Colonna College and Career Counseling

07/06/2025

Before senior starts and your studebts faces the most most rigorous course load of their academic lives, get these tasks done:

1. College List: Narrow down the list to 10 too choices taking in account admissibility and cost

2. Essays: Yes…”essays.” Have a solid complete draft of your main Essay ensuring thet it adds important elements of your story. Also, maje a list of Supplemental Essays required by many colleges.

3. Common App: Complete the Common App. Pat attention to details. Update “activitues” and class worj to include senior year

REMEMBER!!! Admisdiin progikes and patterns have shifted deamatucally over the past 3 years—Dig deep and explore carefully when looking over data.

Colonna College and Career Counseling’s next “Common App Bootcamp” will be scheduled soon. Stay tuned!

05/24/2025

This morning, I want to share some advice from Ethan Sawyer (Thr Collegr Essay Guy) regarding why it’s important to get started on essays and applications over the summer:

From: The College Essay Guy

One of the most common mistakes I see students make with their college applications is starting too late.

I totally get it.

Applications aren’t due for months, and there’s not too much to it, right? Just a few essays to pump out a month before deadlines?

Not quite…

I often find that sharing an example timeline can help to clarify things:

Sept–Oct → Brainstorm, outline, draft, and refine the personal statement
Oct–Nov → Activities List, “Why Us,” and probably 10-20 other supplemental essays

See how even starting in September and sticking to a pretty tight timeline bumps students right up against application deadlines? No bueno.

Students getting started as early as June, returning to school for fall semester with nearly-done essays in hand? Now that feels great for everyone. 😀

05/18/2025

The AI plot thickens.

Students call it hypocritical. A senior at Northeastern University demanded her tuition back. But instructors say generative A.I. tools make them better at their jobs.

05/18/2025

Don’t sureender to the hype—You’re future still awaits.

Here is the list of colleges still accepting applications:

Now available NACAC’s annual College Openings Update is a voluntary listing of NACAC-member postsecondary institutions that are still accepting applications from prospective first-year and/or transfer students for the upcoming fall term. Now in its 38th year, the College Openings Update is a tool ...

05/08/2025

To all the high school juniors out there...Do not drop the ball so close to the finish line.

With the end of the year upon us, prom coming up, friends graduating, summer coming, do not forget that ending strong in your classes is perhaps the most important aspect of your college application outcomes. For a majority of you, the transcript that goes out with your early admissions applications will end with junior year. Study hard these final weeks. Do well on your finals.

05/07/2025

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/strength/8-mistakes-i-made-as-a-student/vi-AA1Aipyi?ocid=socialshare&pc=LCTS&cvid=6dab5ae0fee341e29d0baea8bfe5a825&ei=45

College is full of learning experiences—but some lessons are better learned from others’ mistakes! From burning out early to missing life-changing opportunities, I made plenty of errors during my student years. In this episode, I share the 8 biggest mistakes I made so you can avoid them and make...

04/22/2025

Wonderful to visit the University of Massachusetts yesterday! I have not been to campus in many years, so seeing all the changes on a bueatiful spring day was amazing!

With so many college options (and opinions) out there, don’t miss a trip to your own flagship state university.

04/09/2025

A new client asked me when I recommend visiting campuses and what advice I have for making the most of a visit. Here is how I answered her:

1. Spring is the best time to visit. While summer may be more convenient, go to campus when students are present and active

2. Be sure to make arrangements to see the department and facilities that interest you. Most schools have special visit days that focus on specific majors.

3. Arrive early and stay late. Be sure to wander around campus a bit away from the tour. This is the best way to really get a feel for the community and campus energy

4. Make contact with your regional admission counselor. If they are not present on your tour day, be sure to send an email and let them know you were on campus.

04/04/2025

One of the other services I have provided is helping students who want to transfer colleges. So many advisees over the years have realized after a year or so that their "dream school" may not have been the best fit. Perhaps that insistence that they needed to be someplace warm landed them too far from home and old friends. And, of course, the cost.

Being from Massachusetts, I have had many college advises start their freshman year down south only to move back. Students who originally went to Tulane, Tampa, South Carolina, and others have ended up at colleges like Bridgewater State and loved their decision.

Read the story below of a young woman who left Barnard in NYC for the University of Miami.

Attending Barnard College in New York was a dream come true. I eventually dropped out because I needed more money and wanted to be closer to family.

04/02/2025

As April carries on here are the priorities of my junior advisees:

1. Continue to excel in the the classroom
2. Make the very most of your summer by applying now for important and valuable internships.
3. Continue to revise your college list
4. Spring is the very best time to visit college campuses. Get onto campus
5. Identify 2 teacher who know you well and will write you a recommendation
6. Begin your Commin App
7. Consider topics for your essay. You cannot write your way out if a bad idea. Start with 3 topics and free write a bit on each. Which story do you want to tell? Why?