Welcome to our monthly newsletter!
Welcome back to our monthly newsletter! Below, you will find a link to a page on our website highlighting what students should be working on this month, important news in higher education, new blog posts, and other resources we feel are important to share. Enjoy!
Monthly College Updates!
Welcome to our monthly update on the college search and application process. Each month, we'll be updating the link below to our webpage and including it in our newsletter, so that all of our subscribers can access summaries of what they should be thinking about at this point in the college search process.
These updates will mostly focus on the junior and senior classes. Freshmen and sophomores should focus on maintaining good grades, academically pushing themselves, getting involved in extracurriculars, and making sure their summers incorporate meaningful experiences for growth.
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Haven't joined our mailing list yet?
Virtual College Counselors believes every student and family should have access to expert advice on the college search and application journey, regardless of any financial or time constraints. By signing up for our newsletter, in addition to monthly college search and application updates, you will also receive a Free College Search Starter Kit PDF containing the following starter guides:
- The College Application Timeline
- Discovering College Fit
- College Essay Tips
- Common College Essay Pitfalls
- Introduction to Financial Aid 101
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Congratulations Class of 2025!
Firstly, we would like to congratulate the high school Class of 2025 all on the progress they've made on their journeys! Whether you’ve already enrolled at a college, decided to take a gap year, or are making your final college decisions, we are so proud of the energy and effort you have put into the self-reflection required throughout this process!
There are a couple of final to-do items that we would appreciate every student and parent completing:
- We would really appreciate all current clients completing our Satisfaction and Results Surveys! We take this feedback seriously, and while we know that you are very busy, we would sincerely appreciate any feedback you might be able to provide. Feedback from parents and students helps us support and empower future students and families traversing the college application process.
Parents need only submit the Parent Satisfaction Survey, while students need to submit both the Student Satisfaction and College Results Surveys.
- Student Satisfaction: https://forms.gle/xPYSv3TH3GCJ6yTRA
- College Results: https://forms.gle/kEU8qKMZ2tKqfmoq9
- Parent Satisfaction: https://forms.gle/DanXzUpxASBeTQ6LA
Once you've decided on a college, submit your enrollment deposit, housing deposit, and complete all forms required to match you with a roommate and choose your dorm. You should also keep an eye out for correspondence about class registration, orientation, and any other next steps the college/university requires.
As many of you know, our business is built on referrals from wonderful clients like yourselves, and we really appreciate the referrals and your feedback to help us ensure future students and families who work with Virtual College Counselors have the best experience. We encourage you to connect us with any potential referrals or help them begin their process by sharing our free 15-Minute Consultation link: https://www.virtualcollegecounselors.com/vcc-dubsado-free-consultation.
Independent Educational Consultants Association 2025 Annual Conference
It's that time of year again! In less than 24 hours, we'll begin our travels to the 2025 IECA Annual Conference. The annual conference serves as an opportunity to deepen our knowledge about current trends in the education landscape from other colleagues. Outside of presentations for professional development, the conference also serves as an opportunity to visit local colleges and universities (Bowling Green State University, Oberlin College, College of Wooster, Hiram College, & Case Western Reserve University).
After participating in a conference, we frequently reflect on our experiences through blogs. Curious about content from previous conferences? You can find a list of relevant blogs below:
Summer Prep Blogs
During May, we limit our meetings with current juniors/rising seniors for two primary reasons.
Firstly, we are often out of the office for the first half of May due to the IECA Conference and ensuing college tours.
Secondly, we know that many students are preparing for their end-of-year exams (AP, IB, or finals). Junior year grades are often the final grades that colleges will have access to before making an admission decision, so it's very important that students put forth effort to end the year as academically strong as possible.
As we return to the office, we'll begin reaching out to our new rising seniors (Class of 2026) to schedule our first summer meetings to begin work on college essays. In the meantime, here are a few previous blogs to help prepare students for our summer work together.
Higher Education in the News
- Federal pressure on college admissions: Inside Higher Ed reported that the Trump administration has stepped up scrutiny of college admissions. The Dept. of Education recently froze $400 million in state funding for Columbia and demanded it produce a “plan for comprehensive admission reform” – specifically to adopt “merit-based criteria” and end all “preferences in admissions." A similar demand was sent to Harvard after its funding was frozen, and the Justice Dept. has opened civil investigations of Stanford and the University of California system for allegedly defying the Supreme Court’s ban on race-based admissions. These moves signal possible federal policy shifts that could affect how universities admit students in the coming years.
