Transition to College: Find Your Great Fit Schools!
Current Students and Families, log in to Counselmore
So many choices—where do I start?
We’ll work with you and your family to discern what is important to you, what your strengths are, what your possible career directions might be, and what you want to get out of your time at college.
After we do a series of values surveys and personality/career assessments and your family considers its financial values, you’ll have a clearer idea of what you’re looking for and then we’ll do a match process to find likely, target, and reach schools that have what you want and also offer you a chance to contribute and thrive. We’ll take it one step at a time, so it won’t be overwhelming.
What should I write about in my essays?
Application essays and activities lists are totally different from any writing we learn about in high school. Schooling Doula has extensive experience and training in the top essay formats with tons of examples to help you create great story-pieces to help colleges see what makes you special and why you’d be a great fit for their campus community. Brynnen has done many hours of counselor training with the College Essay Guy Ethan Sawyer and has supported many students in getting into their first choice schools through essay guidance.
Again, we break essay and application writing down into manageable chunks so it isn’t overwhelming. We know you need to fit it in with school, work, extracurriculars, and family commitments.
Service options
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Introductory Session - 90 minutes
This is a comprehensive 90-minute meeting to provide a clear evaluation of your transcript, activities resume, and future goals, and to recommend courses and activities to position you well for college. We’ll discuss tools and resources to help you on your journey. When you decide to continue working together, this fee is applied to your package price. $195
Note: This is typically after the initial free 20-minute discovery Q&A, but sometimes families choose this as a first step. This is a great opportunity to see whether we would be a good fit for working together further.
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Complete College Counseling Package
This is the best value package with everything you need to get you to a college that fits your unique skills, goals, and interests, including Student Assessments of Aptitude and Interest, College List, Application and Essay Assistance, College Financial Planning Assistance + Career, Major, Course Registration and Extracurricular Advising
Up to 30 hours of support for the whole college search and application process. $4500 or Tiered Pricing Based on Income is Available.
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Post-High School Discernment Package
This package is for students and families who just want help with pre-application advising, discernment of post-high school plans (Work? Gap Year? Travel? 2-year college? 4-year college?), College Financial Aid Planning and/or College-List Development.
Up to 15 Hours of Assessment, Research, Advising, and Planning—no application support. Can be rolled into a Complete College or Gap -Year Counseling Package if desired. $2350 or Tiered Pricing Based on Income.
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Pre-College Planning: School and Activities Guidance for 8th-10th Graders
Allows you to reserve a spot on my class roster. We meet for up to 5 sessions to review academic course guidance, summer programs, personal development skills, and extracurricular activities. Beginning the summer before 11th grade, you begin working with me through your Complete College Consulting Package. $450 or Tiered Pricing Based on Income.
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Customized Service Blocks: 4 or 8 Hours
Purchase a pre-paid block of time to be used for any service that you need. The choice is yours! Possibilities include: Mock Interviews, Activities resume brainstorming or editing, Preparing for college visits, Personal Statement/Essay brainstorming, Essay editing (including reading/commenting time--not just time in meetings), Application review, Academic course selection/testing advice, Extracurricular and/or summer activities advice, and List review and revise. $700 for 4-hour block, $1350 for 8-hour block.
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Hourly Consultation
Information and advice about school planning and/or application process to families, students, and/or parents alone.
$195 per hour or Tiered Pricing Based on Income
A reduced hourly rate is available to any package family who requests more time than is originally planned.
Application and Essay Workshops
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Personal Statement Launch
Come to this workshop get started on writing your personal statement--the essay that almost every college or university will review as part of your application for admissions.
During the 2 hour workshop (90-minutes + 30 minutes for Q&A) we will use a variety of exercises to help you brainstorm and then we will get started outlining and drafting. You will also be offered access to many personal statement essay examples and helpful templates for writing different types of essays.
After your initial brainstorming session, submit your outline and/or initial draft for review and we will give you feedback. The workshop includes the brainstorming session to help you find your story, plus one full essay review submitted before August 5.
This is included for Comprehensive Clients or $200.
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College Application and Essay Bootcamp
Complete a solid draft of your college application(s) by the end of the week. Some pre-work required. Work on the Common Application and/or Coalition Application and state-specific applications.
Revise your personal statement; Organize and begin working on supplemental essay prompt; Complete your resume and activities list; Complete your high school counselor’s brag sheet; Practice college interviews
This is a 15-16 hour workshop during a summer week. 2022 weeks are either July 18 or August 1. Format is in person or Zoom (depending on week.)
