College Placement
The landscape of college admissions is totally different today than when parents of teens were college students themselves. There are more students than ever going to college and the same number of colleges as there were in the 1980s. So how do we advise students about how to find the right school given the level of stress surrounding this process? We work with students and teach them to focus on their strengths in order to find the schools that will work for them. We collaborate with students, teaching them the skills necessary to make the process work seamlessly and painlessly.
The landscape of college admissions is totally different today than when parents of teens were college students themselves. There are more students than ever going to college and the same number of colleges as there were in the 1980s. So how do we advise students about how to find the right school given the level of stress surrounding this process? We work with students and teach them to focus on their strengths in order to find the schools that will work for them. We collaborate with students, teaching them the skills necessary to make the process work seamlessly and painlessly.
In our roll as college admissions consultants, we travel all over the country looking at schools that are well-known as well as those that are hidden gems. In fact, most of our students end up enjoying applying to college and learning something about themselves in the process. Our students become excited about the possibility of college when they learn about places they knew nothing about previously.
Some students come from traditional high schools, while others have followed a path which has been more circuitous and who may not have had as easy an adolescence. Many of these students fear they will not have the chance to go to college as their past may get in the way. We have had success with clients who do not fit the typical profile of a college-bound student and stand ready to help any student who wants the college experience.
Our expertise lies in knowing when to offer alternatives to a traditional four-year college. There are a variety of options for the student who may not yet be ready for a traditional college experience or who may have needs that cannot be met in a traditional four-year school.
Traditional College Placement
For parents and students, finding the most appropriate college match is a critical life decision. We are here to help you navigate through this often-frenzied process. Our goal is to streamline the procedure with one focus: the right decision for you and your teen. Our time is spent helping you to understand your very best options, and accompanying you from the start of your school consideration through to the college admittance decision.
The College List: We provide direction and advice for the best college match from multiple perspectives. Our personal client meetings help us understand your teen’s needs from an academic, social and emotional perspective. They help us create a profile targeting a college list appropriate to your teen’s goals, assets, and educational abilities. That targeted list reduces senior year stress, quells anxiety, and focuses time and energy in a highly directed way.
Campus Visits: We spend 30% of our time visiting schools across the country. Every school is unique, and it is important to understand their educational options, curricula, campus culture and special programs. Time is spent searching for the “hidden gems” that may not be readily known, but can make a student’s college education unforgettable.
How Admissions Works: Every school has its own educational priorities and its own admission practices that vary greatly. We are intimately familiar with the admissions process and will help you understand the possibilities. A large university’s admissions practices differ from those of small, liberal arts colleges. Each school’s institutional priorities differ from one another. While one school may be looking for a musician, another may be looking for a third baseman. Some schools will look for students who can benefit from research facilities while others may be looking for students who will likely contribute to the value of service that the university espouses.
As an applicant you want to do your best to make sure your application appeals to the schools on your list.
Our Traditional College Admissions Consulting Process:
We evaluate student’s data inclusive of transcripts, GPA, and standardized testing scores.
Conduct an in-depth dialog with both student and family about their high school experience and hopes for the future. Evaluate learning style, abilities, interests and goals to create a student profile.
Determine an initial college list meeting the criteria of you and your teen. Continue to refine this list as more information becomes available.
Recommend specific college visits during the junior year of high school.
Plan an SAT and ACT testing schedule. Follow-up with evaluation and aid in any tutoring needs.
Advise on senior year courses, summer programs, and extra curricular activities to attract targeted schools.
Review the early decision/early action process.
Financial aid and merit aid review session.
Refine and revisit your college list continually.
Resume development.
Guide the essay process with strategic emphasis to attract the attention of those schools identified as priority choices.
Application completion before deadlines.
Specialized College Placement
For students who have had difficulty in high school, either academic or emotional, there are a host of options available to make college a reality. These students are no longer limited to the local community college (though that can be a very good option).
There are two- and four-year residential schools catering to students with learning issues. These schools provide extra support for the students who may struggle with ADD, dyslexia, and specific learning disabilities. Some schools offer limited services while others offer comprehensive programs which function like a small learning community.
We will recommend programs that are right for your child to maximize their potential.
In addition, there are students who have struggled throughout high school with emotional issues. Many of these students have left their home high school and been placed at either therapeutic day schools or residential facilities. These students need special advising about how to handle the school interruption, how to explain the lack of continuity in their education, and how much to reveal.
There are certain schools more open than others to giving non-traditional students a chance. We visit these schools and meet with college admissions professionals to discuss whether their school might be a good option for a student from this type of background.
Levels of Support
Students with special needs, whether they are academic, emotional or a combination, need to work with professionals who understand their unique situation and who know where these students may find a comfortable and supportive learning environment. Colleges are not required (as public schools are) to provide accommodations or modifications to students with certain disabilities. The threshold for what they must provide is a great deal lower than with public education. Therefore, it’s necessary that as professionals we know where to send our students.
