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Call or email us for an initial consultation: (646) 378-7863, or info@optionsforcollege.com
Undergraduate Counseling Services
All of our services begin with an Initial Consultation, a 90-minute meeting designed to get your questions answered. We ask that families and students bring in grades, scores, and any work they are proud of. You can expect to leave with concrete next steps. We typically schedule these by phone at 646-378-7863, or by e-mail at info@optionsforcollege.com. After the 90 minutes, we will discuss appropriate services based on our three-phase approach.
Full service, in person or remote
Focused service, in person
Full service, transfer
Our three-stage approach
Initial Consultation
All of our services begin with an Initial Consultation, a 90-minute meeting designed to get your questions answered. We ask that families and students bring in grades, scores, and any work they are proud of. You can expect to leave with concrete next steps. We typically schedule these by phone at 646-378-7863, or by e-mail at info@optionsforcollege.com. After the 90 minutes, we will discuss appropriate services based on our three-phase approach.
Full service, in person or remote
The Full Service provides comprehensive guidance through the college admissions process, going through the three phases of college admissions -- collection, selection and application.
There are 10 sessions, either in-person, remote, or a hybrid of the two, as well a phone and e-mail support throughout the Service as befits a comprehensive program. Full Service families receive college comparisons, practice interviews, help navigating recommendations, and any other advice consistent with providing comprehensive guidance to each unique student (ranging from art/music portfolio reviews for art students to sport recruiting). In addition, there is comprehensive help on all essays, supplements, writing samples, and correspondence.
Applications are held to the standard of the best application possible This service is appropriate for families and students that need help choosing schools, planning and completing the process, and getting in, those that want to get into and get the most out of college.
The Full Service is the most common OFC service.
Plus Years
For students who are not in their application year (which begins in January of the junior year), the Full Service is extended to “Plus Years” to cover four main themes: course choice, resume building, summer planning, and test selection.
Remote Service Information
Our remote full service is delivered the same way we teach the Johns Hopkins CTY program, trained the Rochester City School District counselors -- it has been the service of choice for students all over the United States:
Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin
We have had international students from:
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and Ukraine.
Where our students have come from, and schools they attended
Focused service, in-person
Families and students who have already decided on a first choice and want a service that focuses on preparing an application for one college (this service usually includes the Common Application plus one set of supplements), along with interview/resume support, choose the focused service. In other words, it is the service for students who know where they want to go and want to give themselves the absolute best chance of admission. The focused service includes 5 in-person counseling hours, in addition to phone and e-mail in support regarding that one specific application.
Full service, transfer
Current college students looking to move on to a new college setting use the transfer service. It is the Full Service adjusted to the timeline and context of a college transfer. Transfer admissions is far different from freshman admissions in terms of how to apply effectively. Specifically tailored to the transfer process, this plan helps students address time off, making new connections, and all the reasons that students decide to leave their current college situations.
Three phases of the Options for College approach
Collection: In this phase, your family and you work with the counselor to discuss your accomplishments, your aspirations, and your hopes in order to form a clear idea of who you are, who you want to be, and what you have to contribute to a college community. Students take six or more classes, play a sport/instrument, participate in extracurriculars, and meet all family commitments, and yet often still are not confident that they have done anything extraordinary. Practice interviews, collecting transcripts/scores, looking at summer activities, creating resumes and activity sheets are typical activities in this phase, with the goal of getting the five groups of stakeholders on the same page about who you are and what your aspirations are.
Selection: Once your counselor and you form a clear idea of who you are as an applicant, you then work together to select colleges and universities that will help you reach your academic/professional aspirations, that match your strengths, and give you a community in which you can best grow. The counselor will create comparison lists with you, complete with profiles of each school. Schools on the list tend to provide mostly challenging and exciting colleges that provide you with practical and personal opportunities; while these are sometimes called “reach” schools, really what they present is additional resources and a stronger community that not only match who you are, but who you want to be. You will also receive advice on how to best visit and interview with colleges. OFC students have applied to business colleges, art programs, music conservatories, and liberal arts colleges successfully. Selection is usually the focus of session four.
Application:By this phase, your counselor and you will already know what your strengths are, what experiences have been significant for you, and where you are interested in applying. This is the phase in which these ideas are put onto paper. You will work with your counselor through each step of the application process, writing personal, clear statements that adhere to the standard of the best application possible. It is a testament to the pride our students take in their written work that nearly all of our 2006 students agreed to share their materials in the sample writing book we compile each year, standing behind the strong statement they made about who they are. This phase may include getting an expert to help you compile your art portfolio, advice on from whom you should get recommendations, and/or a professional musician listening to your latest piece for your recital. This phase not only encompasses sessions 5-10, but also the phone and e-mail support you receive; typically, the counselor commitment to you ranges from about 50-100 hours, meaning whatever needs to be done is done thoroughly.
It is difficult to imagine, in the adult world, taking eight classes, practicing your favorite sport five days a week, holding down a job, and working in a community service project, yet so many students do all these things as a matter of course and do not necessarily feel that they are accomplishing great things. The Options for College approach helps students reflect on who they are and what they have accomplished, so that admissions officers can understand why they are valuable people in a college community.
In the end, families and students not only have a wonderful set of options for college, but also an understanding of how they earned them and how they might go about continuing to make contributions to the world around them in college. When a student takes a personal inventory of who they are, and writes a strong application that reflects on their experiences and personality, the student is more prepared for college, and a much more successful applicant. It is this idea that is at the heart of the success of the Options for College approach.
Contact us
Please call Options for College at (646) 378-7863 to set up an appointment. You can also e-mail us at info@optionsforcollege.com.
Options for College, Inc., 1115 Broadway, 12th Flr. New York, NY 10010 | 646-378-7863 | info@optionsforcollege.com | Site Map |
