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Process: How we work together.
A Student-Centered Approach Students and families come to me at different stages in the college application process. My individualized and student-centered approach focuses on the strengths of students and finding college options where they will be both happy and successful. Although I build an individualized plan for each student, in general my students progress through the following four phases: EXPLORE When students care about their future and recognize the exciting possibilities ahead, they are much more engaged in the college process. Although some students are ready to talk about college freshman year, many are not ready until junior year. During this phase I discuss initial questions about the college application process, class selection, time-management, potential areas of study and extracurricular and summer possibilities. The goal of this stage is to demystify the process and help students begin to explore the many options in front of them. INVESTIGATE It takes time to research the many college options available to students. During this phase, which is typically during junior year, I help students set their college priorities and major preferences. Then we create an initial college list, outline a testing strategy, plan school visits, and examine summer and extracurricular options. Students who take the time to thoughtfully investigate their college options have a much easier time completing the college application process. PLAN The summer between junior and senior year is a great time to start writing essays and preparing for college applications. My approach is very proactive and during this phase students manage their college list, finalize a resume, organize college deadlines, brainstorm essay topics, write essay drafts and prepare for interviews. It is essential for students to plan and...
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About: Meet Roxana, Tammy, and Charlotte.
Philosophy At College Calm, we love getting to know our students, listening to their stories, learning what motivates them, and helping them find their voice. We consider it our job to reduce the stress and confusion students and families feel during the college application process. Our personalized approach creates a comfortable environment where we focus on student’s strengths, validate their experiences and build their capacity to calmly and effectively complete their college applications. We do not view high school and the college process as a means to an end, but rather a time when students can learn about their academic assets and personal interests. We challenge students to think about what they can learn about life through the college process, and encourage them to dream about their futures. We believe students need to start the process early enough to give themselves the time to be (or learn to be) pro-active, organized, and thoughtful. By the end of the process, we want our students to find a college where they will thrive, not just attend. Meet Roxana My background in education and admissions provides me with the unique combination of knowledge and tools to help students complete the college application process. I have a BA from Georgetown University and an MA in Education from Stanford University. As an application reader in the Stanford University admissions office and an admissions counselor at Santa Clara University, I read and evaluated hundreds of undergraduate applications and have first-hand experience in recognizing what makes the best applications rise to the top. Currently I interview Georgetown applicants as an alumni interviewer, serve as a school coach for the Challenge Success program and mentor AVID students...
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Kudos: A few words from our clients.
What Students and Parents are Saying I would like to sincerely thank you for your beneficial support, guidance and wisdom you shared with me over this past year. Our weekly sessions grew to become something I greatly looked forward to, rather than stressful college counseling meetings. I am grateful for your warm and trusting ways and your unconditional willingness to listen and provide support. Menlo Student (SMU) College Calm helped me most by getting me to go after what I really wanted. Before college calm, I thought I wanted to go the colleges that everybody else wanted to go to. College Calm helped me realized what college would be right for me. Sequoia Student (University of Oregon) My essays, I feel, turned out with the right balance of my own style and concision that needs to be demonstrated within the college-essay genre. The advice that was given by Roxana did not, in any way, hinder my creativity, but rather fashioned it into a precise voice of honesty and clarity. I am very pleased with what was created during my sessions. Burlingame High School Student (St. Johns) College Calm helped me line up my goals and figure out a schedule to make sure everything was my best work and turned in on time. I learned how to write both college essays and supplements (learning more about myself on the way). Although the college essay writing process is a long one, the end result was worth the work and editing. On top of being written well, I think they are representative of what kind of person I am and my accomplishments. Palo Alto High School Student (Pepperdine) The most helpful aspects...
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Understanding YOUR GPA
Most students will have a GPA summary box similar to this on their transcript. Each GPA is interpreted by colleges and universities in different way. While some universities and colleges take your GPA on your transcript into consideration when reviewing your application, such as the UC’s and CSU’s, other schools will recalculate your GPA based on their needs. This may mean the college omits PE, Dance, Religion or Art classes from the GPA to focus in on the core academic classes. Many colleges and universities will not re-calculate your GPA, but will also look carefully at the strength of your coursework and number of courses of college prep, honors, AP, and IB courses taken while evaluating your application. Your School Counselor submits a school profile with your application so that the admissions officer fully understands the grading scale of your school, as well as the rigor of coursework your high school offers.
