From our very first meeting in the fall of our son’s junior year, you encouraged him to discuss all of his thoughts about college and listened carefully to all of our concerns. We were particularly impressed that you spoke with our son separately from us before meeting with all three of us, encouraging him to be a part of the process and to take ownership of it. After much discussion and exploration, you compiled a list of schools that met the criteria we were looking for and designed a schedule for the next year and a half that included visiting each college, standardized testing (SATs, SAT IIs), applications and interviews. You gave him a binder full of wonderful materials for him to read that covered the whole college application process as well as applying for financial aid. You then set up a schedule of times you would meet with him to help him at each juncture (i.e. reading over his college essays, practicing his interview skills, cutting the list of schools down when it came time to fill out applications).

By starting early and working closely with you both, it made the whole process both understandable and manageable, which helped to minimize both our and our son’s anxieties. Before he started his senior year, by following your schedule, he had completed all his college tours and standardized testing and could focus on a core group of schools, their applications and interviews. You were available to proofread every essay (each of the schools he applied to had extensive supplemental applications along with the common application) and to speak with him before every interview. You also held my hand through the financial aid maze of the CSS Profile and the FAFSA. Our son was the only one of his friends who was so organized and it paid off in the quality of his applications, allowing him the time he needed for each application so that the beauty and creativity of his writing could come through. While many of his friends did not get into their top choices, our son was accepted to all of his.