Sacramento is known for being a tourist attraction, but for the kids who grew up in California’s Capital City, they know it’s a city rich with history and natural beauty. Our kids also know that life is a little bit like Ladybird…our students are whip smart while they’re a little thirsty for life in a bigger city, though they know they’ve grown up in a wonderful place. As mentioned, we find our Sacramento-based students are eager to fly the nest and head to bigger cities on other coasts. College is competitive. Like, really, really competitive these days. Schools often restrict their admissions in a particular region meaning, California-based high schoolers are competing against each other. And there are an awful lot of them!
Each university has a unique personality and they want to attract applicants who match their personality. Our approach is to help students identify and then match with the schools that best fit their own unique vibe. Yes, we want our kids to get into top-tier schools (and they do!) But we also want them to go to a school they’ll love.
Sacramento Admissions Counseling: Our Strategy
See below for a taste of how we help our clients:
Timeline: We spend a lot of time getting to know each of our clients. The college application process should be a customized experience and it’s different for everyone. We also believe it’s a four-year process that’s more manageable for students who get started early. This is a sample timeline we built for a junior who was working with us since sophomore year:
January-May: Build out all extracurriculars, tour schools
May- Finalize college list
June- Finish Common Application
July- Gather all materials for application
August – Write supplemental essays
December- Supplement deadline
Extracurriculars: Our method also depends on helping students develop a niche throughout high school. This should be an academic brand of sorts (the more specific the better) that helps them stand out in the crowd and show their choice schools why they’re the perfect fit academically. A big part of developing your brand is your extracurriculars. We help students take on activities that are not only impressive to schools, but interesting to our clients. We also coach them on developing leadership positions, which is crucial for getting into top schools.
Essays: We focus a lot of energy on essays, which we believe help applicants stand out. The key is story-telling. We work with our students to develop original ideas and craft unique essays that display different character traits. Then, we edit to perfection.
College Lists: Our goal is to help students match with schools they’ll be happy with. The key to this is knowing what they don’t want in a school. We support our clients in touring schools (even if virtually in the pandemic) and learning what they are looking for in a school. Then, we work carefully to build a balanced list of schools that match their personality.
Connecting with a Sacramento Counselor
We are experts in helping students get organized around the college application process. While we love to help students develop a plan for all four years of high school, we can work with students at any point in their high school careers, from rising sophomores hoping to get ahead, to stressed-out seniors who didn’t get into their Early Decision choice.
Reach out to us here.