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Capstone Educational Consultants

Helping Students with Test Prep, Tutoring, and Navigating the College Journey

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Hiring an IEC Still Good

Hiring an IEC

Hiring an IEC is still a good idea for many families looking to garner the assistance and knowledge of colleges and the application process for their son or daughter from an in-field expert. It still makes good sense!

A good IEC walks a student through the college selection and application process by approaching the front door. When working with IECs, it’s not about getting students admitted — we find it far more rewarding to usher the student through a process of admissibility into the colleges or universities unique to their personal profile. All-in-all, IEC’s are looking for institutions of goodfit!

The Independent Educational Consultants Association describes the fundamental role of an independent educational consultant as one who help students explore college opportunities and find the right place for them to succeed academically and socially. IECs don’t get students admitted—they help students demonstrate why they deserve to be admitted at appropriately chosen schools. They help students find colleges they might not have heard of—often out of their region—and they help students put their best foot forward.

So, if you’re looking to hire an IEC, here are 5 things families should consider first:

  1. Does the IEC belong to a professional association such as IECA with established and rigorous standards for membership?
  2. Do not trust any offers of guaranteed admission to a school or a certain minimum dollar value in scholarships.
  3. Ensure that the IEC adheres to the ethical guidelines for private counseling established by IECA.
  4. Find an IEC that visits college, school, and program campuses and meets with admissions representatives regularly in order to keep up with new trends, academic changes and evolving campus cultures. 
  5. Do they attend professional conferences or training workshops on a regular basis to keep up with regional and national trends and changes in the law?

If you would like more information on considering an IEC at Capstone, let us know here!

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AP Test Just Got Interesting

Deciding on whether or not to take an AP test not only got interesting, it appears to be getting a lot more tricky!  According to The Washington Post, new registration deadlines and fees were unrolled recently by The College Board and could likely impact students taking AP classes.

The biggest challenge would be for high school students deciding if they should sign up to take an AP level class in high school and subsequently the notorious end-of-year exam used by many colleges to potentially earn college credit long before sitting for the exam.

It appears, starting in the 2019-2020 school year, students will be required to sign up by Nov. 15 in the year before they take the spring exam if they don’t want to incur a late fee. The registration fee would remain the same, but late registration would cost an extra $40 along with an additional $40 “no-show” fee. All-in-all, it appears a student who signed up late and never showed up for the test would be out $174.

Parents and students will be in an interesting predicament. Many students will be deciding on taking AP classes and some students will choose to substitute AP classes with dual-enrollment opportunities. But now, deciding to place an AP class on your 2019-2020 schedule could mean registering for the AP test months before actually sitting for the test. This would bring a whole new meaning to planning ahead!

Deciding on the best solutions between AP classes or dual enrollment is not to be taken lightly. There are pros and cons to each.

If you would like some clear direction between AP classes or dual-enrollment, feel free to get in touch!

Note: AP fees or registration requirements on the College Board website were not reflecting these changes at the time of this posting.

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College Decision in 5 Easy Steps

The college decision is painstaking, especially when there are several colleges on the list, all great and all of them want you! It feels good to be invited to the party, but getting to this point for many is painful.

Families can quake at the college decision and this adds strain to the experience that should be exciting and hopeful. In order to help families process this college decision moment better, I’ve identified five easy steps to consider. These steps will not take you to the perfect college, because regardless of how much work is placed in finding a good-fit, no college is perfect. These steps will, however walk you through a process to better understand the important factors in making the college decision and assist families in identifying practical results.

Assess the Options

Now that the college applications are in, students are anxiously waiting for decisions. Colleges are contacting students by mail, by video, by email and sometimes even in-person to share their decision. These decisions come in a variety of flavors with some having a bit of a sting. Accepted – Deferred – Waitlisted – Denied The degree of rejection grows the further down this scale the decision is made. It is important to know and remember, no college decision determines a student’s worth. The most important thing is to rally and move forward.

At this point, it’s key to focus on your options. What colleges are still in the mix? Clearly, there are those to which the student was accepted. And this is super! But the colleges to which you were deferred or waitlisted should not be tossed aside just yet. Getting deferred means the school’s decision is not a “yes” or a “no” and by placing the student in a “deferred” category offers the school another opportunity to evaluate the student. This is a good time to consider revisiting the school and submitting NEW information on your academic progress and/or achievements. When waitlisted, it’s important to know the school is waiting to see how the class fills before offering a decision on your admittance. A waitlisted decision often comes after May 1 and could intersect with other decisions a family is trying to make.

Evaluate the Schools

There are many scenarios students could potentially experience in the college decision process. When a student is trying to decide between two or more equally competitive colleges, it’s important to step back and take a fresh look at each of the colleges. Dig deeper into what initially attracted you to them in the first place. Why were they a good fit and how does that reason weigh in your decision? Are all the colleges on your decision list selected by you for the same “good-fit” reason? Explore each one and give it a score and see how each one differs from the other.

