Our New Year’s Take: It’s Juniors Time to Shine
The beginning of a new year is a powerful moment for juniors in the college planning process. It’s a natural shift that invites reflection and clarity. Right now, many of our juniors are completing one of the most foundational steps in our work together: the College Fit Exercise.
This isn’t a surface-level checklist or a ranking-driven approach. Instead, it’s a guided reflection designed to help students better understand the types of places where they will thrive. We explore questions around location, learning style, personal values, campus culture, and the type of environment a student wants to be surrounded by for four pivotal years. These reflections move us beyond a generic “good schools” formula and allow us to make a thoughtful, individualized assessment of what the right schools truly are for each student.
From there, we build a balanced college list that includes likely, target, and unlikely schools. Our goal is to dig deeper than stats alone and live into our motto: helping students find their home away from home: a place that fits academically, socially, and financially. In other words, a school that fits not just on paper, but in real life.
Once that initial list is built, the responsibility begins to shift to the student. Juniors are tasked with researching, refining, and updating their list after each session. This phase is just as much about identifying what doesn’t feel right as it is about confirming what does. Some students may begin the process drawn to a large R1 research university, only to discover they feel more energized by a medium-sized school with a strong sense of community. Others may explore mission-driven private colleges and unexpectedly connect with a liberal arts institution where critical thinking and close faculty relationships take center stage. Throughout this phase, we support students as they work through that necessary process of elimination, one that considers mutual compatibility as much as admission probability.
This is the time to:
Attend virtual information sessions and tours
Connect with your regional admissions representative (especially at schools that track demonstrated interest)
Begin planning campus visits during spring break or long weekends, if possible
These experiences help transform abstract ideas into tangible preferences and sharpen a student’s sense of direction. Junior year is a dynamic one that asks counselors and students to work hand in hand as they remain open to possibilities, test assumptions, and build confidence about the road ahead. It’s a meaningful stage, and one we’re proud to walk through alongside our students as they shape their path forward.
