College Counseling | Admission Help
College Admission Counseling
We work closely with students and families to assist in a successful college process and outcomes.
We believe that the college process should support the aspirations that are unique to each student. Our college counseling program is intended to open students’ minds to possibilities and to assist each of our students as they identify, apply for and ultimately choose their next step after graduation.
At SMARTS, the college counseling process includes:
Step 1: Know Yourself and determine your College Major: Including your goals, strengths/weaknesses, wants, desires from schools, programs, and expectations. If you can decide on a college major before looking at schools, this will help you weed out schools that don’t offer the programs you’re looking for
Step 2: Explore College Options according to the Major of your choice. You will also be able to search top schools based on your area of interest and build your “Apply To” list off of that. (For example – the top 10 engineering or business schools) Look for schools that are a “right-fit” for all your needs and wants.
Step 3: Gather & Submit Your Supplemental Material and Apply: Your application isn’t complete until you submit your resume, reference letters, essays, and the like. You can start getting these things ready before you apply, but it may help to tailor some of your supplemental material to the individual schools and programs.
Step 4: Start the Financial Aid Process: Fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and apply for scholarships. There are millions of dollars out there just waiting to be tapped into.
Step 5: Wait for Admissions Decisions and Decide on a School: Now you have to decide which one most closely fulfills all the items on your checklist of criteria.