As
I have found, as a busy senior with a tough class load and a multitude
of
extracurriculars, the college application
process
is quite complicated and sometimes too complex for a student to
decipher.
Realizing that I was clueless about the whole process and realizing that
I
wanted to make college see the best me, I decided to seek help.
Hitchhiker's
has pretty much made the college application process much easier and
less of a
hassle for me, allowing me to focus on the applications but also on my
other
work. What I find really helpful, is the advice about the college essays. Many colleges now require at
least one
essay and many of them stress the essays' importance in their decision
factor,
so making mistakes or not doing them the right way would not be
acceptable.
With Hitchhiker's I was able to better understand how to pick essays,
respond
to them to ensure that colleges will remember me. Most of the advice
given is even
applicable in writing for school. I know that for many families the
whole
college application process is very important as it determines
childrens'
futures for the next four years of their lives and like every parent who
wishes
well for his/her child, being familiar with the process and
understanding what
is being asked will help optimize the student's chances to get into his
or her
college. I would really like to thank Hitch Hiker's for such a
phenomenal job
in guiding me and making the whole process feel like a piece of cake!
This section focuses on our college and scholarship
application preparation services targeted towards rising seniors.
Preparing a college and/or scholarship application is a tedious and serious job that is best left to professionals. The best time to prepare college and scholarship applications is the summer when you are a rising senior. A lot of universities have early action (EA) and early decision (ED) deadlines in late summer or early fall. Since EA and ED increase your chances of getting accepted in “reach” colleges dramatically (sometimes as high as 35%), it makes a lot of sense to prepare applications in summer before the senior year. Moreover, once school starts in your senior year, there will be little to no time to devote to application preparation. Ideally we would like to meet with the student and his/her family in the early summer to understand his/her career and college preferences. However, our application preparation services are open throughout Fall, and even in Spring for universities which have rolling admissions. The first consulting session is 1 hour long, and the fee for this is waived if the student is enrolled in our College Guidance Program.
The first step in the program is college and scholarship (if required) searching. We suggest that students apply to about 5-6 colleges, 1-2 of which will be “reach” colleges (lower chance of getting admission), 2-3 of which will be within range, and 1 will be a “safe” college (very high chance of admission). We will help in locating these colleges and any associated scholarships that the student may be interested in, for a nominal fee (this fee is waived if the student is enrolled in our College Guidance Program).
Our application preparation services include unlimited telephone consultation during the process of application preparation and final review of the application before it is sent out. Most of this process can be done remotely, although the student might need to come to our location occasionally. Our involvement with the application process does not end after the application is sent out – we follow through with the application until the college makes a decision. This is important because colleges tend to keep asking for missing details after the applications have been submitted. Each application, either for college admission or for scholarship, is charged separately. This charge does not include writing essays for the application or preparing the student for any interview (if required).
College admission and scholarship applications typically require essays to be written. Common application essays can be shared between several colleges, but certain colleges require essays specific to them. We provide guidance during essay writing, helping the student make an insightful and telling choice, and present his/her choice creatively and credibly. Note that the same essay can often be shared between multiple applications.
Finally, for
colleges and programs that require interviews, we offer consulting
services to prepare students for success. An interview preparation includes a 30 minutes Mock Interview.
We will be happy to discuss
our program further with you over the phone.
Please give us a call at 704-840-5485.