- Federal aid cuts causing FAFSA delays: The Washington Post reported on April 14 that massive Trump-era cuts to the Education Dept. staff have already begun to disrupt student aid. Since mid-March, financial-aid offices have seen calls unanswered and key computer systems “plagued with outages,” slowing the processing of federal loans and grants. University financial aid officers say these glitches are delaying their ability to finalize FAFSA-based aid offers and disburse loans and Pell grants to students. Families should be aware that continued staffing cuts could mean further delays in getting aid packages.
- California State’s new direct-admit pilot: AP News recently wrote on a statewide “direct admission” initiative in California. Under a pilot program in Riverside County, eligible high school seniors are automatically offered admission to one or more California State University campuses before even applying. The program led to a sharp spike in CSU applications from that county (historically ~10,000 per year) with “no other explanation” for the jump. Officials note the program could increase enrollment, though they also caution that some admitted students – especially low-income students – still face hurdles (like summer melt or financial issues) before they actually enroll.
- Ivy affordability? – Harvard cuts tuition: AP News reports that Harvard University announced a major financial-aid expansion to improve student access. Beginning with the 2025–26 year, Harvard will waive tuition for all students from families earning up to $200,000 annually. Families making under $100,000 will have even their living costs covered, effectively eliminating cost barriers for nearly 90% of admitted U.S. students. Harvard says the policy is intended to “make the university more affordable” and widen socioeconomic diversity on campus.
- State tuition and affordability moves: In Georgia, the Board of Regents voted to keep tuition and mandatory fees flat for in-state undergraduates at most public colleges in 2025–26. The typical Georgian attending a public college will pay about $6,466 for two semesters next year, roughly unchanged from 2024. Regents noted that in-state tuition in Georgia remains one of the lowest regionally. (Tuition for non-residents will rise by 2–3% in 2025–26.) This decision reflects a policy trend of using budget decisions to protect college affordability for state residents.
2024-2025 FAFSA Officially Opened!
Don't forget to keep tabs on financial aid application deadlines (for FAFSA, the CSS Profile, state-specific, and institution-specific forms, whichever are applicable for your specific schools of interest), in addition to general admission application deadlines.
It is also critical that students check their email inboxes daily for any correspondence from schools to which they've applied or intend to apply. Lastly, students should be sure to set up their prospective student portals for each school as soon as the login information is sent to them to ensure all application materials are received by the appropriate deadlines.
- The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is officially open!
- Some schools use the CSS Profile to determine eligibility for institutional aid. It's a doozy of a form! The list linked at the beginning of this bullet point is the most complete one that exists. Every school has its own deadline when the form needs to be received for aid consideration, so this is a friendly reminder to pay close attention to those deadlines.
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We've been strongly encouraging all students to pay close attention to application requirements for each school and to submit their applications at least a week before institutional deadlines for three primary reasons:
- Once the application is received and processed, schools will provide students access to a prospective student portal. This is important because it's where students can track which materials have been received and which are still outstanding. Most schools provide a cushion of a few days for counselors and teachers to submit their materials, but some don't.
- Some schools have additional essay prompts or requirements that can only be accessed through the portal! The most common additional requirement is the Self-Reported Student Record. Information about all requirements can be found on each institution's website, but it never hurts to have another set of eyes double-checking for these important pieces.
- The application systems tend to get overrun and often crash on the days of major college deadlines.
That finish line is right around the corner, and we are excited to be crossing it with you on this journey! Our wonderful colleagues at Big J Consulting have broken down the important information you need to know when completing these forms for the first time in this helpful blog. We highly recommend using this as a guide as you navigate the forms.
If you'd like more information on the current discourse about the FAFSA delays, we'd suggest looking into the following articles:
Relevant Virtual College Counselor Blogs:
Relevant Outside Blogs/Resources:
Academic Coaching Highlight:
Calibrate Academic Coaching
This month we are highlighting one of our fellow educational consultants focusing on utilizing strategies grounded in neuroscience to cultivate powerful learning while leveraging a student’s full potential in ALL academic coursework.
Calibrate Academic Coaching provides 1:1 academic coaching for middle and high school students to reclaim their confidence, independence, and engagement in their learning.
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We want to once again express our gratitude to all of our students, their families, other professionals, and even strangers who have taken the time to peruse our newsletter. As always, if you have questions OR if you have a topic you'd like to see discussed, please don't hesitate to reach out.
info@virtualcollegecounselors.com
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