Senior Year College Counseling: What to Know and How to Prepare

The college application period is a tricky time in your student’s life. How do you go about choosing a school? What are the requirements of that school? How do you pick a major? How much do grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities factor in? What are the deadlines? There is a lot to navigate, and most schools offer senior year college counseling. This can be a huge advantage in getting ahead of all the logistics involved in the application process.

If you know the right things to research and the right questions to ask!

Getting an early start is important and most students are advised to start assessing their needs and thinking about what they want to study before their senior year even begins. Some of these decisions involve doing a deep dive into what they want in a school:

Their major and areas of study (if they are going into marine biology, choose schools near an ocean!)
In-state or out-of-state
The size of the campus
The student population and social atmosphere (diversity, culture, activities, student life, etc)
Climate
Proximity to necessities

Once your student starts meeting with their college counselor, here are some of the topics they will want to address:

Their major selection
Schools they are interested in, their admission requirements, and acceptance rates
Application deadlines including those for early action and early decision
Financial aid and how to apply
Scholarships and how to apply
Transcript and test score review
Entrance essays
Resume building
How to interview and interact with admissions representatives
Getting letters of recommendation

With all this information, and the deadlines associated with it, it would be helpful to start a file (digital or analog) to keep track of questions, information, and pertinent application items. Having the information at hand may eliminate the “oh I forgot to…” moments that are easy to come by during this hectic period. Include a calendar of important deadline dates, interview appointments etc. to also keep your student organized.

A commitment to the college counseling process is vital in making sure the things go smoothly. Your student should be motivated to:

Keep open lines of communication between themselves, their parents, and their counselors
Follow directions to the letter
Complete and submit their applications by the deadlines
Write the essays themselves. Admissions reps know when a parent has penned the essay!
Send in their test scores if applicable
Prepare for and schedule their college interviews
Help you understand the financial aid process, and what documents are required

Your role, as a parent or guardian, in college counseling is to:

Commit to a weekly day/time to discuss progress and all things college, rather than daily to avoid burnout
Provide information as necessary (tax forms, personal information, educational background etc.)
Become familiar with how financial aid, loans, and scholarships works along with the costs associated with your student’s education
Resist the urge to push your student into applying at schools they have no interest in
Understand that some factors are out of your student’s control

Given this is a stressful time, encouragement and emotional support is critical. Going into this process it is important to know that the college admissions climate is changing, and sometimes even a flawless application is not enough. College acceptance does not measure your student’s self-worth!

Interested in BASIS Charter Schools? Learn more about our innovative and in-depth college counseling program by checking out this article, College Bound with BASIS Charter Schools.

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Sharon Enck