FAQs

Interested in working with WiseGuide, but still have questions? Here are a handful of common inquiries we get...

At WiseGuide, we believe in a comprehensive and collaborative approach to working with families. We regularly meet one-on-one with our students to build meaningful relationships and ensure they are supported throughout their admissions journey. We will serve as your family’s mentor, advisor, and supporter throughout the process.

We provide intentional support to each of our students and their families, which includes:

• Reducing stress by providing expert knowledge and guidance

• Tracking deadlines and helping with organization

• Assisting with choosing high school courses

• Exploring interests as they relate to college majors and careers

• Helping choose extracurricular activities and summer experiences

• Creating a standardized testing plan (if necessary)

• Building a tailored and well-balanced college list

• Evaluating chances of admission to college list

• Advising on letters of recommendation and supporting application materials

• Helping brainstorm, craft, and edit application essays

• Assisting with the completion and submission of applications in a timely manner 

• Discussions regarding college costs, scholarships, and financial aid

• Providing ongoing support throughout the senior year after applications are submitted

• Evaluating admissions offers

• Coaching parents and students through the transition to college

 

The college search and application process can be confusing and overwhelming. Student-to-counselor ratios at many high schools are over 300:1, and current research shows that high school students receive only 38 minutes of personal college admissions guidance from their high school counselors. At WiseGuide, we have the knowledge, expertise, and passion to assist families in successfully navigating every step of the admissions process with less stress.

Our personalized approach to the process ensures we have the time and resources to research colleges extensively, work closely with families to find the right fit, and help students stay informed, organized, and on schedule.

Ideally, students begin their work with us through our Basecamp freshman strategy session, which can be scheduled any time after June of the student’s 8th grade graduation. Then, students continue to work with us through our Pathfinder or Trailblazer Packages in either sophomore or junior year. We strongly encourage students to at least begin in sophomore year with one of our packages. We believe that early involvement increases knowledge and decreases stress for families.  

We know how busy you can be, so our meeting schedule is designed to be flexible and accommodating. We have one family meeting and two student meetings in 10th grade. In 11th grade, we start regular monthly meetings in November. As you progress to 12th grade, we’ll meet bi-weekly with you during the summer before senior year until your applications are completed in the fall. We continue to support students throughout the fall and into the spring with scholarship application, updating colleges, discussing admission and financial aid offers, making the final college decision, and then helping with the transition to college over the summer after graduation.

We believe an important part of the college admissions process is helping students build confidence and maturity to prepare them for college and beyond. Therefore, we believe the process should be student-centered. However, we also recognize and appreciate that parents are an essential part of this process. We help them identify their appropriate roles while enabling them to contribute their unique knowledge regarding their students.

After each student meeting, we send a detailed email recap to the student and parents, covering what we discussed and the next steps to be completed before the next meeting. At several points throughout the process, we also facilitate family meetings, as we view communication as a critical component of our support. Parents are always welcome to check in on the process, ask questions, and express concerns.

Many high school students have absolutely no idea what they want to study in college or what they want to do when they grow up. And that’s okay! At WiseGuide, we start our work with students by having them take comprehensive personality, multiple intelligence, and learning style inventories to bring to light personality strengths, values, interests, and learning preferences. Based on their results, students then explore possible majors of study that are suited to their natural inclinations, values, and strengths, and they then learn how these areas of study translate to careers in the global economy.   

Unfortunately, WiseGuide cannot guarantee admission to any college or university.   However, WiseGuide does guarantee that the search and application process will progress at a well-paced, comfortable progression. Students and families receive Laura’s full attention and she will respond to emails, phone calls, and text messages within 24 hours (but often much more quickly). Laura appreciates each student’s uniqueness and knows it is important to highlight personality, strengths, values, and goals to maximize admissions success.  

College Research:

 

College Campus Visit Videos:

 

Standardized Testing:

  • ACT offers free ACT test prep including full practice tests from previous years

  • Khan Academy offers free test prep

 

College Applications:

 

Financial Aid, Scholarships and College Costs:

  • FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) must be completed to be eligible for any need-based aid from colleges.

  • CSS Profile many colleges require this in addition to the FAFSA to be considered for need-based aid.

  • Fastweb comprehensive site including financial aid, cost, affordability information and scholarship search

Additional questions?

Reach out via email or schedule a free consultation!

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