High School to College Timeline

AchieveWorks Testing:

• Personality assessment
• Strengths analysis
• Learning styles identification
• Skills and time management evaluation

Understanding College Expectations:

• Explore what colleges seek in academics and extracurriculars.
• Relate these expectations to early high school choices.

Academic Advising:

• Provide guidance on course selection to ensure a strong foundation for senior year rigor.

Extracurricular Strategy:

• Focus on longevity, leadership, fit-to-major, and purpose in activities.
• Help students engage meaningfully with their community by setting achievable goals and breaking them into actionable steps.

Summer Program Guidance:

• Share resources and advise on programs that align with student interests and goals.

Exploring Majors:

• Use assessments and research to help students identify potential college majors.

College Visit Preparation:

• Provide planning tools and worksheets to make the most of campus visits.

Resume Building:

• Begin creating a resume early and update it regularly.

Test Preparation:

• Develop a timeline for standardized test prep, starting no later than the summer after sophomore year.

Understanding the Admissions Process:

• Focus on factors students can control versus those they cannot.

College Characteristics:

• Identify the characteristics of an ideal college, distinguishing between "wants" and "needs."

Balanced College List:

• Build a balanced list based on 20 characteristics the student identifies as important, including academic, social, financial, and geographic fit factors.
• Use College Kickstart and List Hero analyses to confirm a best-fit list

Demonstrated Interest:

• Develop a strategy for tracking and showing interest in prospective colleges.

College Research:

• Guide students through two levels of research: Level I is a general exploration of a college, including statistics, and Level II is a detailed investigation of a college’s missions, course offerings, and extracurriculars.

Essay Brainstorming:

• Begin brainstorming for personal statements and other application essays.

Teacher Recommendations:

• Provide worksheets for students to share with their teachers to facilitate recommendation writing.

Application Strategy:

• Help students and families decide on the best early and regular decision application strategies, while ensuring a balanced college list of best-fit colleges.

Essay Writing:

• Support students in crafting their personal statement and supplemental essays, beginning in late junior year or the summer before senior year.

Activity List:

• Help students develop a compelling and accurate activities list based on the resume we’ve been updating throughout high school.

Application Completion:

• Guide students in filling out applications such as the Common App and UC App.

Honors Colleges:

• Assist with applications to honors programs and colleges (may involve an additional fee).

Specialized Applications:

• Provide support for research, arts, and music supplements as needed (may involve an additional fee).

Interview Preparation:

• Prepare students for interviews (in-person, virtual, or recorded) as required by colleges.

Financial Aid and Merit Aid:

• Provide families with general information about financial aid and merit scholarships but note that I do not offer specialized financial aid guidance.