Creating Your Personal College Admissions Package and Timeline
I offer a highly personalized approach recognizing that you are a unique individual! That means you need a personalized plan for your college admissions’ requirements. We will set meetings to discover what you want and need in a college and what you hope to achieve with your college education. You will check in weekly with College Planner Pro and your email so you become accustomed to deadlines and the ways colleges communicate.
Fall of Your Freshman Year:
- Work with your coach to assess your options, make appropriate curriculum choices, and maximize the value of your high school coursework by choosing classes in your subject areas of strength.
- Explore and pursue your extracurricular interests. I can help you brainstorm ideas. Love animals? Volunteer at the local shelter or shadow a veterinarian. Like being in charge? Run for student government. Like AI? Join the Robotics Club. Be curious! Identifying extracurricular activities you can get excited about now will help you develop depth and ascend into leadership positions later in high school. Don’t be afraid to try out multiple options and see what you like. These activities may be clues to a possible college major or career.
Spring of Your Freshman Year:
- Assess the success of your first high school semester. How did you do? Can you do more or should you scale back?
- Confirm curriculum choices for the rest of this year and start thinking about classes for tenth grade.
- How to spend your summer? Ask your Coach for guidance on finding programs tailored to your interests and exploring other interesting and fun endeavors.
Summer Between Freshman & Sophomore Year:
- Time to review your freshman academic record. Assess your success and look for adjustments that need to be made to your sophomore schedule.
- Once you’ve started seeing some schools, you’ll be ready for a deep discussion about choosing the right colleges for you. My clients have been accepted to many different colleges, so you can be sure that I will help you find the schools that make the most sense for you.
- Start visiting local college campuses. These are not official visits, but simply ways to get a feel for different campuses.
- Summer check-ins give you the opportunity to touch base on summer activities and continue to explore your unique positioning for your college applications.
Fall of Your Sophomore Year:
- Now is the time to think about taking the PSAT.
- We will discuss your second semester schedule to ensure that you’re maximizing rigor and choosing electives tailored to your interests.
- Throughout the semester, your Coach will help you develop depth in your extracurricular interests and think through the best possible contributions you can make to your community.
Spring of Your Sophomore Year:
- This is the last semester before you’re an upperclassman. We will check in periodically to discuss academic progress and make a plan for your junior year schedule.
- I’ll also assist with summer plans.
Summer Between Your Sophomore and Junior Years:
- Time to review your sophomore year academic record and look for adjustments that need to be made to your junior year schedule.
- As your understanding of the college selection process develops, your college visits become more significant. Before each visit, I’ll help you think about what you want to investigate and how best to gather key information.
Fall of Your Junior Year:
- The all-important third year of high school begins. You and your Coach will check in periodically to track academic progress and identify opportunities for growth. I expect that you will also check in with questions and to get help developing strategies to deal with unforeseen challenges.
- The standardized testing calendar starts to heat up this year. Expect to spend significant time to preparing then we will discuss your options for testing and revisit the timeline for your official SAT, ACT, and, if applicable, SAT Subject Tests.
- As the semester gets underway, we’ll review your spring schedule to ensure it maximizes rigor appropriate to your situation and includes electives tailored to your interests.
Spring of Your Junior Year:
- As your official SAT and ACT results become available, your Coach will help you think through a strategy for future testing. If necessary, you’ll get advice on your choice of SAT Subject Tests.
- The college search really gets underway! I will guide you through many fun and interesting activities to discover your preferences and priorities. Based on your results, I will recommended schools that meet your criteria and sort them into three selectivity categories. We will meet to discuss the list and identify next steps and strategies for future campus visits.
- You will begin thinking about your college essays and begin brainstorming ideas for possible topics. I will share techniques so who you are and your authentic voice comes through.
- An important task this semester will be to think about letters of recommendation. I can help deciding how and which teachers to ask in order to obtain the best possible letter of support.
- Check in with me to review your curricular choices for senior year and finalize your plans for summer.
Summer Between Your Junior and Senior Years:
- This is the time for in-depth research into your college choices. We will narrow down your list and, if appropriate, consider strategies for applying Early Decision and Early Action.
- We will review your standardized test results and discuss a strategy for any future testing.
- Begin essay writing.
Fall of Your Senior Year:
- College Planner Pro will have all your timelines and prompt you to explore the college-specific essays you will be required to write and to ensure you understand exactly how much writing awaits.
- Check your email and College Planner Pro daily. Forward me any college relevant emails.
- October 1 the FAFSA and CSS Profile can be submitted. Do it early!
- You will also finalize the list of schools to which you will apply and review your schedule for application completion and submission on College Planner Pro.
- If appropriate, you will discuss which schools you will apply to Early Action or Early Decision and how to meet those deadlines.
- At this time, I will review all the applications – including UC/CSU, Common and Coalition, and Honor’s College Applications and those specific to individual colleges. I will provide feedback on drafts of your essays and make suggestions for improvements until your essays represent your best effort. Last steps include a review of your extracurricular activities.
Spring of Your Senior Year:
- I will help you narrow your decision before May 1 for regular decision.
- Once your decision has been made, we will explore clubs, sports and activities available to you and look at your new college’s scholarships and internship opportunities.
- Be mindful of housing and orientation deadlines.
- The quicker you say yes to a school, the better your class selections will be.