(1) Early Stage HS Planning Hourly Session (Grades 8-9) 👉Booking Instructions

​This meeting is designed to help students make the first successful step on their road to college. We will guide students to holistically understand the expectations of college admissions, form long-term goals, and make important academic and extracurricular decisions at the early stage of their high school career.

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(2) HS Course Planning Hourly Session (Grades 8-9) 👉Booking Instructions

We will guide the family to make a four-year high school course plan and answer all kinds of questions about course selection.

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** 8th graders who are required to select high school courses are welcome to contact us before high school. 

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§§ The hourly counseling session does not include progress follow-up, summer program/internship application guidance, college list development, and other tasks that require our post-meeting investment. ​

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¶¶ We highly encourage students to contact us at least 5 business days to arrange a counseling session as we might get too busy during the spring course selection season and fall college application season to accommodate all the requests.

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👉Booking Instructions 

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This program is open to sophomores and juniors (and advanced freshmen) who have accumulated some experience and are wondering about the next steps in preparation for applying to selective colleges.

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We will provide an in-depth assessment of and expert advice on all the elements in the student’s academic and extracurricular life that will be factored in during the college admissions process. During the meeting, we will help the student form a holistic picture of his/her current situation, understand his/her strengths, tease out important themes in non/academic investments, set priorities among myriad tasks, build a compelling personal brand, and eventually stand out in even the most competitive applicant pool.

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§§ The hourly counseling session does not include progress follow-up, summer program/internship application guidance, college list development, and other tasks that require our post-meeting investment. ​

​

¶¶ We highly encourage students to contact us at least 5 business days to arrange a counseling session as we might get too busy during the spring course selection season and fall college application season to accommodate all the requests.

👉 Booking Instructions 

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Materials Needed for a Thorough Review​

​1. All the essays and short-answer responses saved in one Microsoft Word document.

2. All other parts of the application saved through the application system as one PDF.

3. Unofficial 4-year high school transcript. 

4. Questions and issues you’d like to cover in the meeting.

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​Submission

You have the option to share these materials either through a Google Drive folder or by sending an email to office@polariscollegecounseling.com. 

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Please make sure to submit a polished application package rather than a rough draft as this program is NOT designed for students who have just started the process.

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§§ ​We highly encourage the student to contact us as early as possible so they have enough time to fully incorporate our suggestions as they improve their materials.  

 

The student will be contacted to schedule an online review within 5 business days before October 1st. The 5 business day turnaround is not guaranteed between October and December as we will prioritize the needs of the students in our comprehensive counseling program. 

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¶¶  The meeting lasts about an hour and is highly intense. We expect the student to get ready to absorb a large amount of information and advice.

👉 Booking Instructions 

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Please prepare and share your materials and questions at least 5 business days before the meeting. Understand that due to time constraints, we can't cover all college admissions issues in one session. 

 

The hour-long session may address (each bullet point outlines the usual agenda for ONE session):

 

Application Strategies

• Reviewing the admissions profile, crafting a standout person brand, and making a strategic application blueprint

• Identifying college majors, creating a balanced college list, navigating REA, EA, ED, Regular, Rolling admissions policies to make a feasible application timeline

 

Written Materials

• Reviewing the counselor's Brag Sheet and recommendation letter questionnaires

• ​​Reviewing the college resume, Common App/UC/MIT Activities List and Additional Information sections

• Brainstorming topics for the written materials of ONE college (limited to ONE college per session)

• Reviewing the written materials for ONE college (limited to ONE college per session)

 

Miscellaneous

• Discussing deferral/waitlist strategies, and reviewing Letters of Continued Interest

• Preparing for college interviews

• Reviewing offer letters and making the final decision

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Submission

You have the option to share these materials either through a Google Drive folder or by sending an email to office@polariscollegecounseling.com. 

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