Introducing ktif college counseling
The process of applying to college is daunting. There are countless terms to learn, forms to complete, and decisions to make to ensure that your student has the best options.
This free college counseling program is designed for families of limited financial means who don’t know where to start. You will work one-on-one with a professional academic counselor to better understand the process, plan ahead, and make the right decision. This program will last 2 years and will follow your student from the spring of 10th grade through the school identification and application phases.
This free college counseling program is designed for families of limited financial means who don’t know where to start. You will work one-on-one with a professional academic counselor to better understand the process, plan ahead, and make the right decision. This program will last 2 years and will follow your student from the spring of 10th grade through the school identification and application phases.
Kickoff Event: May 14
@ WILKINSON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Sign-up form
What is it?
The Karma Tutors Impact Fund addresses gaps in access to academic support by emphasizing the one-on-one matchup of at-risk students with professional educators. We will apply this same model to the college admissions world by matching financially disadvantaged students with professional, private college counselors in a one-on-one setting. Our plan is to structure this program and the counseling sessions so that we
We will accomplish this by offering
The program will commence with a bilingual group session open to all families, regardless of eligibility for KTIF’s assistance. Attendees will be eligible to apply for participation in the full college counseling program via a Google Form. Applicants must be high-school sophomores. Student and parent attendance of the first group session will be mandatory for consideration for the full program.
After that meeting, the student, parent(s), and counselor will work together to set up individual meetings according to the below schedule.
Junior Fall
Families will meet with their counselor individually to discuss student progress towards their goals and study areas of interest. Counselors and families will set new academic and personal goals and identify resources to help the student meet them. Interpretation will be provided upon request.
Counselors will meet individually with the student to discuss progress, to get to know the student as an individual, and to ensure that the student’s interests are being represented. While it is essential to involve families and empower parents to participate, it is equally important for college advisors to give students a sense of autonomy in their life decisions.
Junior Spring
The second group session will be a closed, two-hour event where participating parents and students can start to make a college list. They will continue to learn key admissions-related vocabulary, seek information about financial aid, and ask questions. The goal of the evening will be for each family to have identified five schools that meet their student’s academic and personal needs and that are financially feasible for the parents. Interpretation will be provided.
Families will meet with their counselor individually to review their list of schools and discuss student progress towards their goals. Counselors will provide suggestions for schools not listed and will offer guidance on those the family has identified. Interpretation will be provided upon request.
Counselors will meet individually with the student twice to check in on their goals, refine their list of schools, discuss progress, and make a plan to address any issues. Spring semester of junior year is a critical time to address academic concerns (e.g. low grades) and cement plans for other application components (e.g. testing and extracurricular opportunities).
Senior Summer
Counselors will meet individually with the student to check in on their goals, refine their list of schools, discuss progress, and make a plan to address any issues.
Senior Fall
Families will meet with their counselor individually to learn about financial aid resources, make any necessary adjustments to improve their student’s candidacy, and make an application plan. Interpretation will be provided upon request.
Counselors will meet individually with the student eight times to guide them through the application process. This crucial assistance will include the following:
These meetings will begin mid-September and will be held weekly for the eight weeks leading up to Thanksgiving break.
Please note that the above session breakdown is an outline based on best practices; we respect the counselor’s professional expertise and defer to the course of action that they deem best within the given timeframe.
- empower students and their parents to direct the process,
- identify higher-ed goals and needs early on,
- identify financial aid needs early on,
- develop a plan to meet goals and address needs, and
- connect families with resources to help them do so.
We will accomplish this by offering
- two bilingual group sessions (two hours each);
- four bilingual, individualized planning sessions with family (one hour each);
- four individualized planning sessions with the student (one hour each); and
- eight individualized application sessions with the student (one hour each).
The program will commence with a bilingual group session open to all families, regardless of eligibility for KTIF’s assistance. Attendees will be eligible to apply for participation in the full college counseling program via a Google Form. Applicants must be high-school sophomores. Student and parent attendance of the first group session will be mandatory for consideration for the full program.
After that meeting, the student, parent(s), and counselor will work together to set up individual meetings according to the below schedule.
Junior Fall
Families will meet with their counselor individually to discuss student progress towards their goals and study areas of interest. Counselors and families will set new academic and personal goals and identify resources to help the student meet them. Interpretation will be provided upon request.
Counselors will meet individually with the student to discuss progress, to get to know the student as an individual, and to ensure that the student’s interests are being represented. While it is essential to involve families and empower parents to participate, it is equally important for college advisors to give students a sense of autonomy in their life decisions.
Junior Spring
The second group session will be a closed, two-hour event where participating parents and students can start to make a college list. They will continue to learn key admissions-related vocabulary, seek information about financial aid, and ask questions. The goal of the evening will be for each family to have identified five schools that meet their student’s academic and personal needs and that are financially feasible for the parents. Interpretation will be provided.
