College Admissions Package
The timeline for college admissions work is as follows.
We will send a parent and student questionnaire in January, this will happen in the first week after the New Year’s holiday, and we ask that you and your child complete your questionnaires and return them to us in a week or two. We will first set up a Zoom meeting with the parent(s) to review the questionnaire, we will discuss your child, and get your input on what you would like to see for your child in terms of a school list. We will discuss possible majors, geography, school size, programs, cost, and the child’s interests. We will also have a similar meeting and conversation with your child. This will help us to develop an informed preliminary college list.
We will help your child create their resume, which they will use when filling in the common application in the fall, and they will also give this to the teachers that they will be asking to write recommendations for them. We will talk about who they should ask to write their recommendations, and how and when they should approach these teachers to ask for the recommendations.
We will start to craft a preliminary college list, which we will have them share with you, and we will start to research these schools. We will teach your child how to research the schools, what sources to use, and what information is important to note. We will develop a spreadsheet to help organize this information, and they will make summary review sheets for each school, which will aid in the application process, and with writing supplemental essays. We will also note all key dates and deliverables on this spreadsheet to keep the process organized.
We will talk about school visits, and we give them pointers on what to look for, and what to ask on college visits. It would be helpful if parents could set aside March/April school vacation (if possible) for preliminary college visits. You will likely need to do a final round of visits in the fall, when the college list is finalized. It is best to see the schools when they are in session (if possible).
We will determine if they need to interview with any colleges, and if so, we will help them with interview preparation. We will conduct mock interview preparation with your child, so that they are comfortable with the most common college interview questions, and they are able to demonstrate why they are a fit for the school(s).
We will start to work on their personal statement (the common application main essay) at the start of the summer, and we will begin to lay out what supplemental applications they will need to write. We will determine what supplemental essays they will need to write when the Common Application goes live in August. Supplemental essays are very important in this process, and often students give them short shrift. This is a big mistake, and we will not let them make this mistake!
We will decide if they will apply early decision and/or early action to any schools, and if so, which ones. ED and EA applicants can gain an advantage in college admissions, but there are some rules and pitfall to be aware of when applying ED or EA. We will educate you about what the best strategy is, in relation to their college list.
We will work on finalizing the common application essay by the end of the summer, and start working on their supplemental essays in September. Our goal will be to have them wrap up their applications before the holidays, so that they can enjoy the winter holidays, knowing that this process is behind them. If they apply early to schools, they will need to submit their applications by early November, and they may have some responses as early as mid-December.
We have a lot of work to do in this process, but it is all manageable, and we will be stretching this work out over the whole year, so that the student is not cramming, and they (and you) are not stressed.
We meet with students starting in January weekly, for about 1-1.5 hours, until the process is complete. We are available to communicate with parents via e-mail, phone and Zoom, as needed, but we ask that you let your child drive this process. We promise to keep you in the loop every step of the way!
Ms. Anne graduated from the Columbia University Teacher’s College with a certification in college admissions consulting. She has worked with families on college admissions for over 20 years, and she loves to help young people find colleges that are a perfect fit for them!
College Package Price - $25,000 – for over 100 hours of expert consultation and one-on-one work with parents and students
