PRE-COLLEGE ADVISING
“We are new to the American education system having grown up in India. Jeanne spent 1 hour with us to explain the American University system. Our daughter is still quite young and Jeanne was patient with all our questions. She also sent us an extensive book list to learn more about the US system and made us feel more relaxed about the process.”
U.S. COLLEGE PROCESS 101
In early 2022, I added College Pre-Advising to my services. Several former client families contacted me seeking advice on the college process, as they were feeling overwhelmed and confused with all the conflicting information out there. I added services in this area to focus on demystifying and educating families about college admissions - College Process 101. To date, the families I have consulted with have averaged 1-2 hours of service with children ranging in age from elementary school to high school.
Starting to think about college experience and community verses only focusing on admissions is an ideal way to begin and provide your student time to learn what they really value and what is important to them as part of their college life. As part of our time together, I will provide you a list of current resources from books, podcast, webinars and websites to assist you. College admission is continually evolving and looks very different from what most adults went through years ago. I can not promise there will be no stress, but by understanding the process and what your child does have control over and what they and you can not control should allow for fun during this time too.
Depending on your child’s age, we will think ahead to high school courses and your child’s interests in building their schedule and activities. It is important your child choses to spend their time doing what interests them and not to just check boxes to impress colleges. There are approximately 4,000 colleges in the United States and many excellent options for your student beyond the top 20 colleges that attract all the media attention.
Here is an example of questions asked by families:
How do colleges decide who to admit, what are colleges looking for in extracurriculars, should my child have a defined major when applying to college, does our family background help/hurt us with holistic admissions, if my child does not go the the top public/independent high school in the area will they not get into a top college, if we need financial aid will that hurt our child, how much can my child get in student loans, how do we figure out how much college will cost, what should my child be doing now, what should we be doing now, how many AP’s should my child take, if they don’t take an AP class should they still take an AP test, what about volunteering, clubs, leadership and/or working, how are athletes recruited, is test optional really test optional, when should we visit campuses, what can we do on our own, when it is the time to think about college and do we need to hire a college counselor or can we use the services provided by our high school, what services are provided by the high school?
ScholarMatch College Coach:
I am also a college coach with the San Francisco based non-profit organization ScholarMatch. I am certified by the organization to assist low income high school students that will be the first in their family to attend college. As a volunteer, I will guide the student through the college application process from list development, financial aid process, essay review to college acceptance. I am very proud to be associated with this organization and use my skills and passion as a school consultant to be part of the Destination College team at ScholarMatch to support underserved youth.
Referrals to IECA Professional College Consultants:
As an Associate Member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association, I am happy to recommend highly qualified, full-service college counselors for your consideration, if you decide you would like additional assistance outside of your high school. These professionals will be invaluable if you need help with list-building, need and merit based aid education, application review and helping to keep your high school student on track with all the application deadlines. This process most commonly begins the summer between 10th (sophomore) and 11th grade (junior) of high school and other counselors will begin working with your student as early as the summer prior to 9th grade year (freshman).