Compare and Contrast

During the evaluation process, take a moment to compare and contrast what you learn. Strategically zero-in on programs of interest, potential majors, clubs, organizations and other areas of student-life important to you. What about housing options? Career centers? What are the outcomes for the major you’re considering? Do students at one of your colleges have a greater chance of getting hired after graduation than the others?

Calculate the Financial Aid

This step may actually come before all the others depending on your college list. The actual cost of attendance can differ greatly between colleges depending on their location (in-state vs. out-of-state), public vs. private and many other factors. Regardless, it is important to determine the actual cost in attending each institution.

Each of the accepted schools will soon provide a Financial Aid Award Letter to outline the varying amounts of aid available federally and institutionally. Once each of them is in your hands, begin the process of actual cost as one factor of consideration.

Be Rational

Keeping an even keel in the college decision process is critical. Getting emotionally connected without a logical approach can make the decision overly complex. For instance, consider if, at one college, you know friends from high school will be going. But at another college, you are considering there will be no friends from high school. It is always tempting to run toward the direction where we feel most comfortable, but it may not be the best choice. So be rational in your decision, keep a level head and think through your college decision from as many angles as you can. It’s one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make!

We are confident you are going to make a very informed college decision and celebrate with you on this great adventure!

If you would still like some direction, or know someone else in need of consultation, feel free to get in touch!

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Choosing A College Once You’re Accepted

Choosing a college once you’ve received your acceptance letters is arguably more important than selecting the colleges in the first place. It goes without saying at this point, but congratulations on your acceptances! But that was the easy part — now it’s time to decide!

A decision typically comes between selecting one of at least two different things. In this case, it may be you have several colleges to choose from. Either way, between two or between many, narrowing down your decision is big. Here’s a simple process to consider:

Compare Apples-to-Apples

In order to fairly consider between two options and choosing a college, it’s important to place them on equal playing fields. Identify those things about each college that make them different. These things could be size, financial package, location or one may have a spot on a team whereas the other one doesn’t. In doing this exercise, you’ll be able to evaluate their similarities, such as academic program, campus amenities, faculty involvement, internship opportunities to name only a few.

Evaluate the Oranges

Whereas before you were focusing on the colleges similarities, in this exercise, you’ll focus on those things that differ: Apple-to-Oranges. Take a look at those things that make each college different from the other and determine the level of importance they each play in your attending college. Finances may be a determining factor, so it should be valued much higher to you than say having a spot on the team with no scholarship offered.

Visit the Campus

Take a trip to see the campus before making your final decision. Exploring the campus, seeing the students in action, sitting in on a class and speaking with faculty, coaches and reading up on the campus newspaper are excellent ways to broaden your understanding and perspective toward a place you’re considering to spend the next four to six years earning a degree.

Ask Questions

Before visiting the campus one last time, make the effort to do your homework. Find out everything you can about the campus, academic programs, student opinions and student organizations before you step foot onto the campus. Prepare in advance a short list of questions that address your curiosities and interest to better understand the academic programs or other aspect of the college.

We hope this helps you tackle this very important decision with more precision and ease.

As always, feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions or need some help sorting through your options. And, for more insight into college admissions, please “LIKE” our Facebook page!

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Community Colleges Make The Grade

Community College

Community colleges have a long history of confusion for parents of college-bound students. They often wonder if choosing to attend a community college is the best idea for their son or daughter. After all, when all of the other students are going away to 4-year institutions, what does it say when your child stays behind and enrolls at the local community college? Studies show, you may be the smartest parent in the community!

Let’s look at some of the numbers on a national scale for students attending community colleges out of high school. As reported by the NPR in December of 2018, community colleges enroll up to 41% of all undergraduate students in the U.S.

As good as that seems, there are still several stigmas that tend to follow the idea of attending a community college out of high school. These myths prevent taking the step and often deter the idea of selecting a community college all-together — myths like, the lack of student life, under qualified professors, it’s too easy, it’s unsafe, it’s a waste of time because credits won’t transfer, or that you’ll be completely on your own. It’s a shame.

Truth is, students are utilizing the benefits of community college attendance to leverage their transfer power into 4-year degree programs all over the country. In fact, “according to a new report from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, graduation rates of community-college transfers meet or exceed those of students who enroll at selective institutions as first-time freshman. Community-college transfers also graduate at higher rates than students who transfer from other four-year colleges.” (Harris)

This is great news for students and families in Fayette County, Georgia considering community college as a viable option in their student’s college journey. Our local community college, Georgia Military College has an impeccable reputation not only in our community but across the state and throughout the nation! GMC ranks as the #1 Community College in the State of Georgia according to TheBestSchools.org. And, GMC is also the 14th Best Community College in the Nation according to the same website.

Community College is not for every student, but it certainly stands a chance for consideration. After all, community college students are proving themselves well-prepared for success at even the elite schools!