Seniors

Our Seniors

When we begin this process with an emerging senior, you should expect to hit the ground running. There are many steps to complete in short order. Not to mention the busy schedule seniors generally have between classes, extracurricular activities, after school jobs, volunteer work and more.

Seniors have to add to their already overloaded schedule school selection, financial aid/scholarship searches, SAT/ACT testing, and essay writing all before October.

What I want you to know is that we can complete this together, but the pressure’s on. If you know you want support to help your high school seniors, let’s talk as soon as possible. I only work with 15 students per grade per year and often my schedule of seniors is fairly full.

That said, below are more of the details about working with me. I invite you to contact me by email or phone as soon as you’re ready to explore working together.

My Process For Seniors Is Comprehensive. When You Work With Me, I Will Guide You Through The Following Steps

To help prepare kids for college, I give all applicants access to well-vetted assessments, such as the Myers Briggs and the Strong Interest Inventory to determine their personality type. This helps direct us towards the best college majors and careers for the student’s strengths and learning style.

College selection

Essay coaching and support

Financial aid and FAFSA support

Final college selection options

It all begins with a consultation. If you would like to speak with me to explore working together, please contact me at

Below you’ll find more comprehensive information about each part of the process. When we meet by phone or zoom, I am happy to answer any questions you have that are not addressed below.

We Always Begin With A Comprehensive Student Evaluation

We complete an in-depth 90-minute interview of both the applicant and the family in-order to develop an overall strategy for the college application process. From here, I will help you begin the process of crafting a college list.

Since we’re starting in your seniors year, we don’t have a complete year to add in “extras” so we look for the most advantageous, impactful suggestions your student can do asap. Your “extracurricular resume” includes honors, leadership and volunteer experiences and we can certainly add to it before your applications are due!

We complete a thorough evaluation of the applicant’s high school transcript, standardized test scores (ACT/SATs), any 504 plans or IEP’s, social media profiles, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, summer experiences, and special talents. Suggestions are made to address any challenges in the student’s academic, extracurricular, and service hours to help enhance and balance your student’s profile.

We also explore crucial information on college affordability, college expenses and the realistic chance for need or merit aid.

Finally, I offer practical advice on steps needed to improve grade point average, test scores, leadership and/or volunteer activities.

To help prepare kids for college, I give all applicants access to well-vetted assessments, such as the Myers Briggs and the Strong Interest Inventory to determine their personality type. This helps direct us towards the best college majors and careers for the student’s strengths and learning style.
We complete an in-depth 90-minute interview of both the applicant and the family in-order to develop an overall strategy for the college application process. From here, I will help you begin the process of crafting a college list.
Since we’re starting in your senior year, we don’t have a complete year to add in “extras” so we look for the most advantageous, impactful suggestions your student can do asap. Your “extracurricular resume” includes honors, leadership and volunteer experiences and we can certainly add to it before your applications are due!

We complete a thorough evaluation of the applicant’s high school transcript, standardized test scores (ACT/SATs), any 504 plans or IEP’s, social media profiles, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, summer experiences, and special talents. Suggestions are made to address any challenges in the student’s academic, extracurricular, and service hours to help enhance and balance your student’s profile.
We also explore crucial information on college affordability, college expenses and the realistic chance for need or merit aid.
Finally, I offer practical advice on steps needed to improve grade point average, test scores, leadership and/or volunteer activities.

Because Your Timeline Is Tight, We Get Right To Work. We Begin By Quickly Identifying The List Of Colleges That Are A Match For Your Child’s Interests And Intended Major

We identify quickly the deadlines that are immediately in front of you so we have a plan to tackle the most immediate concerns right away.

Next, we create a list of “right-fit” colleges to research and visit.

Because you're on a time limit, we explore alternatives for college visits including virtual visits and weekend warrior visits to save time.

We research each school you’re interested in using Guided Path, a proprietary software platform, as well as social media sites and the college’s own website so a realistic review of college life and academic potential are in view.

As we narrow down the list of schools, we develop a plan for visiting colleges, including your specific “questions” to ask so you can feel assured the college selected can meet your personal needs, whatever those may be.

I offer in depth advise on the importance of visiting colleges, including:

Meeting with professors in your chosen major

Eating in the cafeteria and experiencing “campus life”

Meeting with any person in your field of interest, including athletic coaches and other extracurricular activities that are desired for a full campus experience.

I assist you in creating your “final list of colleges”, taking into consideration

Varying degree of admission difficulty

Affordability

Backup plans and more

We thoroughly explore all college deadlines, including all of the positive and negative outcomes of applying for an “early decision.”

For all students and families, I offer unlimited support via email and text. We also meet In person or by phone or Zoom weekly (sometimes more than once a week as needed) throughout the seniors year.

During our coaching time together, we also complete an extracurricular resume that includes honors, leadership and volunteer experiences.

We explore the importance of academic recommendations and select the academic teachers to request recommendations from. This happens within the first weeks of your seniors year.

Finally I practice with prep and role playing any admission interviews you need to attend.

Because you’re on a time limit, we explore alternatives for college visits including virtual visits and weekend warrior visits to save time.

Meeting with professors in your chosen major
Eating in the cafeteria and experiencing “campus life”
Meeting with any person in your field of interest, including athletic coaches and other extracurricular activities that are desired for a full campus experience

Varying degree of admission difficulty
Affordability
Backup plans and more

We thoroughly explore all college deadlines, including all of the positive and negative outcomes of applying for an “early decision.”
For all students and families, I offer unlimited support via email and text. We also meet In person or by phone or Zoom weekly (sometimes more than once a week as needed) throughout the senior year.
During our coaching time together, we also complete an extracurricular resume that includes honors, leadership and volunteer experiences.
We explore the importance of academic recommendations and select the academic teachers to request recommendations from. This happens within the first weeks of your senior year.
Finally I practice with prep and role playing any admission interviews you need to attend.

