June, 2016

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June, 2016

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Upcoming Events

  • Magellan founder Evelyn Jerome-Alexander will give a presentation on college admissions at PFC Financial Consultants in Sherman Oaks on June 30, 5:30-6:30 pm.  All are invited!  RSVP required.
  • July 9 – College essay brainstorming workshop – FREE for Magellan clients, $200 for all others.
  • Essay and application workshops are the final 2 weekends in August.  Details and RSVP here.

Recent Articles


SAT and ACT 


UC questions slide from WACAC 2016

Slide from a UC Personal Insight Questions presentation

New UC Application Questions: “Not Essays!”

The University of California has revamped its application, and instead of asking students to write two essays, they now ask very focused questions, allowing students to choose four of eight options.  The maximum length for each UC question is only 350 words – that’s about half the length of a standard online newspaper story.  UC Admissions officers are quick to tell you not to refer to these questions as essays!  “We are trying to make sure we’re getting the student’s voice,” said Mike McCawley, Dean of Admissions at UC Santa Cruz, at a conference Magellan counselors attended recently.  Regardless of what you call them, it’s not too early for students in the Class of 2017 to get started!  You can find the questions here.  The UC application will open on August 1.

Changes in College Financial Aid

In past years, students and parents filed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid beginning in January, using tax information from the year prior to when the student would begin college.  This year, both of those will change.  The FAFSA will open on October 1, and parents will use the tax year 2 years prior to their student starting college.  So for the Class of 2017, parents will use 2015 tax information.  Colleges may or may not send students their financial aid offers earlier than before, but using older data will ensure that offers will be more accurate, with less revising required for parents.

Magellan will host several free financial aid webinars throughout the summer and fall.  The next one will be Friday, July 8 at noon, and will last approximately one hour.  You will need to both dial in and click a link on your computer to participate.  Please RSVP here.

Class of 2017:  Check Out Magellan’s 20-Hour Mini-Plan

Most clients begin working with our team of counselors at the beginning of their junior year.  For these families, we have our comprehensive package – we take students through an extensive self-discovery and college exploration phase, then transition to the application phase, of their college search.  For a multitude of reasons, some students aren’t ready to get this process started at the beginning of 11th grade.  For these students, we offer a limited-hours package – our “mini-plan.”  We help them research colleges and create a balanced list, as well as work through essays and applications.

Our summer application and essay workshops are FREE for mini-plan clients.  We will offer THREE 3-hour essay workshops, as well as two 3-hour application workshops this summer.  If you are interested in learning more about our mini-plan, please contact us here.

This flyer has all of the information for our August workshops; you can RSVP here.
Summer College Workshops 2016

Please note:  Class of 2018 parents – at this time only the full comprehensive plan is available; we will offer the mini-plan next spring for students in this class year.


College Counseling Services

Magellan’s comprehensive college counseling plan includes 35 hours of personalized guidance throughout the student’s junior and senior years.  We also offer a limited-hours “mini-plan” for students who start in the spring or summer of their junior year.  We charge $200 for our 90-minute in-home consultation, which we credit back to families who sign up for one of Magellan’s counseling packages.

Host a College Admissions Seminar for Friends

Are your friends starting to think about (read: get anxious about!) college?  Please get in touch if you are interested in hosting a college admissions information seminar at your home.  We can tailor our presentation for parents of 8th, 9th, 10th or 11th grade students, or a combination.


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