Why a balanced school list is ESSENTIAL...and our favorite tools to create one
Originally written and published: February '23
It’s time for rising seniors to begin an important transition. Over the next month or so, they’ll need to transition their mindset from college exploration mode…to college application mode. This is a crucial mindset transition, and one that doesn’t happen overnight. That’s why we help our students ease into this transition, slowly wrapping up their aggressive school list building…and moving towards a new mindset:
The truth is, for most rising high school seniors, in 4 months…just 4 months!...they’ll be hard at work wrapping up their first round of college applications.
Before they can do so, it’s tremendously important that your child has balance to their school list. In my program, I have my students bucket their schools into four main categories:
Safety (>75% chance of acceptance)
Probable (50% to 75% chance of acceptance)
Target (25% to 50% chance of acceptance)
Reach (<25% chance of acceptance)
Don’t know how to help your child bucket their schools? This video will give you all the tips you need, including the very College Planning workbook I use with all my students. It’s yours to keep for free. Take it back to your high schooler and start that transition to application mode and a thoughtfully balanced school list.
Time: 26 minutes, 00 seconds
For: Parents of 9th, 10th, 11th graders
To your college planning success,
Jack Delehey
Founder, CollegeConsulting.us
P.S. - Have a high-performing high schooler w/ a 3.7 GPA or higher? We'll help get them into at least one of their top 5 dream colleges...and if we don't get them into at least one of their top 5 dream colleges, you don't pay us a penny. Seriously! You can learn more about our world renowned all-inclusive, start-to-finish college coaching here and to see if your family qualifies for an introductory call.
P.P.S - Our most common question is "When should we start?!" The answer is, if you truly care about giving your high schooler the best chance of college planning success, you should start NOW. 9th grade is not too early to start! 10th grade is certainly not too early to start! And 11th grade is far, far too late! (supporting data here to show just how much of an advantage you give your child by starting the process early).
