; —<— 4 7i 4 r 7, WS eee (Lf f 7 i om ala - & N S La — Ore 4 ,— i i —<— s/ | SOS | AVE EAN 4 f a — a CAC <:i tee - F : ~ f — _? ; ——— —<— Feeling Tense About Applying To Colleges? Tips For Parents (NAPSA)—For high school juniors and seniors, back-to-school means the start of all that pressure about getting into colleges. With school counselors so busy— sometimes serving over 1,000 pupils each—it’s hard to get personal advice. And parents often don’t know howto help. “The most important thingis to let your child explore colleges for him/herself and provide the tools and the freedom to do so,” says Dr. Katherine Cohen, founder of IvyWise, one of the nation’s leading and most exclusive private admission counseling firms. “This doesn’t have to be such a tense time. It can be a positive experience of genuineself-discovery.” Competition is stiff. Many students apply to colleges accepting fewer than 50 percent of applicants—1.4 million applications go to only 223 institutions. IvyWise techniques have been very successful. Ninety percent of clients last year were admitted to one of their top two choices; 100 percent were admitted to one of their top three. But private counseling is expensive. So this fall, Dr. Cohen and her colleagues are introducing a new program to help level the playingfield. It’s called ApplyWise (www. ApplyWise.com). It offers the same techniques in an online, easy-to-use format that keeps parents informed, provides privacy to students and is remarkably affordable. The goal is to help students get into the college of their choice. ApplyWise consists of 12 interactive counseling sessions during which students complete key tasks that help them through the admissions process. A personalized home Tips For Parents DON'T — Nag! Your child may miss deadlines to rebel against you. Say “We.” “We're” not taking the SAT. Yourchild is! Force yourcollege choices on your child. e Freak out over a low grade, test score, deferral or rejection. Write your child’s application essays. DO Let yourchild explorecollegesfreely. Ask candid questions about how he/she envisionscollege life. e Encourage a variety of choices. Laugh during times of stress. Make sure your son or daughteris also enjoying life. Gr) page, scheduling tools, calendar, worksheets, templates, and sam- ples from successful applications help them create the most successful application for themselves. There are links to helpful sites and automatic e-mails, text mes- sages, podcasts, reminders and tips to keep them on schedule as they assemble their college list, create their “brag sheet” and write their essays. ApplyWise starts in September. The full 12-session program is $299. It can be done over junior and senior years, or seniors can start this fall and complete all 12 sessions before the January application deadlines. Other options include telephone counseling and essay review. For more information, visit www.ApplyWise.com.
