The Best U College Admissions Consulting

Topics Financial aid process — overview of the process, eligibility criteria, application timeline, deadlines, and strategies, how to read financial aid award packages, what to look out for, direction on how to fill out applications, and navigate special circumstances/financial aid appeals We bill in 15-minute increments for meetings, post-meeting notes, research, any type of correspondence, reviewing of essays and applications, and more. Overall understanding of cost of college and creating a college finance plan Services & Pricing Either hourly meetings or college affordability package offered for all ages groups. We do charge for any time spent over 15 minutes for meetings, research, any type of correspondence, and more. 1ST CLIENT MEETING RATE WITH JENNA $175 per hour This meeting can be applied to and used as the first meeting of the package below and the price will be the package rate only. HOURLY RATE WITH JENNA $175 per hour (1st mee...

The ACT just announced changes in the testing policies. Below are the ways that the ACT is now making it easier for students to test! If you have not considered taking the ACT, I would encourage you to take a practice ACT to see if it is a better option for you. Keep in mind that colleges will accept either the ACT or SAT, so it is most important for you to take the test that is best fit for you. Check out the new updates with the ACT… The ACT just announced the following  here . Beginning with the September 2020 national ACT test date, students will have more options when taking the ACT: ACT Section Retest —  Students who have already completed a full ACT test can choose to retake one or more sections (English, math, reading, science, or writing) without having to retake the entire test. Superscore reporting —  To support the growing trend of students taking the ACT test multiple times, score reports will now include a calculated ACT Superscore, along with an ACT Comp...

The Best U  consists of a team of experienced college counselors that help students to achieve a more seamless college search and application process. The Best U team uses their experience as university admissions counselor and high school college counselors to take the guesswork out of the college admissions process. This can be a challenging time for students and parents alike, but they can help alleviate the uncertainties that are created by the nuanced, and often mysterious, college admissions process. With insider’s knowledge and individualized attention, they make the process less about managing the stressful process and more about the student’s individual success. Learn more —   https://thebestu.net/

Meet Lauren Dodington ! Lauren Dodington  received a B.A. in Sociology from Vassar College and holds a Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government. Since 2005, Lauren has devoted her career to developing the potential of students and professionals in the fields of education and college access, working in both school and community based organizational settings in New York, Philadelphia and New Haven, CT. Most recently, Lauren was the Director of College Counseling at a leading public charter school in New Haven, Connecticut where she built a student-centered college counseling program and partnered with colleagues across the college landscape. In the spring of 2019, Lauren launched College Vision Consulting to continue to share her empowering and effective approach to college counseling with schools and organizations. As a counselor, Lauren is passionate about partnering with her students and their families and empo...

When I look at the photo included on this blog post, I think of me as a mother and my deep desire to be with my kids every step of the way. As I write this blog, I am coming at it from two ways:  as an almost twenty-year veteran in college admissions sharing my experiences of what seems to work, and  as a mother of a teenager and pre-teen trying to practice what I preach with my own children. Parents often ask me what their role should be in their student’s college admissions process. There is definitely a healthy way to be involved and a not-so-healthy way. Your whole goal of the college admissions process is to support your student through the transition to adulthood. Being mindful of this goal can help bring this process into perspective and make for a more amicable experience with your student. After dedicating almost two decades of my professional life to the college admissions process, I have discovered the more parents can allow for students to be self-refl...

If you plan on applying for financial aid to help reduce the cost of college, then check out this video. Financial aid expert, Jenna Greenwood, provides advice on how to maximize your opportunities to get more financial aid.  Learn more —   https://thebestu.net/

This is a tough question to answer because it all depends on the type of schools you want to apply to. A strong score for one school may be a noncompetitive score for another school. Instead of getting fixated on a particular test score being a “good score”, I recommend two things. Take practice tests so you can start to determine your testing abilities, strengths/weakness, and you can start to see what range you are testing within. Or work with a testing expert to help you to determine your testing goals, the scores you will most likely achieve, and determine testing abilities and limitations. Start identifying schools you are interested in and check out the average test scores. Typically colleges will either post the middle 50th percentile test score of their accepted or enrolled freshmen students. A great resource to use to check the average ACT and SAT scores for accepted students is by going to Collegedata.com. Collegedata has wonderful admissions information, so you...

We help families learn how to navigate the financial aid and scholarship process. Topics Financial aid process — overview of the process, eligibility criteria, application timeline, deadlines, and strategies, how to read financial aid award packages, what to look out for, direction on how to fill out applications, and navigate special circumstances/financial aid appeals We bill in 15-minute increments for meetings, post-meeting notes, research, any type of correspondence, reviewing of essays and applications, and more. Overall understanding of cost of college and creating a college finance plan Services & Pricing Either hourly meetings or college affordability package offered for all ages groups. We do charge for any time spent over 15 minutes for meetings, research, any type of correspondence, and more. 1ST CLIENT MEETING RATE WITH JENNA $175 per hour This meeting can be applied to and used as the first meeting of the package below and the price...

Check out this video about the importance of taking breaks especially when students are under stress. The start of the school year can be a challenging time for high school students. The rigor of classes increase and students are balancing more classwork along with their activities and other responsibilities. I notice high school sophomores and juniors feel more stress and academic pressure this time of year as they adjust to a new level of rigor and expectations in classes. Additionally, for high school seniors applying to college, September and October are the most stressful months due to application deadlines. As a result, it is common to see high school students feel stressed out and even have an emotional meltdown/release, especially in October. We tend to get many requests for calls this time of year because students are stressed and parents are just unsure of how to help their kiddos. Taking breaks can help students recalibrate and re-energize so they can continue on to ...

David Keyek  received his B.S. in Communication and Political Science at Syracuse University and a M.A. Counseling Psychology, School Counseling — University of Colorado Denver. From 2010 to the present day, I have worked as a high school counselor at Niwot High School in Niwot, Colorado serving the college, career, academic and emotional needs of over 250 students annually. I take immense pride in my work in serving students from all economic groups and ethnicities. I specialize in serving high-achieving students within Niwot’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Program as well as those engaged in rigorous Advanced Placement courses. As a high school counselor and former special education teacher, I’m highly effective in serving niche populations whose learning differences or language backgrounds might otherwise be a barrier to their college process. As a highly engaged college and school counselor, I pursue active membership and training with the IB World Organization (I...