Cumulative GPA (Weighted)– This GPA includes grades from all of the courses listed on the transcript. Weighted means that any course that is IB, AP, or Honors level is awarded an extra point. For example, AP Biology would be weighted out of A=5pts, B=4pts, C=3pts. Regular College Preparatory classes are unweighted and are valued at A=4pts, B=3pts, C=2pts, D=1pt, F=0pt.
Cumulative (Unweighted)-This GPA includes grades from all of the courses listed on the transcript grade 9-12. Unweighted means that all courses are considered equal in weight regardless of AP, IB, or Honors level.
CA Cal Grant GPA: The Cal Grant GPA uses all academic course work for the sophomore year, the summer following the sophomore year, the junior year, and the summer following the junior year. This high school GPA excludes physical education (PE). Failing grades must be included in the GPA calculation unless the course has been retaken. Only include the most recent grade for any course repeated by the student. It does not take AP, IB, or Honors into account.
Weighted 10-12 A-G GPA: This is the GPA that will be used by the UC/CSU system. This GPA includes a student’s grades from 10th and 11th grade in A-G approved courses. To determine if your course is an A-G approved course, you can login to UC Doorways to determine UC eligibility.
If you would like to understand how to calculate your UC/CSU GPA, please use this tool
How to report your GPA on the Common Application?
When you report your GPA on the Common Application, you should report the weighted GPA if your school includes the weighted GPA on your transcript.
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How to Start Thinking about Financial Aid
College Calm’s class of 2017 received aid offers of over 1 MILLION dollars in merit aid per year- over 4 million dollars over 4 years.
We want to give you important information regarding college financial aid. Too often families wait to talk about college costs and finances until the end of the process. We at College Calm think it is important to begin to talk about college finances in conjunction with building a college list that reflects your family values. Clear communication is important so when a student is looking at colleges so everyone has an idea of what is feasible for your family. Below we talk about the changes in the FASFA, need based aid, merit aid and ways to cut college costs. At the bottom you will find a student checklist for July. We hope you are having a wonderful summer.
First Steps
Now is the time to start thinking about how you and your family will deal with financial aid. Start by reading Lynn O’ Shaughnessy’s article,” Your Crucial 1st Step.” She recommends that you start by determining your family’s expected contribution. You can go to the financial aid website for any of the schools on your list and use the net price calculator. It is now mandatory for every college to have a calculator for families to estimate financial contributions. The information requested usually mirrors questions asked on the FASFA and CSS Profile. Sometimes the net price calculator can be hard to find on a school website so the easiest way to locate it is to google the school name and “net price calculator.” Here are a few examples: Santa Clara, CAL, Tulane and USC. Lynn’s website, the College Solution is a great resource for college financial information. In addition, most high schools sponsor a school or district financial aid night right after winter break (or earlier). It is a good idea to attend.
Changes in the FASFA
There is a new acronym in financial aid that is dominating the conversations- PRIOR, PRIOR YEAR or PPY. Beginning in the fall of 2016, the FAFSA now opens for families to complete in October, rather than the following January. This means that the FASFA will be asking for data regarding your 2016 tax return, rather than estimates of your 2017 return. Students and families will be able to fill out the forms earlier which will result in colleges being able to send financial aid packages out earlier. We recommend that students research each school on their list and add to their spreadsheet the deadlines for the forms required. If a student plans to apply early, many schools will need the CSS Profile or FASFA or both by early action/decision date in October and November.
Merit Aid
This year there were some colleges that awarded significant scholarships to College Calm students. Some of the most generous were: Tulane, U of Arizona, Chapman, Gonzaga, U of Puget Sound, Fordham, Connecticut College, TCU, UC Boulder, U of San Diego and U of Denver.
College Calm’s class of 2017 received aid offers of over 1 MILLION dollars in grants, scholarship and merit aid per year- over 4 million over 4 years.
For more schools that offer Merit aid, visit The New York Times useful and interactive list of colleges that offer merit aid. You can sort the list by clicking on the column headings.
Western University Exchange (WUE)
If you are interested in out-of-state public institutions in the West, make sure to check out the Western University Exchange (WUE). WUE is a regional tuition reciprocity agreement between states that results in students paying a reduced out-of-state tuition. WUE students pay no more than 150% of the in-state tuition. Participating states include: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming. Montana and Nevada automatically offer WUE to CA residents, but for other states students need to apply to become a WUE student. Some schools participate on a very limited basis (U of Oregon and U of Arizona) and other not at all (Boulder and Arizona State). To learn more visit www.wiche.edu/wue
Questions to ask Financial Aid Offices
If you are visiting colleges and want to discuss financial aid options, the Huffington Post article, “ 8 Financial Aid Questions You Must Ask,” is a great place to start.
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