When Should You Start Thinking About College Counseling?

One question I’m asked all the time when I tell people what I do is “when should my child start thinking about college and college admissions counseling?” 

(Ps – prefer to watch rather than read? View our video on this topic: Click HERE!) 

Because I have a background in early childhood education, I know it’s never too early to start thinking about college! I’m not saying do test prep in kindergarten, but it’s never too early to introduce the idea of college and talk about goals and aspirations at a young age. When your child starts saying things like “this is what I want to do when I grow up”, that is a great time to discuss college and what that is with your child.

When it comes to college admission counseling, I’ve started the process with students as early as the end of their eighth-grade year. With counseling, a student can make wise decisions about what courses to take, how to approach extracurricular activities, and how to navigate the ins and outs of starting their high school journey. 

Some of the things we work on are study skills, time management, exploring interests and possible majors and careers, when to take tests and how to start test preparation – and much more!

Starting Freshman year really helps with confidence in how to approach each year and activity.  It also helps the counselor and student to start building the relationship and rapport that will help during the application process! Having known a student throughout their high school journey means that a counselor can help a student brainstorm successfully for their essays. Often times, a counselor can remind a student of a specific event or defining moment they may have had during high school that they spoke to their counselor about but had forgotten come college essay writing time.

If you start later, that is great too! I have worked with students who came to me after a rough semester Sophomore year, and have done really well and are now at a college they really enjoy.  Other times, I’ve even worked with Seniors who just need that extra support in applications and brainstorming essays.   

College counseling is really helpful for students no matter when they start, and I hope to be able to join you on that journey!

Learn more about Jenny Bloom by visiting her profile: Click Here!