There’s no time like the present, right? Well, we find that there actually is a perfect time to hire a college consultant. And that time might’ve been yesterday.
Sophomore Year
Some people might see this sub-heading and scoff. After all, shouldn’t the college process begin in earnest junior year? The answer to that is “no!” Applying to college has become really hard. Like, single-digit acceptance rates hard. And that’s on top of the added stresses of being a teenager, from social angst to social media. Piling everything—from standardized tests to AP classes to applications—onto one year of high school is a bad idea and a sure way to cause a tremendous amount of stress.
If we had to pick a general favorite time for students to hire a college consultant, it would be halfway through sophomore year. We’ve found that this timing gives students enough runway to get everything done. There is no reason students can’t get started with testing sophomore year so the latter part of high school is free for building out extracurriculars and developing really great college essays. (And also, enjoying a bit of senior year!)
Our strategy is to help students stand above the crowd by building a particular academic area of expertise. This is easiest when started early. We help our sophomores identify their academic passions and help them create a roadmap for fleshing out that very specific niche throughout high school. This is really important for the application process. When you’re applying to a school that only admits 5% of thousands of applicants, you must have a way to stand out. We’ve found the way to do that is to build out a super-specific niche that’s reflected by your whole high school journey, from classes, to clubs, to supplements.
But If You’re Getting Started Later…
That said, while we prefer students get started earlier, we do take on students in their junior and senior years and have strategies tailored to every part of the application process for them.
Essays are a HUGE part of our focus. Consider this: There’s a tired, overworked admissions counselor staring down a pile of (literally) thousands of pages of applications. It’s 2pm and they haven’t had their necessary second cup of coffee today. That person and the couple minutes they take to read your application is your shot at getting in. You want to be the page that stands out to them, that makes them laugh or feel something, and ultimately, that seems like a human amidst a bunch of typed-out words. We help students do this by really letting their personality shine through the page and tell a compelling, well-written story with each and every essay. For our students who join us junior and senior years, essays are really, really critical and we spend a lot of time workshopping them until they’re truly excellent.
It’s our goal to not only help our students match with top-notch colleges, but colleges that are a great fit for their personality and places where they’ll ultimately enjoy their experience. We do this by really getting to know our students and what lights them up. We find that doing so isn’t just extra, it’s the core of getting into a great school.
Need help with a college essay? Call us. We’re experts at helping students with writing that sets them apart.