College Counseling

This phase begins in the fall of junior year in our office, but we hope metacognition is already a natural part of students’ lives, at UHS and beyond. 

November: A kickoff meeting with students and parents to frame our work.

January: Juniors complete a questionnaire for our office as well as a survey that allows them to reflect on their educational experiences so far.. We also begin a series of class meetings featuring speakers and researchers on college-related topics. These meetings continue throughout the spring semester.

January - February: First 1:1 meeting between students and their counselor.

Standardized test timeline planning.

Some families want to begin thinking about visiting colleges over February or April break.  Please contact our office if you would like help planning these trips before the college process officially begins.

February - March:
Students begin to articulate what they are looking for in a college by completing something we call the “What Matters and Why” chart. Their second counselor meeting focuses on this chart.

Many students take their first SAT or ACT test.  

April:
Students create their first, very rough college lists.  This list, along with the “What Matters and Why” chart frames our first family meetings.

May:
Students determine which teachers they would like to write their letters of recommendation and make those requests.

We offer two workshops to support students in beginning applications – an essay workshop in June and an application intensive in August. We also work closely one-on-one with students as needed to support their work and offer essay review throughout the application process, including during the summer.

August - October
We offer a series of required class meetings and optional drop-in sessions to support all aspects of the application process.

We meet individually with students and families on an as-needed basis.

Colleges and universities visit UHS to meet with interested seniors.

In early October, students tell us if they will be submitting an early application anywhere, and also give us a refined draft of their full college list.

November
Most early application deadlines are November 1 or November 15. The University of Caifornia application is due no later than November 30. 

Students work with their counselor to finalize their regular decision lists.

December
Final regular decision college lists are due early in the month.

Students receive early application responses mid-month.

January
Most regular application deadlines are January 1 or January 15.

December-February
Students receive decisions from schools where they applied in November. Please note that the application and choice phases overlap because of these deadlines.

March
Most admissions decisions are released throughout March.

April
Some students visit or re-visit schools before making a final decision about where to enroll.

May
May 1 is the common reply date – the date by which students must notify the school they have chosen and pay an enrollment deposit.

A note on financial aid:  The financial aid landscape is as complex as the college admission landscape, and we want to ensure that families have expert advice available to them. To that end, we are part of a bay area consortium that has partnered with financial aid professional Paul Martin.  Paul offers a series of six financial-aid themed webinars each school year, as well as curating a robust library of resources that is available to all enrolled families.