College Preparation for Seniors

Your Senior year of high school will be spent with one foot in the future and your other foot in the past, actively trying to build the bridge between them. It will be stressful, but it should not actually be difficult.

After ensuring you are caught up on the preparatory process, you will need to determine your college application plan and work through the whole application process, typically the Common App or something similar. You will likely need to request letters of recommendation from 1-3 teacher and mentors to confirm your outstanding qualities. You will need to grind through your senioritis in high-rigor courses, ideally AP, IB, or Dual-Enrollment courses that may convert into cheap college credits. You will also need to submit your financial aid forms (FAFSA, maybe also CSS) early in the year before you start foraging for scholarships in your spare time.

These are the basics of the process that most students go through without supplemental support. I provide much more personal support from application plan to execution for my clients (💰).

The Common App Expects

• A copy of your high school transcript
• A list of your activities, work, and responsibilities
• Academic honors and achievements
• Test scores and dates from your college entrance exams (SATs, ACTs, etc.) if applicable
• Parent/Legal guardian information, inclusive of educational background
• Letters of recommendation (specifics vary by college)
• Your personal statement essay from a Common App prompt
• Supplemental per-college essays (specifics vary)

Colleges will also require school documentation, like the “School Profile,” that should be supplied by your counselor or principal to the colleges you tell them you are applying to.

Athletes, artists, and performers may have additional non-academic application needs; students intending to study internationally will need a passport and suitable visas. I have no particular expertise with these.

Making Sense of It

But the bigger picture is that every college-bound high school senior is running a go-to-market campaign where they are the product, their application is the marketing copy, their teachers’ testimonials are their social proof, they are tracking financials and securing capital, and looking to get colleges to buy into them.

Most of my time supporting Senior clients (💰) is put into supporting their application plan—is Early Decision right for you?—and their writing of meticulously crafted personal statements and supplemental essays. But the tangible value I deliver is keeping the strategic big picture’s narrative coherency in mind while actively sitting with the student to talk through their tactical options, even down to meeting word count limits.

I provide support to clients who are pursuing either Early Decision or Regular Decision. A client may have both services at a discount, but I have not had a client who has needed both. Contact me if you are interested in these services✉️.