Fall is the perfect time for Juniors to visit colleges and universities.

Plan your college tours. Don’t wait until your summer break prior to senior year to tour campuses. The reason is because during the summer, the students aren't on campus and there are less official tours available. You simply would not get a good sense of the school’s academic and social environment. Not to mention you would be limited as far as campus areas that are open for you to visit.

Do your research so you know which colleges/universities you’re truly interested in. Don’t simply tour schools because they are in close proximity to home. Plan geographically where you want to visit. Take long weekends and vacation weeks to visit two schools per day in the same area. If you intend to tour local schools, use your half days to do so. (Shown: Gonzaga University)

SATs

Do you know about the SAT superscore? If you take the SATs more than once, most colleges allow you to take the best score from each SAT section and add them together creating a new composite score (i.e., your superscore).

Early Action Deadlines

Take advantage of Early Action deadlines if you qualify, in order to apply while the school still has plenty of funds available to provide for merit aid. For every financial need-based aid evaluation, start with the FAFSA. Merit aid is different from need based aid and is also why dollars and grades go together. The better the academic student is, the better your chance of getting merit aid by way of scholarships and grants. However not all schools offer merit aid and for those that do, you need to know what they have available in order to have realistic expectations of what your net cost could be.

PCCI's goal is to find the best fit at a school that is academically, socially and financially most appropriate, thereby putting your student in the best position to succeed in college and beyond. Allow PCCI to help set you up for success.

To arrange a complimentary PCCI consultation, simply email me or call 508-622-5250.

Best regards,

Honoria DaSilva-Kilgore, Esq.

nod@personalcollegecounseling.com