Frequently Asked Questions

---

College Planning Advocates is located outside of Philadelphia, PA. However, we mainly meet our students online via Zoom, so it doesn't matter where you are located. Meeting on Zoom provides a great opportunity to meet students at their place where they feel secure and willing to be open. 

Please don't confuse how poorly many students did during virtual learning with how they do during these meetings. Virtual learning during Covid was learned on the fly....the teachers and the students were learning how to handle this type of learning as they went along.  College Planning Advocates meets with students during a structured meeting that allows for open and honest dialogue. We begin our meetings by setting structures and  guidance on how to work together and be successful over Zoom. We have been holding these meetings for several years now and have learned how to reach the students even over Zoom ,no matter if it is for college planning meetings or Learning Success Coaching. 

 College planning helps you bring together all your hard work to a point where you not only get into the colleges that you are interested in, but helps you save money on tuition. A college planner helps a student and his/her family navigate an ever changing and confusing process. Not all college planners work the same way: some help with what a student should accomplish during their high school years, some help with the application process, others with SAT or ACT prep, some help only with scholarship searches, and many have multiple planners working with the student. 

Our students work with a dedicated college advisor, someone that gets to know the individual student. We make sure that the student’s academics are where they should be regarding specific classes and grades. Our students take our SAT or ACT prep classes in the fall and/or spring to improve their score, and therefore their scholarship offers. We help our students have the best college resume possible. Our advisors help develop a college list specific to each student. We keep track of all deadlines for applications, housing and financial aid. Our college advisors make sure that the student has a well written and memorable essay for their applications, before they start their senior year, as well as any scholarship essays. We suggest outside scholarships and stress merit scholarships. We also help with the financial aid forms. This is all completed through one-on-one meetings (except the prep classes) with each student throughout their high school years.

 College planners know how to move through the plethora of information and find the best colleges for you, according to your likes, dislikes, wants and needs. They also make sure that you are taking the classes you need, are active in clubs and/or sports and are a well-rounded student that the colleges are looking for as a potential student. College planners also help keep track of the multitude of deadlines that arise, from application deadlines to housing to scholarships. Overall, college planners save you time and stress in getting through this often-confusing process. 

 Starting in your freshman year of high school is not too early! The earlier a student starts the process, the better chance they have of getting into their top choice college. Remember, it is a competitive process where the earlier you start the better you may be. By the beginning of junior year of high school, a student should already have visited several colleges. By the end of their junior year, they should already have taken the SAT or ACT and have a list of colleges that they are applying to ready. The application process starts August 1st of their senior year, and you do not want to be behind on that date since it is a whirl wind of applications and deadlines following that day. It is a commitment, but well worth the cost. 

We work with our students on a one-to-one basis, with a dedicated college advisor, this is not offered by all college planning businesses. We address every step associated with the college-bound experience, from beginning to end. Each student is unique, and we treat them as such. Our range of services meet a critical need that local high school counselors cannot adequately address because of time constraints and sheer number of students they work with.