College Guidance Services
College Guidance offers complete flexibility, allowing your family to select the services that are right for you. Whether you need help creating a personally tailored college list or you prefer an hour appointment to practice interview skills, you will receive the same personalized level of attention. My services include the College List Package and hourly consultations, and all services may be accessed virtually or by phone.
The College List Package
Many families find the College List Package a good fit for them. I listen to your concerns and select colleges that are right for you. Your child will never receive a generic list of schools but instead a specifically crafted list of colleges designed to match your child’s individual needs. This in-depth package selectively matches a student’s personal and academic goals with a list of 21 colleges. The list focuses on finding the right fit for the student and includes a balance of likely, target, and reach schools to which your child could be admitted, as well as a list of schools that align with a family’s budget.
The College List Package includes:
1. One-hour meeting for the student to discuss college interests.
2. One-hour meeting for the parent(s) to discuss college interests.
3. Hours of independent research by College Guidance to create the college list.
4. One-hour meeting to present and discuss the college list with the student and parent(s).
5. Email updates to keep the student and parent(s) organized, on track, and up-to-date.
Additional services include the following one-hour sessions:
“Housekeeping” Meeting
For many families the “housekeeping” meeting is the perfect first step, helping students and their parents become better organized. Together we discuss course selection, high school activity planning, testing advice, transcript review, and a resume critique.
Career Interest Assessment Meeting
Uncertain of your college major and your future career? Tired of hearing, “What do you want to be when you grow up”? Let me expertly interpret your Strong Interest Inventory, a career interest assessment tool used on most college campuses, to help you discover potential college majors and career areas.
The Hook Meeting
In past years most successful college applicants were well-rounded high achievers. Currently there is a growing preference, especially at selective colleges and universities, to admit high achievers who are “focused” candidates. These students engage in special activities or possess unusual characteristics that set them apart from other applicants. This meeting will help you to develop a hook, so your application stands out among other applicants.
College Tuition Strategy and Financial Aid Assistance Meeting
Skyrocketing college costs require families to discuss costs and strategies before embarking on the college process. This meeting includes an overview of the college financial aid process, strategies to qualify for maximum need and merit money, a discussion of the role student grades and tests scores play in the financial award, and advice on how to pick the right colleges to receive maximum awards.
Interview Skill Preparation Meeting
In this meeting students will practice actual interview questions and receive direct feedback on ways to improve the quality of their responses, as I will ask questions that college admissions representatives most frequently ask students. This mock interview practice allows students to feel comfortable with the interview process, enhancing their chances for admission.
College Application Review Meeting
Recognizing that the application is the most important tool a college uses to determine whether a student is accepted, wait-listed, or denied, the purpose of this meeting is to edit the application line-by-line to make sure it is error free and that it effectively highlights the student’s strengths and accomplishments.
Athletic Recruitment Meeting
Navigating the collegiate athletic process is very complicated. In this meeting students and their parents will learn more about the tools of marketing (such as resumes, cover letters, and highlight tapes) and will gain greater insight into the recruiting process, including showcases, tournaments, visits, and scholarships.
Scholarship Meeting
Although the majority of scholarship money is what colleges identify as merit money, many families are unaware of outside scholarships available to students. This meeting will identify available scholarships tailored to a student’s personal qualifications.
Financial Aid Award Interpretation Meeting
After the financial aid award packages from the colleges have arrived and before committing to a school and accepting a financial aid offer, this meeting will analyze individual awards that will ensure the most funding from the colleges. This meeting focuses on understanding the meaning of each award, developing strategies to contact the financial aid officers, and creating a follow-up letter.
General Meeting
The general meeting is intended for families who have outstanding questions not otherwise addressed by the services listed or for those who simply do not require these services in full.