Families will meet with their counselor individually to review their list of schools and discuss student progress towards their goals. Counselors will provide suggestions for schools not listed and will offer guidance on those the family has identified. Interpretation will be provided upon request.
Counselors will meet individually with the student twice to check in on their goals, refine their list of schools, discuss progress, and make a plan to address any issues. Spring semester of junior year is a critical time to address academic concerns (e.g. low grades) and cement plans for other application components (e.g. testing and extracurricular opportunities).
Senior Summer
Counselors will meet individually with the student to check in on their goals, refine their list of schools, discuss progress, and make a plan to address any issues.
Senior Fall
Families will meet with their counselor individually to learn about financial aid resources, make any necessary adjustments to improve their student’s candidacy, and make an application plan. Interpretation will be provided upon request.
Counselors will meet individually with the student eight times to guide them through the application process. This crucial assistance will include the following:
- Making an applications timeline;
- Creating applications portals;
- Filling out the FAFSA;
- Applying for other forms of financial aid;
- Personal statement planning, drafting, and editing;
- Requesting letters of recommendation;
- Developing an activities list;
- Building a resume;
- Filling out applications.
These meetings will begin mid-September and will be held weekly for the eight weeks leading up to Thanksgiving break.
Please note that the above session breakdown is an outline based on best practices; we respect the counselor’s professional expertise and defer to the course of action that they deem best within the given timeframe.
Why?
We all know it intuitively: the gap exists. Access to quality support is not equally distributed, falling along major risk-factor lines such as socioeconomic status, race, and spoken language.
Today, students have to navigate financial aid applications, test score reporting, essay management, resume building, and activities description—on top of identifying the colleges they want to apply to in the first place. Applicants of parents who attended college have more of a head-start in college admissions as they have more direct access to knowledge about the process. However, not all students have access to that resource. And while school districts that invest in college counseling programs see better outcomes for their students, the truth remains that the dizzying expectations of students' college applications far outpace what such in-school programs can provide. Nowadays, students cannot settle for strong grades and convincing test scores; they have to have an exemplary personal statement, an exceptional activities list, and eye-catching credentials. These lofty goals ignore the reality that most extracurricular activities involve expenses of some kind, such as money and time. For financially restricted families, neither resource is easily sacrificed.
The challenges are even greater for students who manage a language barrier. Students applying to college benefit greatly from parental involvement. So when a parent does not understand the language of the system, their child loses out on crucial support in the application process.
None of this comes as a surprise. Still, we insist on a future in which college education remains the great equalizer and students of all backgrounds can access it. Today, our problem is that this noble vision of college preparation and admissions does not comport with the reality. That is what we must work to change. In order to smooth access to college knowledge and resources for the college admissions process, we need to turn to a field that specializes in learning the needs of individual families, communicating information with them, and offering a tailored experience throughout the college search and admissions process.
Today, students have to navigate financial aid applications, test score reporting, essay management, resume building, and activities description—on top of identifying the colleges they want to apply to in the first place. Applicants of parents who attended college have more of a head-start in college admissions as they have more direct access to knowledge about the process. However, not all students have access to that resource. And while school districts that invest in college counseling programs see better outcomes for their students, the truth remains that the dizzying expectations of students' college applications far outpace what such in-school programs can provide. Nowadays, students cannot settle for strong grades and convincing test scores; they have to have an exemplary personal statement, an exceptional activities list, and eye-catching credentials. These lofty goals ignore the reality that most extracurricular activities involve expenses of some kind, such as money and time. For financially restricted families, neither resource is easily sacrificed.
The challenges are even greater for students who manage a language barrier. Students applying to college benefit greatly from parental involvement. So when a parent does not understand the language of the system, their child loses out on crucial support in the application process.
None of this comes as a surprise. Still, we insist on a future in which college education remains the great equalizer and students of all backgrounds can access it. Today, our problem is that this noble vision of college preparation and admissions does not comport with the reality. That is what we must work to change. In order to smooth access to college knowledge and resources for the college admissions process, we need to turn to a field that specializes in learning the needs of individual families, communicating information with them, and offering a tailored experience throughout the college search and admissions process.
What will a college counselor do?
The educational consultant market is booming, and private college counseling represents a substantial part of that growth. This comes as no surprise to those familiar with the growing competitiveness and increasing complexity behind college admissions and financial aid awards. Private college counselors are popular options because they have the experience, know-how, and resources to help students put their best foot forward. College counselors will work with students and families to
- Discuss their academic and personal goals;
- Plan their high-school curriculum;
- Connect them with academic resources;
- Identify suitable extracurricular opportunities;
- Apply for financial aid and scholarships for extracurriculars;
- Identify colleges that would be a good fit;
- Plan approaches to standardized testing;
- Make an application plan;
- Apply for financial aid and scholarships for school;
- Plan, structure, and edit college essays;
- Optimize their activities list and resume;
- Connect with admissions officers at target schools; and
- Identify majors of interest and chart a path for study.