Services - College Wayfinders
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The key to the college application process is strategy. I help students and their family to:

 

  • Create a customized college list balanced for selectivity, affordability, and programs of interest. Ideally students start in 9th grade, finalizing the list by end of 11th

 

  • Complete personality and career inventories to assist with college major selection

 

  • Select optimal high school classes that demonstrate rigor and preserve college major options

 

  • Select and apply for summer and after school internships/activities/jobs that deepen involvement and teach leadership

 

  • Build teacher relationships that may provide letters of recommendation

 

  • Select appropriate tests (ACT/SAT) and give suggestions for test prep tutors and links to free resources

 

  • Decide whether to apply Early Decision or Early Action

 

  • Maximize scholarships and college merit awards

 

  • Manage deadlines with an online calendar

 

  • Assist with all aspects of the application process including essay writing

 

  • Prepare for interviews and write letters of appeal

 

  • Access online resources and programs I subscribe to

In all cases, my job is to preserve as many options as possible and ensure the student and their family feel confident in the decisions they make.

I estimate between 25 and 60 hours per student for a comprehensive package, most of those hours in the summer after junior year and the fall of senior year working on essays and application. I offer discounts for families that purchase blocks of time of ten hours or more. All the packages include a reasonable number of emails back and forth in between sessions. Hourly rates are revisited every January for new packages. Please contact me for current pricing.

Students

To make college counseling more accessible, I also offer group classes and workshops for students on the following topics. These power point presentations are made available free of charge to families that purchase one of my packages:

  • Overview of the College Admission Process (includes courses required by selective colleges in each grade and a timeline of the college admissions process for 9th – 12th graders)
  • Strategies for Meeting Financial Need (includes a workshop for running net price calculators and viewing spreadsheets that show the percent need med and percent receiving merit aid at college of interest to ensure financial fit)
  • Building a Balanced College List (includes a workshop for doing interest inventories to help pick a college major and chance calculators to create a college list of reach, target, and safety schools)
  • Making Extracurriculars Excellent (includes a workshop on writing an activities resume and brainstorming to bring existing extracurriculars up a level or and to help students align extracurriculars with their strongest interests)
  • To Test or Not to Test (power point presentation on testing landscape and which schools are test blind. Also, summary of ACT and SAT and differences and a discussion of when to submit scores)
  • Writing a Stand Out Personal Statement (includes a workshop to help students begin to think about their personal statement using College Essay Guy’s techniques)

 

Parents are allowed to attend workshops if they sit in the back of the room except for the financial aid presentation which I encourage all parents to attend.