Why is College Counseling important?
These days, to get into a great college, great grades and test scores aren’t enough.
The purpose of this webinar is to show how College Planning at various grades starting from Freshman year is important in the overall college process and helps keep on track.
Develop your passions – Successful high school students find their strengths and passions and develop them to their fullest potential. Every student has unique talents and strengths.
Our results-oriented college planning process is about identifying your passions, developing them, and then finding colleges that will allow you to take your passions to the next level. Our organized comprehensive step-by-step counseling and guidance have helped numerous high school students reach the college of their dreams.
Here's what you'll learn
But here’s the problem: Many people, especially parents and students working on their own, mistakenly start planning for college at the applications deadline. How every that's too late! Without planning for college early or making an effort in creating a college profile, getting your colleges – makes it less fruitful and more stressful.
1
How to plan for college in Grade 9 —You can expect high school to be quite different from middle school. There will be more work in general, and it will be more challenging. Larger focus on college preparation in decisions you make — and classwork itself. More opportunities to explore and discover a specific field of interest.
2
How to plan for college in Grade 10 — The focus for 10th grade should be prerequisites. In order for a student to be eligible for challenging courses in 11th and 12th grade, such as AP classes, there are certain classes that need to be taken first. The focus needs to be on: How many AP and Honors classes to take? What SAT scores do they need to achieve? Which standardized tests are a must to reach their goals? How to improve their GPA.
3
Extracurricular Activities —Throughout 9th grade, it’s typical to see that students explore extracurricular activities. In 10th grade, it’s time for your student to narrow the focus on activities that will be the most beneficial. These are the activities your student is passionate about, the ones that relate to a subject area of interest, or that give back to the community.
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Volunteering—Service work is an important part of any college application, and it can be an integral part of your personal growth as well. Many universities explicitly state that they value when applicants make an impact and are connected to their community.
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Researching and Visiting Colleges —Many students and their families wonder if they should start to research and visit colleges in 10th grade. The short answer is — yes. There are pros and cons to diving into college research early in your student’s high school career.
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Standardized Tests — Standardized tests play a major role in today's college admissions. Take PSAT/NMSQT as a junior if you want to qualify for a National Merit Scholarship. Additionally, admissions officers tend to not like seeing students take the tests too many times. In general, the greatest score increases are between your first and second tests.
About your Instructor
Jothsna Kethar, Academic Coach and College Planner
Coach Jo is an Independent Educational Consultant and College Counselor. She is a certified Tony Robbins Life Coach. She trained to identify children's goals, be their supportive friend and trusted adviser. She has also Trained under Peg Dawson, EdD., a renowned psychologist. She uses this understanding to coach children to discover their strengths to overcome their hurdles and roadblocks on their path to success. She is a certified Meditation Instructor as well and strives to empower parents in their child’s educational journey. She completed her College Counseling course at UC Berkeley.
Building a customized college list is her specialty. She has put her students into affordable colleges, winning merit aid to the tune of $140,000.
What are students saying?
Shraddha
Won $140,000 in merit aid
"Coach Jo helped me find my passion and convey them in college application. She helped me extensively with building a college list. I'm happy to say that with Coach Jo's guidance I was able to get merit or scholarship from almost all colleges that I applied to."
Sia
Accepted at Cornell University
"Coach Jo helped me extensively with common app essays and supplements. Our brainstorming sessions helped me express my talents and personality in the College application. It was an extremely stressful process and Coach Jo helped me"
Sreya
Accepted at Georgia Tech, UGA, Mercer, University of Alabama, Pre-Med Track
"Coach Jo helped me with all aspects of college planning. We spent numerous hours crafting various aspects of the process. Her guidance helped me land merit aid with most colleges we applied to."
Anirudh
Accepted at Mercer, University of Florida, Hult
"I worked extensively with Coach Jo on various colleges, we spent quite some hours brainstorming topics for various supplemental essays. Due to her guidance I was able to get merit or scholarship from colleges. I also got accepted in almost all colleges that I applied to"
Megha
Accepted at Penn State, University of Delaware
“Coach Jo helped me build my confidence and try new things. Initially, I was interested in pursuing fashion, Coach Jo urged me to take a summer course on Fashion Designing to see if I was really interested, it was the best plan. I decided to pursue business as major and have got accepted to many colleges that I applied to."
