Will: a College Search Success Story

How the Vested Academics College Coaching Team guided a student toward a balanced search list and an excellent college fit

How It All Started

Will was an excellent student. With a high GPA, great extracurriculars, and solid standardized test scores, he was confident that he was going to study finance at an elite college. So, when the time came for their son to pick his schools, Will’s parents proudly encouraged their son to get involved. They wanted him to take initiative and find his own way—something they felt had been a critical part of their college experiences. One night at dinner, Will presented his parents with a list of five top-tier schools. All seemed like it was going according to plan.

Three weeks later, Will’s mother came across an article about college admissions. The piece showcased interviews of distraught students, all of whom had perfect GPAs, test scores, and private school pedigrees that trumped those on Will’s transcript. She suddenly realized that these students had been denied admission into the same schools her son had his sights set on. A few calls to some of her friends, many of whom had children who had already gone through the college admissions process, further confirmed her fears: the game had completely changed since her high school days.

Worried about her son’s future, she spoke with her husband. They both agreed that it was time to get a professional opinion. That’s when they came to Vested Academics.

Parent Perspective

  • Wanted to let their son find his own way
  • Encourage him to do all the research himself
  • Didn’t know how complex college admissions had become

Will’s Perspective

  • Overconfident about odds of getting accepted to elite schools
  • Relied on student rumors and online chatter to make his selections
  • Saw no value in asking for help during his research process

How the Vested Academics Team Helped Will and His Parents

Thoughtful, Honest Communication—By facilitating a conversation about the school’s Will had selected on his own, his Vested Academics consultant helped the family better understand the odds of acceptance and program requirements for each school.

Professional College Search—After a series of one-on-one and family discussions, Will’s admissions consultant conducted hours of thorough research, allowing her to cultivate a balanced list of reach, match, and safety schools.

Application Support—Guiding Will through the application process step by step, his admissions consultant pointed out several errors he had unknowingly made and steered him away from using common cliches on his main essay, supplements, and personal statements.

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The Result

With an experienced admissions expert at the helm, Will and his parents felt supported immediately. Now they understood the bigger picture and had no reservations about applying to the balanced list of colleges that matched Will’s qualifications. Open to his consultant’s guidance, he reworked his applications and essays, getting them up to the high standards expected of competitive students.

Later that winter, Will learned that he had been accepted to all of his match schools and two of his reach schools. His parents were thrilled and grateful to have caught their mistake, and they were all excited about Will’s future.

In His Own Words

“I didn’t understand how competitive it was. I mean, all my friends and I thought we were all set just because we were in tough classes. I mean, I took secondhand advice from posts and listened to the stuff my best friend had said he had heard other friends say about where to apply. She never made me feel embarrassed about it. She told me the truth and got me back to reality.”

Will
High School Senior

Next Steps

Whether your child is in eighth grade or in their senior year of high school, the Vested Academics College Coaching Team offer families guidance and support throughout the entire college planning process. Contact Our Team to learn more.

Attend our classes and events on this topic. From webinars to in-person events, guest speakers to professional instruction, our events calendar is filled with outstanding resources for parents and students alike. Go to the Events Calendar.

With nearly twenty years of experience as an educator, Jennifer Chase has developed a natural ability to meet individual students at their level, helping them find confidence while working toward their goals.

More about Jen C.

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