It’s junior year. Your parents are asking you what your plans are after high school. Grandma wants to know if you still want to be a doctor. Your uncle keeps asking if you’re thinking of applying to his alma mater. Your friend asks if you’ve already started writing your essays. “Should I already be started on those??” you ask yourself. Everywhere you turn, it’s all about college all the time. And you might not even know where to start. That’s where we come in.
Don’t stress! We work with juniors all the time. College applications can seem daunting, but our personalized coaching can help you make sense of junior and senior year and set you up for success when it comes to admissions. And unlike other private college counselors, we don’t make every student check-off boxes and follow the same path. All of our clients are different – they have different interests, hobbies, passions, and talents. So we cater our coaching to each client we have. Here’s an example of a student we worked with in the past:
John came to us junior year with a vague interest in the humanities. Through our weekly calls, we started to narrow that down into English and Creative Writing. From there, we gave John weekly readings and set him up in an online creative writing course to get a little deeper into the interest area. We had John join a writing club at his school and get involved with the literary magazine, too.
When it came to the summer, John didn’t know exactly where he wanted to intern. We helped him brainstorm and we eventually came up with the idea to internship at a publishing house. None of the publishing houses had internships posted, so we had John cold-email as many in his area as he could, offering his time on a volunteer basis. This led to him getting placed at a publishing house, which eventually turned into a formal internship for the summer. This experience helped prove to John’s prospective colleges that he was motivated and had explored his options. Colleges aren't looking for students who pepper their resumes with tons of extracurriculars – they’re looking for kids who already know their niche.
One of the biggest parts of our coaching is helping students expand their extracurriculars like John did. We meet with students weekly to get a better idea of what they want to study, then help them take actionable steps to show they actually want to study it. Unlike other firms, we are focused on finding activities that students actually want to do and find fulfilling. No more Model UN for the kids who’d rather be in the science lab, or running track for the kid who’d kill to be in debate instead.
The next thing we work on with juniors is the college list. On those weekly calls, we also start to narrow down what kids are looking for in a college. More importantly, we learn what they absolutely do not want out of a college. Then using that feedback, we take their grades, test scores, and personality into account as we compile a list of schools. We create balanced college lists that assure our clients will be happy anywhere they end up.
The summer of junior year is when we also begin the Common App essay. By having it done sooner rather than later, we’re able to have almost the entire college application process over by the time senior year rolls around. Our counselors work with clients to create engaging, creative, and attention-grabbing essays that let their personalities shine. We go through each essay and supplement with a fine-tooth comb, making sure that it not only flows well stylistically but also triple-checking grammar and spelling.
The Koppelman Group is private college counseling unlike any other. We know they all say that, but we actually mean it. Other firms can make you feel like you’re just checking boxes and meeting arbitrary deadlines. At TKG, we work with you to create manageable goals, personalized timelines, and unique essays that are destined to set you apart from the crowd.
Reach out here today if you’d like to get connected with one of our counselors.