Applying to college can seem daunting. For years, headlines have reported that college admissions rates are consistently plummeting, laying bare a landscape—once competitive—that can now feel impenetrable. Even schools outside of the Ivy League have been recording single-digit acceptance rates. While some students feel tremendous pressure to perform, particularly in their junior years, most can find success with some foresight. We strive to support our students in making the application process as manageable as possible, by providing a clear strategy tailored to every students’ progress, interests, and objectives.
Extracurriculars
As we mentioned above, college is competitive these days. Like, super competitive. We consider every single part of the application an opportunity to showcase a different part of your personality and set yourself apart from the other stacks of paper on the admissions counselor’s desk. With tests becoming optional at schools across the country, all other aspects of the application are now more important than ever. We help students develop impressive extracurriculars throughout all four years of high school.
Colleges want to build classes of experts who will go on to become the best in their respective fields. Our method is to help students develop a highly specific niche. First, we spend time helping our younger students identify their passions. We do this by developing book lists, online courses, and talking about what they really enjoy. The niche they develop should be something they’re genuinely passionate about that can take them through all four years of high school. Next, we help them identify extra-curriculars, clubs, activities, and even jobs that fit with their niche and help position them as an expert in a highly specific area. We work together to build a strategy for assuming leadership positions in their sophomore, junior, and senior years. Our older students will take on unique and impressive projects that further correspond to the classes they’re taking within their academic specialty. We also help out students start clubs and take on projects within their communities. Our aim is not only to help our clients impress admissions counselors, but also to find fulfillment in their activities.
Summer Planning
Summers are an important time for applicants. We support our students by taking on summer plans that bolster their applications. We help kids develop projects that align with their academic niches. For example, one of our students was positioning herself as a mechanical engineer. We helped her launch a program for youth robotics in her community. Many of our students opt to take summer courses. We encourage our students to take courses at prestigious universities and help them apply. We also support students in landing research positions with college professors in their areas of expertise. Many high schoolers take on internships at some point. But most internships (especially those that are part of a designated program) for this age demographic just consist of making copies and getting coffee, which doesn’t do much for their application. (It’s also no fun!) We help our students land internships that make sense, correspond to their academic areas of expertise, and are appropriately challenging. These are usually local businesses where high schoolers have an opportunity to make an impact and work on projects they can discuss in their applications. We strongly believe that summer jobs are great, too. The folks in charge of admitting students will understand that many students need to make money. We help our employed students talk about their job experience in a way that resonates.
Classes
One of the more exciting parts of the high school academic experience is getting to the point where you can choose your classes. We guide our students through the class selection process and help them pick classes that position them as an expert in something. We also work with them to identify teachers who will ultimately write their recommendations.
College Lists
Building a college list is one of the more fun aspects of the college admissions program, but no less important. We advise our students on the selection process by helping them identify what they like in potential schools and more importantly, what they don’t like. We work with our younger students on setting up tours and asking the right questions that will help them get to the heart of what it is they’re looking for. Once they determine what characteristics they’re looking for in a school, we work together to build a list with targets, reaches, and safeties so that students are covered and would be happy at any of their choices.
Senior Year
Senior year should be the ‘wrap-up’ phase. Students who don’t have help from a counselor typically find themselves scrambling and stressed their first-semester senior year. We have our students organize themselves in a way that senior year isn’t stressful. We work with students to finalize their college lists. We also place a particular emphasis on the college essay. As mentioned earlier, each part of the application is a crucial opportunity to stand out. Nothing should be wasted or repeated. We work with students on every single piece of writing they submit. The essay should showcase a part of your personality not present elsewhere on the application. We work with students to craft personal, unique, and strong essays that help them come across as three-dimensional.
The college application process requires meticulous planning. Our method is to help each student develop a plan that’s unique to them. Without a clear strategy, students are likely to become overwhelmed and scattered. College counselors can help orient students around a big, four year-journey and help them break it off into manageable pieces.
Need help with your college resume? Call us. We’re experts at helping students submit quality applications.