College Planning Package

Most students begin this process with me in spring of sophomore or junior year.  The standard College Planning Package includes all of the meetings and services described below. In addition to scheduled meetings, you will hear from me throughout the year with various helpful info/assignments/exercises/reminders to maximize our ability to showcase your student and their achievements in the best possible light. Some students will require additional assistance with their essays and/or applications beyond the standard package below, which I am happy to provide on an hourly basis as needed. I also work on an hourly basis with a small number of students that are only utilizing essay coaching.  With the College Planning Package, you and your student get unlimited access to me for answers to all your college application questions from the time you retain me until your student has submitted their intent to enroll at the college of their choice.

This is a parent/student meeting that generally happens in the spring of sophomore year or fall of junior year, but can happen as early as spring of freshman year if desired.  We will discuss everything involved in the college planning process - your student's grades, test scores, hopes and dreams about college(s), course selection, summer planning, extracurriculars, SATs/ACTs, letters of recommendation, application procedures and organizational tools, deadlines, application essay(s), and any questions you may have. If retained prior to spring of sophomore year, I am happy to meet with your student once a semester to check in, monitor progress and answer questions.

Meeting in the fall or early winter of junior year to create the student's personal application management portal, review current grades, test scores, extracurriculars, and start adding desired schools to their interest list.  Make a plan for test prep and which tests (if any), the student will take, and when. Student will bring their transcript to date and we will determine eligibility and chances of acceptance at initial schools of interest based on what they've accomplished so far, and make a plan for how and where improvements can be made to increase chances of admission.

This is a student only meeting in Jan/Feb of junior year where we will go through a personality and interest assessment to help identify schools that will be a great match for your child's personality, strengths, desires and geographic preferences, and curate a list of schools that are a good fit. Student begins visiting and researching schools identified as a potential match.

Additional meetings in spring of junior year to update chancing expectations based on current grades, test scores, extracurriculars, identify who to ask for letters of recommendation and how to submit requests, discuss the concept of “demonstrated interest” and why it’s important, discuss the nuts and bolts of the UC and Common App Activities List and how to best present it, review and edit draft of Activities List, finalize your list of desired schools and finalize standardized test planning if not already completed. 

Kicks off with a student only meeting in May/June after junior year to brainstorm college essay ideas for the UC application (4 PIQs - Personal Insight Questions), the Common Application (1 main longer essay), and supplemental essay questions specific to each college. We will work continuously over the summer to write, review, edit and polish application essays so that we can focus on the applications themselves in the fall.

Series of meetings in the fall of senior year.  Continuation of supplemental essay work, review all of the mechanics of applying, deadlines and to-do's, craft an application strategy to maximize chances of acceptance and minimize extra work and application fees. Student to begin filling out actual applications.

Review, guidance and editing of all in-process applications and deadlines. 

Final review and submission of all applications.