begins junior year
College Admission Counseling for Juniors
Starting junior year, we help students navigate the college application and admissions process from standardized tests to selecting colleges to writing essays and more.
Our Comprehensive College Admissions Package
We begin working with students during the Fall of their Junior year to begin preparing and planning for their college experience. Our most popular package includes everything listed below, which we work on together throughout their junior and senior year. We’ve designed our packages to allow you to know what you need to, help your student feel confident and in control and to make it through the complex process as stress-free as possible.
JUNIOR YEAR
New Student Intake
Each student is unique, and we want to learn all about them! By collecting high school transcripts and test scores we learn about the academic side of the student, but we also ask students and parents to complete a questionnaire to get all of the background information about the student, their activities and their challenges and successes to help inform our guidance.
Major & Career Counseling
We use assessments to identify personal strengths and weaknesses that can guide a student toward a career that suits them, and then we look at how to evaluate colleges based on course of study and majors.
Extracurricular Selection & Activity
While students often start exploring activities early in high school, it’s important that the activities are focused and intentional in the junior and senior year. In particular, we advise students on the best summer activities to enhance their activities resume.
SAT/ACT Strategy
Nothing has become more unclear in college admissions than the use of test scores in admissions. The pandemic escalated the trend toward test-optional admission policies, but it’s not always clear when to submit test scores. We help students create testing strategy to cover a range of scenarios.
Recommendations
Choosing recommenders is not easy, but there are best-practices. We guide student through the selection process and provide an approach that will give recommenders plenty of food for thought as they start the writing process.
Custom College List
We create a recommended list of up to 10 colleges/universities for your student to consider based on a balance of reach, match, and likely acceptance schools. This includes relevant statistics and data about each college and a customized write-up about the student’s academic and extracurricular areas of interest at each college.
College Visit Coaching
College is 4-years of your life! We help students approach each college visit as an “interview” of the college. Students will learn the do’s and don’ts of college visits, where to look to gain a deeper understanding of the student experience and the optimal times to visit. In the end, a few colleges stay on the short-list.
senior YEAR
Finalizing the College List
Students have done their college research and with 11th-grade transcripts and standardized test scores becoming more clear, we help students refine their final college list. The number of colleges on the list takes into consideration many factors.
College Essays
The college essay is where your student stands apart from another. We guide the student through writing a Common Application personal statement essay and/or college supplemental essay and help them with discussion and critique until it is ready to submit.
Interview Prep
Some colleges and scholarships have interview opportunities, yet high school students have little experience. Students shine in their interview with our interview prep and presentation guidance.
Applications, Deadlines & Task Management
The application process can be overwhelming. Each school has it’s own requirements and keeping track of each required and optional supplement material is not easy. Each comprehensive student has access to College Planner Pro, an online planning portal where counselor and student communicate and project manage the application process.
The Cost of College and Financial Aid Resources
Everyone wants to minimize the cost of college, but evaluating the value of what each college offers for the money is essential. We advise families on the basics of of financial aid and where to look for scholarships.
Working the College Decisions Results & Final Selection
Accepted, Deferred, Denied or Waitlist. Each decision that comes back has a set of next steps. Sometimes, students want to change course and apply to additional schools until finally, a student will evaluate the final acceptances, financial aid packages and make their final decision. We coach the family throughout the process.
The average amount of schools students applied to in 2022
College List Package
The college list may be the single most important piece of the college application process. A comprehensive and balanced prospective college list will be created based on the student’s values, financial requirements, academic and extra-curricular credentials, and college preferences, and marry them to each college’s offerings academically, socially, and financially. This is no small task. With our seven-step process, a prospective list is created.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the best time during the junior year to start college advising?
Ideally, we start our new client intake process in July or August before junior year. It takes a few weeks to gather the documentation, complete our intake questionnaire and get a first meeting on the calendar. But, we are flexible! If there is space available, we can take juniors up until March. At that point, we will steer prospective clients to the senior packages.
How do students/families benefit from starting college advising during the junior year? They can’t start college applications until August before their senior year.
Ask any student graduating from high school what words of advice they have for future college applicants, and the first thing that usually comes out of their mouth is an emphatic, “start earlier!” At College in 3-2-1 we not only provide information and guidance, but give students the opportunity to build a college list based on research and data while taking into consideration their career and college major interests.
We help juniors transform into capable adults ready to tackle the organization, communication/writing and interpersonal skills required for college applications. Plus, we help students get a jumpstart on tasks to minimize stress and overcommitment during the senior year. Less stress, happier kid (and parents!)
Class of 2024:
Space is limited for our JR/SR comprehensive package. Contact us now.
How to Work With College in 3-2-1
See How We Work
Browse the site to see how we work with students of all ages and what packages we offer.
Book a Consult Call
Book a 1:1 consultation call to meet Kathy de Jong and tell her about your student and their goals.
Select a Package
Review multi-year and hourly package options and pricing and select an option that fit your needs best.
Secure Your Spot
Secure a limited spot for your student's graduation year and get started on the path to your dream college.
