I recently sat down and had a talk with Liam Dunfey, college counselor with University Advisors Admissions Specialists about his experiences working with students over the years. Here are the three most important things I learned from that conversation. 1) The best time to get in touch with a college counselor? After first semester ends Junior year. At that point, the student still has plenty of time to do lots of research (and visits!) to schools they’re interested in. On the other hand it’s late enough in the student’s career that the college counselor will have a good idea of the student’s profile and what kinds of schools they will have a good chance of being accepted to, and the student will have some clearer ideas of what fields they are interested in. There is a lot more to the college application process than filling out paperwork, and getting started sooner rather than later can take a lot of stress out of it. That said, some students can benefit from reaching out earlier, especially students that are having a tough time figuring out what their interests and strengths are. A college counselor can help with planning classes and activities that will lead to the student’s having the transcript and resume that is going to lead to success in their applications   2) One of the toughest challenges of the college counseling process for parents is their student's changing interests over time. It isn’t uncommon for students to begin the college counseling process with one idea of where they want to be and what they want to do, only to do a complete 180 during the process. It’s important for parents to remember that 6 months is a big chunk of life for a teenager (compared to that same period of time for parents) and that they are still going to be doing a lot of learning about themselves (maybe more than they’ve ever done!) during the college counseling process. This means that a student might end up in a very different place than they initially thought they would, and that’s OK!   3) For current Juniors who have not done much to explore their college options, the most important step they can take TODAY (outside of calling a college counselor!) is to talk to a trusted adult in their life that has been to college so that they can start getting an idea of the scope of the task ahead. Ideally this is something that can help shepherd and mentor them through the process. This could be mom or dad, a family friend or relative, or a teacher or school counselor. Graduating high school and transitioning to college is a HUGE step, and it can be scary for a student to take a close look at a task and find out how enormous it is, which can lead to procrastination. Even if the adult is not a college expert, they can still help the student find the information they need and plan out what needs to be done to make successful applications. Give Liam Dunfey a call (1.619.865.1498) or email (Liam@admissionspecialists.com) at University Advisors Admissions Specialists to learn more about the college application process today. -Vince