Actually, beginning the college planning process early in the high school years will reduce overall stress levels and substantially reduce a student’s anxiety in their junior and senior years. It is optimal to begin college and career assessments, interest inventories, and planning for summer experiences and standardized testing in the 9th Grade or the fall of 10th Grade, or even earlier. When a student has an action plan in place before 11th Grade, they will know what they need to accomplish and have a reasonable timeline to do so, thus reducing stress.

High school college counselors work very hard and try to meet the needs of all of the students in their schools. In addition to counseling students individually about the college planning and application process, they are responsible for uploading student transcripts and recommendations to Naviance, monitoring students’ Naviance accounts for completeness, planning and hosting college admissions officers’ visits, making sure that all students have concrete college and career plans, ensuring that students have fulfilled their UC A-G requirements, and visiting all classrooms to talk about deadlines for college admissions.

At many public schools, students may meet individually with their college counselor for no more than two 20-minute sessions during high school. This amount of counseling is negligible compared to the extensive advising and coaching that a student will receive from an Independent Educational Consultant. With CollegeNod, a typical student receives more than 100 hours of dedicated counseling and support. While students receive college lists from their high school college counselors, the lists often contain the same schools that are on other students’ lists, and any assistance with college essays is cursory.

When comparing colleges, it is important for students and families to differentiate between the sticker price and the actual cost of attendance. Most students will not pay the sticker price at private colleges and universities. Private colleges with generous financial aid may offer some aid to families with an adjusted gross income of up to $200K, depending on other factors. And, if a student is in the top 25% of applicants at schools that offer merit aid, they may receive sizable tuition discounts. Students with financial need often find that they will pay less at private colleges than at public in-state universities.

The most important quality of a college list is that it’s balanced. Students should apply to at least a few schools where they are almost certain to gain admission. The risk with just applying to UCs is that admission has become much more competitive, especially for the flagship UCs, UCLA and UC Berkeley. At many California high schools, only a few students, usually valedictorians with almost perfect standardized test scores, are admitted to these two schools. In addition, admission has become extremely competitive at the other popular UCs and there is no guarantee of admission to a particular school, even among students in the top 10% of their high school class. All students should look beyond these schools to balance their college lists.

There are more than 3,000 colleges and universities in the United States alone, and the majority accept over 50% of applicants. There are many small liberal arts colleges that accept B-students and help them develop a love of learning and a passion for an academic field. Often, these students find their calling and excel in their field of interest.

Selective colleges and universities consider qualities beyond grades and test scores when evaluating students. When embarking on college planning, students with an awareness of these categories can focus their time and energy accordingly. Here are ten important categories that admissions committees consider in holistic application review:

1. Rigor of high school schedule
2. GPA in academic courses
3. Standardized test scores
4. Demonstrated interest
5. Summer experiences and achievements
6. Extracurricular leadership and impact
7. Character traits
8. Unique talents and/or diversity of background
9. Position relative to other students in same high school
10. Essays that make the reader cry or laugh out loud

Actually, more and more middle-income families are hiring independent college consultants. Many find that guidance on paying for college and the identification of schools where their student can receive merit or financial aid can save them tens of thousands of dollars – much more than the consultant’s fee.

At CollegeNod, quality is paramount and the number of clients is limited to 8-10 per academic year. You can be confident that your student will receive the highest level of service as well as unlimited access from the signing of the contract through matriculation to college.

There are no shortcuts in developing a best-fit college list and creating stand-out college applications. Successful CollegeNod students take leadership of the college planning process and commit to working hard on college research and essays. They are open to self-analysis and self-discovery and to considering high-quality schools that may be new to them, yet where they might find their best fit.

At CollegeNod, we believe that families must be open to three things: allowing their student to lead the college planning process, considering colleges that they may not be familiar with, and being open about family finances with their students. If a family insists that their student applies only to highly selective schools, insists on being involved in writing college essays, or refuses to share financial realities with their student, CollegeNod cannot ensure success and will refer the family to another source of guidance for the college planning and application process.