Enabling Students to Present Themselves in the Best Possible Manner, Showcasing Their Strengths to Prospective High Schools, Colleges, Universities, or Graduate Schools!
Select College Admissions’ counseling services are individually tailored to each student and the family’s needs and begins with an initial 1 – 1.5 hour meeting with both student and parents present. Our program is flexible as some students will require more help than others with the process.
Ideally, the first meeting with university-bound students should take place at the beginning of grade 9. Meetings at this stage might include career/interests/learning style/personality assessments as well as a review of strategies for success. We like to ensure that our students are on the right track with study skills, extracurricular activities, community service involvements, and leadership goals. We review coursework, beginning with grade 12 and work our way down to the current grade. We plan ahead for summer enrichment options, including jobs, internships as well as academic, athletic or service-oriented summer activities by reviewing program deadlines, recommendation requirements, and the student’s résumé. We have had successful experience with competitive summer programs in both Canada and the U.S. We meet with grade 11 students more often in order to get their timeline started for the following two years prior to university. It is essential that we work with grade 12 students during the summer prior to their grad year in order to review their last round of testing and to begin the university application process early: finalizing their university list with “likely”, “target”, and “reach” schools, ensuring that they finish drafts of their essays and begin the actual online applications. We, naturally, spend a substantial amount of time with our grade 12 students in the fall and winter, helping them with all components of their university applications.
We cover all facets of the admission process. In addition to face-to-face meetings, students have unlimited consultations online and/or via email. We invest time up front to listen to students and parents to learn what is most important to you in order to maximize your ability to fulfill your highest potential. We are, thus, committed to providing the following services and more:
- Assessments to tune-up student’s time management & organizational skills & to identify potential areas of academic focus in preparation for selection of a major/career
- Selecting ‘good fit’ universities where student will thrive; identifying students’ reach, target, & likely options;
- Strategic recommendation of suitable application deadlines to take maximum advantage of ED, ED2, EA, Rolling, & RD options
- Brainstorming effective essay ideas & responses to application questions, helping capture student’s unique voice & personality
- Review of applications & essays for content, structure & polish, fine-tuning the final product for effectiveness
- Referrals for academic tutoring, and for SAT/ACT prep, if required
- Recommendation letter guidance to facilitate organizing & requesting effective letters from teachers & guidance counselor
- Mock interview coaching to boost student confidence
- Planning for athletic recruitment in collaboration with specialists
- Activation on our Custom College Planning Platform to plan, research & for time management & establishing priorities & timelines
- Academic planning and Course selection to ensure a challenging & balanced curriculum
- Extracurricular planning to ensure engagement & leadership
- Enrichment planning to challenge student during the academic year & to ensure productive use of the summer break
- SAT & ACT preparation recommendations, planning of preparation methods & timelines
- Campus visit planning, advice & tools to schedule, evaluate & make the most of campus visits
- Guidance for correspondence with faculty, athletic coaches & other university officials, as appropriate
- Addressing deferrals or wait-lists & input into final decision
- Gap year planning for students who wish to take a year to pursue existing or new interests as a way of self-discovery
Throughout the process, we keep parents informed and in the loop with regular reports sent via our online platform.