Developing a working college list no later than junior year, and finalizing it before senior year begins, is what sets the most competitive applicants apart.  If there's one thing about college admissions that high school students should learn upfront, it's that all roads in high school lead from where you intend to apply to college.  The colleges on your list will determine the minimum GPA you should aim for, which standardized tests you need take (and the scores required to make you a competitive candidate), how many essays you will need to write, what kind of scholarship opportunities may be available, which other application deliverables you may need to prepare, application/testing/scholarship deadlines, and much more.

 

Whether you're a sophomore or a senior, it's never too early to start thinking about where you aspire to attend college, and how you can start building your application assets to be a competitive candidate by the time you apply. In this post, I'll explain our five-step process to identifying your colleges of interest.  I'll also describe how I work with my college admissions consulting students to professionally guide them in developing their preliminary and final college lists.

 

Step 1: Start Early

Step 2: Consider Your Assets and Preferences

Step 3: Research Colleges

Step 4: Develop Your Preliminary College List

Step 5: Finalize Your College List

 

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Topics: College Admissions: Explore Early, 9th Grade - Freshmen, College Admissions: Excel Academically, College Admissions: Build Your Application Assets, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Apply Right, College Admissions: Test Well

 

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Topics: College Admissions, 9th Grade - Freshmen, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Apply Right

 

Of all the things college admissions officers evaluate in your application, your high school grades by far carry the most weight.  (As you'll see in the graph below, the next most important factors are, on average, the rigor of your coursework, your SAT/ACT scores, essay, and recommendations.)  As a high school student, what do you need to do today to ensure your GPA is competitive with the norms for the colleges and scholarships you're interested in before it's time to apply?

 

 

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Topics: 9th Grade - Freshmen, Downloads & Printables, College Admissions: Excel Academically, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, Anchorage

 

 

 

When it comes to college admissions, numbers aren’t everything—but how much do they count?  In this post, we’ll discuss the holistic college admissions evaluation process and the relative weights of various parts of your application.  We’ll also give you access to our latest publication, The Frontier 49, which features average GPAs and SAT/ACT scores, along with admission rates, for the 49 most popular colleges where Alaska students apply.

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Topics: College Admissions: Explore Early, 9th Grade - Freshmen, College Admissions: Excel Academically, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, College Admissions: Test Well, Anchorage

 

Did you know that it’s possible to go to college while you’re still in high school? Many well-known colleges and universities offer pre-college summer programs to provide motivated high school students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in life as a college student for several weeks over the summer.  Why might you consider a pre-college summer program, what do they offer, and what are the application requirements and deadlines?  Read on to find out.  We'll also highlight some example programs you can explore.

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Topics: College Admissions: Explore Early, 9th Grade - Freshmen, College Admissions: Build Your Application Assets, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, Anchorage

You probably know that getting into the college of your choice involves more than just good grades and test scores.  In fact, according to NACAC's 2014 "State of College Admission" report, over 50% of colleges attribute at least "moderate importance" to extracurricular activities in their admission decisions, and over 1 in 5 highly competitive colleges regard extracurriculars as an area of "considerable importance" when evaluating applicants.

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Topics: Extracurriculars, Mat-Su Valley, 9th Grade - Freshmen, College Admissions: Build Your Application Assets, 11th Grade - Juniors, 10th Grade - Sophomores, 12th Grade - Seniors, Anchorage