The College Explorer

Back To School – Fall 2018! 

• ​Seniors: It’s time to transition from researching colleges to applying to college!
  • You should have a Common Application account and a Coalition account (if applying to U of Florida, Maryland or Washington, which are Coalition-exclusive).
  • If your school uses Naviance, at some point, you will connect your Naviance to your Common App (ask your school counselor if this option is available at this point – some schools are not ready for you to connect them yet).   
  • You should also be starting to think about which of your junior year teachers you will ask for letters of recommendation.
  • On that note, keep in mind that you will not be reading your teacher letters of rec (here’s a post about how to waive FERPA and what that means)
• Juniors:  This is a really important year!  Take the hard classes (but not ALL of them, if taking too many will depress your grades); stay involved and take on some responsibility in an activity, club or cause; and start to think about the best time for you to take the SAT or ACT.
• Sophomores:  Focus on two things this year:  GRADES and INVOLVEMENT.  Do both!  You don’t need to be involved in 10 things – pick 2 or 3 and really dedicate yourself to those activities/causes.

Questions People Ask Us Regularly 

• What’s my GPA for College Admissions?  Weighted or Unweighted?
• Which Test Scores Should I Send to Colleges?
• College Visits:  What Do We Need to Know?
• Why Do Colleges Care About Extra Curricular Activities?
• How Many Colleges Should I Apply To?
• Lots more on our blog – check it out!

Parent Corner

• Join our free text messaging service, with messages specifically tailored to your student’s year of high school graduation.  Parents of rising seniors, text 2019parent to 555888 to join our list for parents of rising seniors.  We also have 2020parent, 2021parent and 2022parent lists!
• Magellan will host two final college application workshops in October for LA-area seniors, one in Century City and one in Westlake Village.  We’ll focus on completing the UC and CSU applications.  Please e-mail Evelyn if you’d like to attend!
• Concerned about college cost?  This comprehensive post on our blog has a full webinar explaining how college financial aid works, discussing both need-based and merit-based aid, as well as additional resources for you to consider as your child builds his or her college list.
• We’ll send out more resources later this month.  The FAFSA opens for the Class of 2019 on October 1.
• Some people think only top students work with private college counselors.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  Here’s a post to help you understand how we can make the process less stressful for your entire family – for years!  And here’s a short post with some questions you should ask before you sign the contract.  Make sure you work with someone who is qualified to help you through this stressful process.