Comprehensive College Counseling

Build The Appropriate College School List:

People tend to focus on money by maximizing scholarships and aid. However, on average it takes students nearly six years to graduate from college. This may account for the most important cost factor in the entire process. Through our college formation process, we are graduating students in an average of 4.2 years. This is a tremendous cost savings factor. There may be many reasons for the six-year graduation issue, but the formation of an appropriate school list is crucial. Many families rely on computer generated reports or other sources to build a school list. We have National Association for College Admission (NACAC) certified counselors who work one-on-one with our students to assist with the college list building. Unlike many other firms, we do not limit the contact with the counselor, and this has led to a high degree of success with matching students to the right schools at the right price, and graduating in four years. If you want to save money the key may be the school list.

College Major Selection Assistance:

Often times students are not sure what they want to study in college. Enrolling as “undecided” is acceptable, but it is important to identify areas of general interest at the very least. No student should have to leave because an area of study does not exist at their chosen school. We make use of two tools to aid in the college selection process: our counselors, as well as, a tool called Career Cruising.

Conversely, students that wish to study specific areas such as nursing, engineering and physical therapy should identify the interest in those fields upfront because the acceptance rates are typically lower. The student may want to get into a direct entry program and not look to transfer in later. We assist students in identifying their interests and placing them in the right colleges so that they will not need to change schools down the road.

College Interview Preparation:

Less colleges are requiring interviews, but some still do. For a student that has good communication skills, an interview can be an asset. We conduct mock admission and scholarship interviews to assist in the student’s preparation.

SAT and ACT Prep:

We offer a 20-week comprehensive SAT and ACT online self-study program for students. Our program is often used as a stand-alone system but can be a very effective course to be used in conjunction with in-person tutoring.

College Application and Resume Review: 

The application process is important, and mistakes made on the application can be damaging. There are four or more possible applications that will need to be completed by students. They include the Common Application, Coalition Application, Universal Application and individual college applications. In order to assist, we have students put together a resume for us. We then have our counselors review the resume so that information can be easily transferred onto a college application. We then review the applications to make sure there are no errors.

Maximize College Financial Aid:

There are three distinct sources of money that people seek — need-based aid, merit scholarships and private scholarships. Families cannot identify ahead of time what they are entitled to at each school. Typically, they have the students apply and hope for the best. We are proactive in projecting the figures so that proper planning can be made, and financial expectations managed.