There are a number of colleges, both public and private, across the country, that offer total support for students. These learning services almost always have an additional fee (besides the tuition); in some cases students apply and may or may not be accepted. Criteria for acceptance varies by school.
Schools that provide “limited support” usually offer a writing center and a disability support center. These schools do NOT have a separate program, may or may not offer subject tutoring, and there is no acceptance into a “program.” Students may take advantage of what the school offers as the student sees fit. There are a small but growing number of colleges who are devoted exclusively to students with learning disabilities. There is no distinction at these schools between students who may or may not use services.
There are some cases when the student is not able or not ready to attend a mainstream college with support. For this group of students there has been a recent development in transitional college programs. These are private, residential programs which provide a bridge into a full-time college program. Students live together and are tutored in academic skills and mentored in all the other skills that one needs to be successful in a college setting.
How Can We Help Place Your College Student?
Important Books and Websites
Colleges That Change Lives by Loren Pope
Kindle Paperback
The groundbreaking guide to the 40 best colleges you've never heard of—colleges that will change your life
Choosing the right college has never been more important—or more difficult. For the latest edition of this classic college guide, Hilary Masell Oswald conducted her own tours of top schools and in-depth interviews, building on Loren Pope's original to create a totally updated, more expansive work. Organized by geographic region, every profile includes a wealth of vital information, including admissions standards, distinguishing facts about the curriculum, extracurricular activities, and what faculty say about their jobs. Masell Oswald also offers a new chapter on how students with learning disabilities can find schools that fit their needs. For every prospective college student searching for more than football and frat parties, Colleges That Change Lives will prove indispensable.
The Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg
The Gatekeepers follows a diverse group of prospective students as they compete for places in the nation's most elite colleges. The first book to reveal the college admission process in such behind-the-scenes detail, The Gatekeepers will be required reading for every parent of a high school-age child and for every student facing the arduous and anxious task of applying to college.
Letting Go by Karen Levin Coburn and Madge Lawrence Treeger
Letting Go has provided hundreds of thousands of parents with valuable insights, information, comfort, and guidance throughout the emotional and social changes of their children's college years—from the senior year in high school through college graduation.
Based on research and real life experience, and recommended by colleges and universities around the country, Letting Go offers insightful, practical, and up-to-date information. In this era of constant communication, this edition tackles the challenge facing parents: finding the balance between staying connected and letting go.
The Naked Roommate by Harlan Cohen
From sharing a bathroom with 40 strangers to sharing lecture notes, The Naked Roommate is your behind-the-scenes look at EVERYTHING you need to know about college (but never knew you needed to know).
This essential, fully updated edition is packed with real-life advice on everything from making friends to managing stress. Hilarious, outrageous, and telling stories from students on over 100 college campuses cover the basics, and then some.
College Unranked: Ending the College Admissions by Frenzy Lloyd Thacker
Stressed and sleepless, today's high school students race from school to activities in their most competitive game of all: admission to a top-ranked, prestigious university.
But is relying on magazine rankings and a vague sense of "prestige" really the best way to choose a college? Is hiring test prep teachers and consultants really the best way to shape your own education?
The Last Professors: The Corporate University and the Fate of the Humanities by Frank Donoghue
In this provocative book, Frank Donoghue shows how this growing corporate culture of higher education threatens its most fundamental values by erasing one of its defining features: the tenured professor.
With the rise of neoliberalism and the gig economy, the notion of the professoriate has become replaced in our consciousness with the notion of academic labor.
Learn what admissions committees at top art colleges really look for when deciding who to admit. Find out which mistakes other students most often make when applying to art schools so that you can avoid making some of the same ones. View extraordinary artworks my students have created to win hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship awards. Familiarize yourself with new career paths that have emerged for young artists and designers in recent years. Discover specific and actionable tips you can follow in your own quest to achieve admissions and scholarship success.
College Unbound: The Future of College and What It Means For Students by Jeffrey Selingo
What is the value of a college degree?
In College (Un)Bound, Jeffrey J. Selingo, editor at large of the Chronicle of Higher Education, argues that America’s higher education system is broken. The great credentials race has turned universities into big businesses and fostered an environment where middle-tier colleges can command elite university-level tuitions while concealing staggeringly low graduation rates and churning out students with few of the skills needed for a rapidly evolving job market.
UNIGO is your connection to over 3.6M in Scholarships, 650K college reviews, College stats & other options to help you pay for college.
UNIGO is an online business matching students with colleges, scholarships, internships, student loans, majors and careers. According to USA Today, “millions of students use Unigo to assist in their college search.” Education publisher McGraw-Hill wrote “Unigo is the largest and most authoritative library of college reviews on the internet.
CollegeConfidential.com is a college admissions website and online community founded in 2001.
It hosts popular college admissions forums on topics such as admissions chances, financial aid, standardized testing, and school life.