College Admissions Consulting FAQs

 

 

To help you in your decision-making process, we have compiled our top 10 FAQs on college admissions consulting.  If you have additional questions, please contact us and we would be happy to speak with you.

 

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What kind of student should consider a college admissions consulting (CAC) plan?

What will we do together in a comprehensive CAC plan?

Okay, I understand the services.  But exactly what will I get/do in a CAC plan, day by day?

Which plan should I choose?

When should I sign up?

What is the difference between a CAC plan and what I do with my high school counselor?

Can I succeed in the college admissions process on my own?

How often will we meet and communicate outside sessions?

How are parents involved in the CAC plans?  Do parents come to sessions?

What are your admissions outcomes?

 


 

 

What kind of student should consider a college admissions consulting plan?

 

College admissions consulting plans are for 10th - 12th grade students who would benefit from expert, professional guidance in any or all of the following areas:

 

  • Assessing their college and career goals
  • Determining which colleges to apply to
  • Strategizing, formulating, editing, and revising essays and personal statements
  • Identifying and applying for financial aid and scholarships
  • Monitoring and prioritizing of tasks, dates, and deadlines
  • All questions related to the college admissions and athletics advising process

 

A college admissions consulting plan works equally well for high achievers with exact targets, students recovering from achievement below their potential, and students who are undecided on colleges or majors.

 

What will we do together in a comprehensive college admissions consulting plan?

 

We work together (and consider input from your parents and guidance counselor) to create the most effective college application profile for you. This process may include any or all of the following items, organized under our four foundations of college admissions success.  In addition to the specific services listed below, throughout your plan, we will:

 

  • Answer any questions about the college admissions process from parents or students
  • Serve as an advisor to, and mediator between, parent and student
  • Provide session summary reports to parents if requested and parents not at session

 

Excel Academically Transcripts: Reviewing transcripts and planning coursework
Test Well Standardized Testing: Which tests (SAT/ACT, SAT Subject Test, AP tests, etc.) to include on your applications, when to prepare for and take these tests, what scores mean in relation to colleges
Build Your Application Assets Extracurriculars: Discussing strategy for extracurriculars and choosing specific activities over time
Explore Early & Apply Right

Assessments: Intake survey and a battery of up to four assessments to help develop your list of target colleges of majors

 

Campus Visits: Planning campus visits – when, where, registration, preparing questions for various constituencies, etc.

 

Application Strategy

  • College List: Finalizing your college list over time to achieve a balanced list of reach, match, and likey colleges
  • Early Action/Early Decision: Determining whether it is advantageous to apply early action/early decision to school(s) on your list
  • Majors: Reviewing the pros and cons of applying declared vs. undeclared

 

Essays & Personal Statements - Planning & Editing

  • Before August 1 of your senior year: Creating Common App account, completing writing and brainstorming exercises, selecting Common App prompts, identifying most effective basis/experience/topic/theme, drafting/editing/revising responses
  • After August 1 of your senior year: Reviewing Common App school supplements, individual school applications/essays (e.g., University of California), repurposing and adapting Common App essay themes as applicable


Recommendations: Choosing and requesting counselor/teachers, developing your brag sheet/planning sheet

 

Interviews: Preparing for interviews; mock interviews

Dates & Deadlines: Monitoring deadlines and deliverables in CustomCollegePlan, our online portal

 

Financial Aid & Scholarships: Identifying financial and and scholarships, completing the FAFSA, monitoring dates/deadlines/requirements for application/merit-based scholarships, reviewing scholarship essays

 

Deciding Among Acceptances: Making final matriculation determination based on prioritized criteria of best fit, including evaluating financial aid offers

 

Athletics AdvisingIf interested in playing competitive college athletics

 

 

Okay, I understand the services.  But exactly what will I get/do, day by day?

 

See this blog post.

 

Which plan should I choose?

 

We offer three premium college admissions consulting plans.  The Comprehensive plan is our most popular option.

 

  • Comprehensive: If you need assistance identifying college (and possibly major/career) interests, in addition to professional guidance during the college application process
  • Optimizing Your Applications: If you have already developed your target college list and want professional guidance in applying
  • College List: If you need assistance identifying colleges (and possibly majors/careers) of best fit but intend to complete the application process on your own

 

 

In addition, we offer two premium athletics advising plans.

 

If you're still not sure which plan is right for you:

 

  • Get started with North to My Future, your free, individualized college admissions strategy session.
  • If you have already completed North to My Future, sign up for 1 hour initial consultation with our college counselor for $150.  If you purchase any of the premium plans above, we will roll the cost of the consultation into the plan.

 

When should I sign up?

 

If choosing the Comprehensive plan, we recommend starting sometime between the summer before junior year and the summer before senior year.  See the table below:

 

Time

Start Now If...

Summer Before Junior Year or

Fall Semester of Junior Year

You want the full benefit of college counseling while you can still change your trajectory (e.g., take different courses, sign up for different  extracurriculars, etc).  College counseling activities unique to sophomores and fall semester juniors include:

-Full battery of assessments related to college and major/career selection

-Transcript review and coursework planning

-Extracurriculars review and planning

-Standardized testing strategy and planning

Spring Semester of Junior Year or

Summer Before Senior Year

You believe you are on a solid academic/coursework/extracurricular trajectory and will need help mostly with finalizing your college list and applying to colleges.  We recommend enrolling in a college admissions consulting plan no later than this time so you can take advantage of the summer before senior year to work on your application essays.
Fall Semester of Senior Year You just learned about us!

 

What is the difference between a CAC plan and what I do with my high school counselor?

 

Your Frontier Tutoring college admissions counselor will work in cooperation with your high school guidance counselor. We serve as an enhacement to, not a replacement for, your guidance counselor. Guidance counselors are extremely important because they review your transcripts, help you choose appripriate courses for graduation, send colleges the official school report, as well as write recommendation letters. While guidance counselors are highly knowledgeable and excellent at delivering on their core functions, unfortunately in Alaska, each counselor is responsible for an average of 428 students.  For this reason, most guidance counselors simply do not have the time to work one-on-one with students on specialized college admissions matters, nor do they always have the resources that are available to an independent college counselor.

 

Can I succeed in the college admissions process on my own?

 

Yes, but it will require discipline, organization, and oftentimes extensive research.  Even our most self-motivated and highest achieving students agree that having a trusted advisor to guide them through this complex process relieves added stress and saves valuable time.

 

How often will we meet and communicate outside sessions?

 

You will receive a custom college planning portal account and communicate with your college admissions counselor via face-to-face meetings, phone calls, emails, and our online messaging system.  The frequency and duration of meetings and other communications depends on your needs and the number of hours included in the plan you choose.  For an idea of how often students meet in a comprehensive plan, view this blog post.


How are parents involved?  Do parents come to the sessions?

 

Typically we recommend that parents attend the first session to help provide background information.  Students attend most other sessions by themselves, although parents are always welcome if the student would like them to attend.  Parents often choose to join sessions related to topics such as financial aid and scholarships, or make final decisions among acceptances.  Other than that, many students feel more comfortable talking about their goals independent of their parents.

 

Throughout the process, parents are also welcome to email or call their student's college admissions counselor directly.  Additionally, we are happy to provide parents with session summary reports if requested.

 

 

What are your admissions outcomes?

 

Since 2014, 93% of our students have been admitted to their first choice colleges and 100% have been admitted to at least one of their top five colleges.  Some of our students' acceptances include Dartmouth, West Point, the University of Chicago, the United States Air Force Academy, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Washington. View a full list of where our students are being accepted and what they are saying about their experiences with Frontier Tutoring.

 

 

 


 

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