Completing the “College Essay”

Students are fully engaged in their essay writing process. Coaching offers support in a handful of specific areas so their essay(s) are engaging, thoughtful and well-written.

A detailed explanation of what admission counselors are looking for in a college essay
Coaching support on your essay topic so it is engaging, self reflective and answers the “Common Application” prompt
Writing exercises to support adding interesting and engaging details
Guidance on essay revisions such that the theme of the essay is maintained
Grammar support so the writing is polished for submission

Completing College Applications

Assistance in the college application process includes: organizational assistance, time and stress management. Students receive an excel spreadsheet with deadlines to complete each step in the application so nothing is lost or missed along the way. To complete the application process we:

Meet weekly on Zoom or in person.
We complete an extracurricular resume, with honors, extracurricular activities, leadership and volunteer experience listed through the end of junior year.
Discuss possible academic teachers to write excellent letters of recommendation. Explore letter writing schedule/deadlines and how to engage teachers for support.
Review the timeline and process for requesting transcripts and counselor recommendations.
Prep and role-playing admission interviews
Final review of all application materials prior to submission

Financial Aid, FAFSA, Scholarships & Aid

Making Your Final College Decision

Support and guidance with deferments or waitlist
Support making decision if accepted into multiple colleges
Support with appeals to a financial aid package
Support making final college plans
Transition-to-college or gap-year advice, and comprehensive consulting until three months after the applicant’s high school graduation.

As you see, this process requires a lot of work from the student and can be anxiety producing and challenging to get it all done. The earlier I can begin working with the student, the less stressful this process will be. If you are interested in my services and support, please get in touch.

Seniors Year College Admissions Timeline

August and September

Review class schedule for fall
Review and add to resume, if needed
Discuss SAT/ACT scores and plan for success
Review and begin to work on Common Application
Review college deadlines, reach, target and likely schools and determine timeline for completion of all applications before deadlines
Discuss securing letters of recommendation and request them both in writing and in person
Take the SAT/ACT, if needed in August, September or October.
College visits continue if needed
Request a copy of the updated unofficial transcript, if you haven't already done so. Send a copy to LCS

October

Complete Common Application and all college supplementals
Request and receive all letters of recommendation
Take SAT/ACT if needed
Complete essays and all other documents for all schools on list
Request Interviews through the college
Send in all college applications due by November 1 no later than 10/25
Parents and Students complete the FAFSA beginning October 1
Review senior year grades. Suggest action steps to improve grades, if need be

November and December

Complete the rest of college applications
Complete essays and any other documents needed
Review senior year grades. Suggest action steps to improve grades, if need be
Begin Honor college applications
Discuss scholarship opportunities with both parents and students
Parents and Students: Complete FAFSA if haven’t already done so

January

Finish college applications by the deadline date, usually the first of the month
Review senior year grades. Suggest action steps to improve grades, if need be
Contact LCS to set up mock interviews.
Complete and additional honors applications
Begin working on any scholarship applications

February

March

April

Reaching Your Goals

The senior year of high school can be exciting and scary for students. There are a lot of steps that seniors need to take for a smooth transition to college. Parents have their own concerns around this process, including but not limited to affordability and safety. I understand. I have been there, both as a parent and a school counselor. Let me help shepherd your child through this process. Please know that I only work with 15 students per grade per year as it is important that I give you and your student the one-on-one service you deserve.

Early Action to Regular Decision? Congratulations!

So, you just got deffered from Early Action to Regular Decision. CONGRATULATIONS! Yes! That’s right. “CONGRATULATIONS!” Why? The alternative could’ve been much worse; You could have been rejected outright. Now, you are still in the running. And it’s likely that you are on the top of the Regular Decision list. The college just wants to take one more look before making a decision.

Why is that SO IMPORTANT

It’s all about yield. For the most part, all colleges and universities are very careful to make sure that a candidate will say “yes” to an acceptance offer. While Harvard began doing this in the 1950s, most schools followed suit in the 1980s and, by 1990, almost every college or university was playing the game to be as high as possible on U.S. News Best Colleges list.

So now what? You got pushed to Regular Decision. For now, there is absolutely NOTHING to do, right away. Take a few days to deal with the disappointment, sadness, and anger, then it’s time to snap out of it and get to work.

Here’s what you do: Send a SHORT email to your college regional admissions officer sometime in late January or early February that is laid out in the following way:

Reconfirm that this College/University is still your number-one choice.
Reconfirm that this College/University is still your number-one choice.
Write a brief sentence or two about a new club or organization that you are involved in and/or a new accomplishment of yours that occurred since your original submission. This is the heart of this email. If you’re not doing anything new, this is the time to get more involved.
As you come to the final paragraph, ask if you can do anything to bolster your candidacy.
If possible, meaning IF COVID ALLOWS and the campus is open to visits, I highly recommend that you visit campus (even if you have done so already). Tell the admissions officer when you will be on campus and that you would love to pop in and say a “very quick” hello.
Finally, let the admissions officer know that you know how busy they are at this time of year and finish with, “Thank you for taking the time to read this email. Again, _________College/University remains my number-one choice — no matter what!”

Get In Touch!

Do you need help understanding the college admission’s maze? College is NOT what it was 20 years ago. Let us show you the ropes so your kid has a stronger chance of getting into college with less stress and less anxiety.

Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with me on my calendar or click the “contact us” button and I will get in touch with you. I look forward to connecting with you soon.