This is included for Comprehensive Clients and $1500 or Sliding Scale Otherwise.
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University of California Application Workshop
If your college application list includes University of California Schools--this Zoom workshop is for you. The UC application has 4 Personal Insight Questions (PIQs) instead of the personal statement asked for by most other schools. Their activities list is also very different from other schools. Come hear about what the UCs are looking for and get started writing your PIQs. In the follow up session, after you have done drafting for homework, we will go through your drafts and offer feedback on a few students' essays in the group and have time for everyone to get some feedback. UCs also ask you to declare a major of interest. We will share tips for researching which major(s) to list at which schools. The workshop includes the application how-to session, plus one essay or document review submitted within 30 days of the initial session.
This is included for Comprehensive Clients or $200.
Schooling Doula Transition to College Services
We can help you answer:
Where should I apply? Where should I start looking? College research assistance: suggestions for schools to start looking at, coaching in how to do college research, a template for organizing information in a shared online platform (that will come in handy during essay-writing), deadlines for getting it done, coaching for preparing for virtual and in-person visits, listening and consulting as you reflect on your research--what do you like and what do you dislike? What feels like a good fit? Liberal Arts College? HBCU? Big State U? College Promise and then transfer?
What am I looking for in a school community? What do I have to bring? We do a series of short questionnaires and values exercises to help discern what makes you amazing. Clarifying your values and strengths helps with everything from deciding what activities and coursework to pursue in high school to which majors to pursue in college to which colleges are the best fit for you and what you want to write about in your essays.
How should I spend my time? What courses should I take? Should I do Running Start? Which extracurriculars are a good fit for me? What might I do in the summers and on breaks? What are colleges looking for? Should I try to continue my activities or sports in college?
What is the timeline for applying? Should I apply Early Action or Early Decision? What’s the difference? How can it fit with my existing workload?
What am I good at? What majors might be good fits for me? Which majors lead to careers I’m well suited for? If you work with Brynnen, you get access to a paid service/assessment to help discern strengths and possible majors/careers.
What if I am undecided and want to use college as a time to explore? (Great!)
What should I write about in my essays? We will do a series of brainstorming exercises to give you a starting place both for your main personal statement and for any required supplementals.
What are colleges looking for in an essay? College essays are a unique genre unlike what we are taught in school. It’s more of an informal personal montage along a theme—we’ll look at examples, break it down into categories and typical formats and then draft and revise until you’ve put your best foot forward in 600 words or less.
What activities should I put on my college resume? You have a limited amount of space to fit it all—we will prioritize those activities that help you tell the story of who you are and what you will bring to the college community. We will help package your activities and interests in a format that helps colleges see how much they need you on their campus.
Will college accommodate my learning needs? If you have an IEP or a 504, we can support you in finding a good-fit school and in getting the support available once you enroll.
Can we afford it? Financial Aid Fit Coaching: We will support you and your family in completing the forms and financial aid and/or scholarship applications to help determine what your target schools might be before you create your college application list. This is an important family conversation Brynnen has supported with many families, including two-household families. Our shared subscription software offers QuatroMoney and a professional version of CollegeAidPro both of which will help evaluate projected costs to guide college list-building and also help you complete the forms step by step.
Should I take the test? Which one? Should I submit my scores? ‘Depends on which schools you’re targeting; we’ll do the research and make a plan to prepare, test, and submit if that’s what’s needed, or to apply without scores if that’s what’s indicated. The shared software has data to compare your performance to currently enrolled students at most colleges so you see “what your chances” are.
Should I consider a gap year? Many students do this and we can consider whether this is a good fit for you and what you might do with that year.
Transfer? If I want to transfer to a different college or university—how does that work?
Coaching is also available to:
Prepare for visits with college reps
Prepare for a college interview
Prepare for a virtual or in-person college visit or plan a college visit itinerary
Communicate with college admissions counselors and financial aid officers
Review offers and/or aid packages prior to enrollment
Work the waitlist
Support for FAFSA and CSS
Apply as a recruitable athlete—can also refer you to PerfectCollegeMatch.com or rlopezcoaching.com for complete services for aspiring college D1 or D2 athletes.
Answer any other questions/issues.
Brynnen is a trained Ph.D. researcher and loves to learn—she also loves connecting people with resources, so if you’re wondering about something she’ll find the person or place that can get you the answer.
Schooling Doula
College Admissions Coaching
Are you ready to jump into finding your college home?
Book a Consultation
We support your journey to finding your best fit schools!