Answers to your most common questions about college counseling

What does a college counselor do?

Think of us as tutors who specialize in the college admission process. While your school-based counselor is vital to your college process, we are able to meet at length with you individually and are available to work with you after school hours and on weekends. We help you think through what your priorities should be in forming your college list, and we help you navigate the application process (which has lots of tasks and deadlines) without missing a step! As specialists in college admission, we are able to visit multiple colleges to experience their cultures first hand so that you can benefit from our experience.

When should we start the college application process?

While the actual application process can start comfortably as early as the spring of the junior year, the college counseling process benefits from being part of the entire high school experience.

When is the best time to work with a college counselor?

We recommend at least a “check-in” consultation in 9th and 10th grades, with more engaged counseling starting before the end of 10th grade. This gives you the time to explore potential majors and careers as well as types of colleges before building your actual college list in the spring of 11th grade. As early as 9th grade, we can also help students brainstorm about summer experiences to explore potential majors or come up with ideas for projects to make an impact on their community. And if you did not start early, please know that it is never too late. January of the junior year is a popular time to start.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you are even later in the process. Having a knowledgeable guide is the best way to get a lot done in a short amount of time.

What if we only need help with essays?

We can offer essay coaching services only. In our experience, families often think that they only need help with essays, but often they actually need more. In our first complimentary meeting, we will assess your situation and make a recommendation about what services would be best. We will never recommend more services than you truly need, and we will not recommend that you engage us at all if we do not think that is necessary for you to be successful in your admission dreams.

Can you help us with course selection?

Absolutely. Our experience spans multiple high schools across the US, Canada, China, France, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland and the UK. We know exactly what to recommend both within your school and beyond, if appropriate.

Do colleges prefer some activities over others?

We believe that most colleges would like to see you make an impact on the community around you, whether that is your school, family, team, church, city or even beyond. Where and how you make that impact is up to you; but we believe that using your unique talents and motivations, you can find a way to be a change agent. And we’d like to help! Colleges will be delighted to see a variety of activities—whatever engages you.

Do we have to know what my student’s major is or which colleges they want to apply to before we work with a counselor?

Nope. That’s what we are here to help you figure out! With a big focus on self-discovery, our comprehensive college counseling services are designed to guide students on how to both apply to schools and how to select schools (and majors) that fit them best. Learn more about these services.

Where are you based? Is counseling done in-person or virtually?

Though we’re headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, we partner with families everywhere via virtual meetings and support. We love helping students and parents like you navigate the college admissions process wherever you may be in the world!