College Planning for College Admission Success
College Advance program packages range from hourly consultations to full service, unlimited hour programs. All programs are tailored to the goals and aspirations of your family.
We offer special rates for our referred families! And, special introductory offers for new clients. Contact us directly for our current program fees that will meet your needs and your budget.
College Advance Services
Initial Consultation
In our introductory meeting, we review transcripts, test scores to date, activities, community service and additional information to learn about your student. As a result, we provide you with a detailed description of a tailored program for your child.
Choosing Colleges, Majors and Careers
The Self Assessment
In the initial phase of our program, your student will participate in several in-depth sessions devoted to assessing potential careers, college majors, learning styles, academic priorities and social life in high school. A series of career and education inventories are utilized which are interpreted by the counselor.
Major and Career Selection
Career tests we administer, community service we help you set up, internships and activities your student is involved in become resume entries. These experiences also contribute to making informed choices on college major and future career(s). As most teenagers have no idea what they want to major in or become, we concentrate our focus on these major life decisions. As a result, our students attend the college that has a strong reputation in the major that was chosen which leads to their career.
Researching the Colleges
Results from the career and learning style tests are used to match your student to prestigious colleges. Having visited over 500 colleges nationwide, the lists of suggested schools are generated from personal experience. We rarely use guidebooks or websites to develop college lists; we develop this background by continually working with college colleagues in the admissions offices.
Prestige is an important criterion of the search but just as importantly, our students focus on what is behind the reputation — what the schools offer that make them prestigious.
We coach students on how to effectively research the colleges using state of the art methods we have been developed over the past 25 years.
Preparation for College and Successful Admission
Course Planning
Course choices are critical to any college admissions officer. Missteps on curriculum selection – before the grades in those courses are even considered – can be the main reason why a student is accepted or denied.
With actual experience in college admission and high school college counseling, we are familiar with high school course choices from both the high school and college perspectives. We coach our students on what to take and when. And, develop a balance between strength of curriculum and potential for getting the highest grades in those courses.
Resume Development
A portfolio of extracurricular, volunteer, community service and leadership activities is critical to the college admission process. College admissions officers look for breadth and depth of experience. We counsel you and your student on activities that make sense – for the longest period of commitment.
At College Advance, our goal is to help your student develop, strategize and participate in activities that are fun, interesting, educational – and unique.
Summer Program Planning
College Advance has ready access to the reputable, worthwhile summer programs for high school students. We make recommendations on specific programs around the country and around the world. These are programs we have sent our students to in the past and are highly respected in the college admissions field. Referrals to these programs are only made to families after we have vetted the organizations.
College Application Development
College Application Forms
We show you what matters and how to put together applications that work.
Admission officers make their decisions based on past and current experience. Colleges are in the business of selecting a class of students who show these predictors of potential and performance if they end up on campus.
We review all applications before submission to make sure that all entries are correct and are reflective of your student. On a first review of applications, we find numerous yet simple mistakes on virtually each and every one. Research shows that these simple errors can have grave consequences to getting in.
College Admission Essays
Competitive colleges look more heavily at the essay to determine whether to accept or deny. It is one of the few places a student can stand out in profound ways. Essay prompts are often quirky and so open-ended students have difficulty knowing what and how to write.
The college admission essay is unlike anything a high school student has ever written! It is extremely rare that the first draft will be the last draft; the college admission essay is a new way of writing for students and requires numerous edits prior to uploading them onto the application.
With experience reading thousands of applications and essays while doing admission work at Boston University, we have depth of experience that helps our students write essays that stand out and get them in. Admissions deans across the country confirm this with the essays our students write.
The essays that we can help your student write are what colleges like to read and can help them get admitted. We can show you how.
“Why College” Essay
All things being equal, this is an essay that takes creativity and insight. It is an essay that helps colleges learn how much you actually know about their school.
At College Advance, we show you the reasoning behind the prompt, “why do you want to attend our college?” We can show your student how to write this important essay that means much more than it has in the past. This essay – well written – can dramatically raise your profile for admissions committees.
Interview Preparation
At College Advance, we counsel our students extensively on how to conduct themselves in interviews.
We do mock interviews, coaching our students the types of questions to ask and the appropriate responses to those asked by the interviewer. These prep steps raise student confidence. Interviews are then successful and positive write ups are made to the applications at each college.
College Contacts
Over the years we have developed working relationships with many college and universities’ admission offices across the country. Although we do not “pitch” our students, we provide background on them to the admissions committees which sheds light on things the student could not, would not, or shouldn’t explain on their own.
Selecting the Right College
Deciding which offer of admission to accept can be even harder than determining which colleges to submit applications. At this point, further college assessments are more meaningful as the final colleges offering admission are tangible, real options.
We show you and your student how to go about this level of analysis of the colleges under final consideration. Doing so will ensure the college where you put down a deposit is the best option based on your intimate knowledge of the campus.
The Freshman Year Experience
From the day of graduation into the first year of your student’s college experience, we continue to work with your family every step of the way.
Adjusting to campus life can be rough at times. We help your student learn how to utilize resources on their campuses and how to become their own best advocates. We have extensive background working with students and parents in college and high school settings regarding this transition. Change, do doubt, will occur in the family dynamic. We continue to help your family through these exciting times filled with new opportunities.
Our goal for your student — at this point — is that they have a great experience their first year in college and continue their studies through to graduation – in 4 years!
