Pivot. Cohort. Hybrid instruction. These words are not the usual words associated with back to school. So much has changed in 2020 but one thing has stayed the same. Colleges continue to want to understand how high school students have grown in high school. Admissions counselors still want to know how a student made a meaningful difference in their high-school community, and how a student plans to make a difference on their college campus. Taking a rigorous curriculum shows colleges that a student is ready for the next phase, and a strong GPA demonstrates that a student can work hard. The college essay brings insight into the character and values of a student–it can often highlight strengths that aren’t part of the rest of the application. Engagement in activities that are meaningful in and outside of school continues to be important. Waiting until senior year of high school to think about these things adds tremendous pressure to this already fraught process. Independent Educational Consultants, like College Mode Consulting, are trained advisors that can relieve that pressure. 

College Mode can help emphasize fit and student success over simply getting in. We are able to provide financial aid information, career exploration, and offer a student-centered process that helps young people to want to have agency in their future. By taking time to explore interests and goals and make thoughtful choices in high school, students lay a foundation that sets them up to be successful in college. Clare Harrison described her experience working with College Mode, “As a result, my son’s work with Sharon and Lynn not only gave him the college application deliverables he needed but it gave him a new sense of agency. He’s taking what he’s learning about himself and using that to make decisions about what is important to him; improving his communicating, interviewing, and writing skills; and becoming the lead in where he’s headed. While this is so important for his college journey, these are life skills you just can’t teach overnight. They develop through a process of doing it, and by trial and error. With support and guidance from College Mode, our son has developed skills that will serve him always.” 

Parents will always play the lead role in preparing their children for adulthood but independent educational consultants, like College Mode Consulting, can be a valuable resource guiding families through the many decisions surrounding one of the most important investments, a college education.