Helping students and families worldwide navigate the college admissions process
When to begin college advising is a personal decision that varies by student. Planning for college should not get in the way of adjusting to or enjoying high school, but early preparation and familiarity with the path ahead can mean less stress for everyone.
By midway through Sophomore year, many students have had a chance to adapt to high school and are ready to implement plans for creating a strong college narrative. Vacations/weekends during Sophomore year and the summer thereafter are great times for relaxed campus visits. For these reasons, most families opt to begin college advising during Sophomore year. I require a full year Freshman transcript to initiate the intake process.
**In 2025-26, as I will not be building a cohort of package advisees for the high school class of '27, due to my residence overseas. I will be advising new families only on an hourly basis.
For many students, Junior year is when they begin to focus on college in earnest. Juniors and their families traditionally use spring vacations to visit multiple campuses, which is very helpful in finalizing a college list. Before visiting colleges seriously, it makes sense to speak with an advisor, to discuss a plan for selecting and evaluating schools. I may or may not have package advising availability for Juniors, but I offer hourly advising and College Kickstart meetings, to orient families to the admissions and college list-building process, or to focus on particular tasks. These tasks can include both application planning and preparation. I typically take on a few Juniors in early or mid-year as "regular" rather than "episodic" hourly clients, which means they receive scheduling priority over new clients looking to schedule time later in the summer or in senior year.
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Senior year is a bit late to plug into the process but may be the best or only option available, depending on circumstances. I may or may not have regular availability during early application season in the fall (package clients have standing weekly meetings in that period and all existing clients have priority), but I am often able to plug in hourly with students during the fall, and more frequently after November 1.
A Word about Freshman Advising: I generally do not work on a regular basis with freshman students. While there are some advisors who do, it's my opinion that the first year of high school should be about high school; there is plenty of time for college prep later. That said, I do offer Family Consults for parents and/or students who wish to better understand what lies ahead. Critical at this juncture is course planning for high school, since courses taken, not just GPA, matter to college admissions offices. This sort of road-mapping and expectation setting is very useful and highly advisable.