ApplyWise
is a company that offers a service that is gaining popularity -
college admission counseling.
If you are a parent with a child in high school then you are feeling the stress of the college applications process. The entire family tends to suffer as their budding collegian rides the admissions roller coaster. Applying to college is not what it used to be. The competition is tough and helping your child stand out from the crowd is a challenge. I have seen my friends go through it, and although my oldest son is still in middle school I see college on the horizon. Never one to turn down a little help, I was intrigued to learn about ApplyWise, a company that provides college admission guidance.
ApplyWise has two major components, a series of 12 online program sessions in the full program (or six sessions if you opt for the abbreviated program) and the “Dashboard”. The 12 program sessions are online and last for 30 to 45 minutes apiece. They are not live one on one sessions but rather seem more like mini-courses that walk your child through each step of the college application process. The following is a list of what each session in the ApplyWise program covers:
Session 1 - Your Initial Plan
Session 2 - Build Your “Brag Sheet” Resume
Session 3 - Create Your College List
Session 4 - Narrow Down Your LIst
Session 5 - How to Visit Your Colleges
Session 6 - Write Your Activity Essay
Session 7 - Decide When to Apply
Session 8 - Get the best Letters of Recommendation
Session 9 - Write your Personal Statements
Session 10 - Put Together Your Whole Application
Session 11 - Prepare for Interviews
Session 12 - What to do if you are deferred, waitlisted or rejected.
Through the use of interactive exercises, games, and examples your child will narrow in on their goals, assemble their college list, learn interview skills, create a brag sheet, learn which people will provide the best letters of recommendation and more.
Keeping track of all this information is also difficult. The second component of the ApplyWise college admission counseling program helps your child with the organizing. Referred to as the “Dashboard”, the ApplyWise program includes access to this powerful online tool.
The dashboard is a place where your child will keep track of important dates such as testing dates and application deadlines as well as self imposed due dates for intermediate steps. The dashboard also maintains information on the colleges that your child is applying to. This includes general info like college profiles and statistics to personalized info like contact name and notes. On their dashboard, the student will keep track of their progress through the program sessions, they will also be able to create and print essential application documents like their brag sheet. Included here are video Q&A, interactive graphs and expert tips. In addition, students can sign up for email or text message reminders.
But ApplyWise is not only for high school juniors and seniors but also for their parents. This is the part of the program that I really like. At a time when children are asserting their independence in life, it is hard for parents to keep tabs on their kids activities without nagging or becoming overbearing. Tempers often flare resulting in heated arguments. But the college application process is so critical to a child’s future and so complex that parent involvement is a must. The ApplyWise program includes a Parents Dashboard, too! Parents are given their own login to a Parent’s homepage that is linked to their child’s dashboard. Here parents can monitor their child’s progress through the program sessions (1), weekly calendar (2), test dates (3), application documents (4), tasks (5), colleges (6), and more online tools (7).
So now I know you are asking - How much does all of this good stuff cost? Not as much as you may think. The ApplyWise 12 program session is an affordable $299 at the time of this writing. Compared to programs that cost thousands of dollars ApplyWise offers a lot of value. For the $299 you get the program itself and access to your dashboard from the time you sign up through June of your senior year. That is almost 2 years. Another great feature of ApplyWise college admission counseling program is the ability to schedule one on one telephone coaching sessions for an additional cost. If you have more personalized questions or need a little additional guidance you can schedule just one telephone coaching session with a qualified counselor or as many sessions as you need. But the beauty is that you don’t need to commit to a series of sessions, you can purchase one at a time.
To find out more about the ApplyWise college application resource, visit the ApplyWise website. You will learn more about the program and about the founder - Dr. Katherine Cohen who has an impressive background in college admissions coaching and several ivy league degrees of her own. She is also the founder of IvyWise, another admissions counseling company that has an impressive track record for helping it’s students earn admission to the college of their choice.
And just for the record, this post does contain affiliate links. Also, if I have piqued your interest - check back here at Parenting Tips at NeenMachine.com in the next few days for an awesome giveaway! I will be holding a contest where one lucky person will win a full 12 session program of the ApplyWise College Admission Counseling program. Stay tuned for more details.
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