someone once or twice to go over their essays. Others want more of a hands-on approach. Some require flexibility with their college counselor, with the option to call them at any point. Whatever it is you’re considering, once you figure out what you’re looking for, it’s usually time to consider when you’re looking to begin.
When Is It Too Early?
Gone are the days of spending summers riding bikes and hanging out with friends, being home to watch tv by 3:30, taking the SAT after just one practice test, and expecting to get into Harvard. Getting into college has become an extremely competitive process, with Ivy League and top-tier acceptance rates plummeting into the single digits. In such a competitive environment, the college process now starts earlier, with students preparing all throughout high school to get into their top-choice school. Some parents are rightfully hesitant to engage their younger high school students in the college process. They worry that the stress might be too much, but the reality is, the application process is inherently a multi-year journey. Starting sophomore year (which is our recommendation to the general public) makes the process less stressful because you can spread it out over the course of two years, instead of cramming it into one.
What Happens Sophomore Year?
We offer an intensive and custom process for students looking to get into their first-choice schools. Our counselors build relationships with students and really get to know them so they can help colleges get to know them as applicants, too. We start by helping students design extracurricular journeys around their areas of interest and take on leadership roles in their activities. We build out their extracurricular activities so that by junior year, they are an expert in a particular field. With college competition being what it is, we find the best plan of attack is to be the top student in your very specific niche. In a normal year, we also have our students start tutoring for standardized tests sophomore year so they can (ideally) take their tests for the second time in December of junior year. We also have kids tour and research colleges so they can see what they like and more importantly, what they dislike in a school. This way, we can help them build a college list and know exactly what they need to do to get into each.
The bottom line is, while it might seem like you don’t know what you want in a college early in your high school career, it’s not too late to start getting organized. Team up with a college counselor who will help you better understand what you might want in a school. It’s much easier to dive in now than it is to try and tread water later.
Need help building a college list? Reach out to us. We’re great at helping students match with their dream schools.