Course Catalog

2021-22 High School Senior Cohort

First and foremost, our program is about, "Packaging." With so many colleges becoming test optional in 2021 as a result of COVID-19 disruptions to SAT/ACT testing dates, college applications to selective schools are likely to double or triple to 40,000 - 80,000 applications. Only students with the best packaging will be competitive applicants in such a large pool of applications. Becoming a well packaged student requires extensive college and scholarship research and then matching your 'Self Presentation' or your package (i.e., résumé, essays, recommendations, leadership, service, coursework, and grades) in such a way as to make you an exceptional candidate amongst thousands of exceptional candidates. The High School Senior Classroom provides comprehensive guidance through such areas as researching colleges and scholarships; matching student aspirations and family's financial need to a well-matched group of colleges; completing the FAFSA/CSS Profile; choosing the best admission cycles; developing an academic résumé as a college/scholarship application supplement; identifying the best teacher recommenders; identifying specialized scholarships and academic programs; and creating high quality college and scholarship applications. High school seniors are guided through live monthly virtual sessions and small group conversations designed to assist students in becoming the strongest possible college and scholarship applicants. This classroom opened on June 1, 2021

2022 High School Boot Camp Classroom (Seniors)

The tragic mistake made by millions of high school seniors is to have squandered the opportunity during the summer between their junior and senior year of high school to finalize their college planning. Due to the intense nature of our program, even students participating in our program in grades 9 - 11 can fail to reach the critical milestones in the college planning process prior to the end of 11th grade. Participants in our high school boot camp for rising high school seniors are guided through a comprehensive proprietary culturally-relevant curriculum through which students are introduced to the real stories of students from similar sociocultural backgrounds who were offered admission to selective colleges and full need- and merit-based scholarships. Each day opens with a large group presentation providing a context for the day's work. Students are then engaged in focused and intentional activities to develop a comprehensive college and scholarship plan:

  • Day 1: Engaging in an authentic assessment of students' gifts, talents, and interests
  • Day 2: Engaging in comprehensive college and scholarship research aligned with students' gifts, talents, interests, careers, and college majors
  • Day 3: Guiding students in developing a final college list of matched colleges and scholarships, to reduce or eliminate the reliance on student loans
  • Day 4: Guiding students in developing a final college and scholarship plan
Through our intense and intentional approach to college planning, students emerge from the boot camp prepared to move into the essay writing phase for well researched and vetted group of colleges and scholarships.

Essay Writing 4-part Series

First and foremost, our program is about, "Packaging." With so many colleges becoming test optional in 2021 as a result of COVID-19 disruptions to SAT/ACT testing dates, college applications to selective schools are likely to double or triple to 40,000 - 80,000 applications. Only students with the best packaging will be competitive applicants in such a large pool of applications. Becoming a well packaged student requires extensive college and scholarship research and then matching your 'Self Presentation' or your package (i.e., résumé, essays, recommendations, leadership, service, coursework, and grades) in such a way as to make you an exceptional candidate amongst thousands of exceptional candidates. The Essay Writing Sessions are an extension of our High School Senior Classroom, through which we provide comprehensive guidance through such areas as researching colleges and scholarships; matching student aspirations and family's financial need to a well-matched group of colleges; completing the FAFSA/CSS Profile; choosing the best admission cycles; developing an academic résumé as a college/scholarship application supplement; identifying the best teacher recommenders; identifying specialized scholarships and academic programs; and creating high quality college and scholarship applications. The Essay Writing Sessions are designed to result in one fully written and edited essay. The session may be repeated as many times as students need to write supplemental or scholarship essays.

2022 Judson ISD Rising 9th Grade College Planning Boot Camp

College planning boot camp for rising 9th graders.  

Applying for Scholarships

Applying for Scholarships is a self-guided class containing:

  • Links to scholarship websites
  • Scholarship research chapters from "Show Me the Money: Scholarships, Financial Aid, and Making the Right College Choice"
Since institutional scholarships provide the largest amount of funding for college, far out weighing funding from the state and federal government (i.e., Pell Grant, state scholarships); or from private scholarships (e.g., Gates Scholarship, Ron Brown Scholars, Jack Kent Cooke Scholars, Burger King Scholars, Coca Cola Scholars, etc.), there is a module devoted to institutional scholarships. While large private scholarship programs are covered, students are guided in researching local scholarships and identifying scholarships to which their background and body of work are strong matches. Forms and tables are provided to assist students in being well organized and an overview of scholarship essays is provided to ensure that students seek the best support for reviewing and proofreading scholarship essays and applications.  Students may email questions or request a one-on-one session to further discussion their college and scholarship application strategies.

2022 College Planning Boot Camp (Grades 9 - 11)

College Planning Boot Camp for students in grades 9 - 11.   

2022 Middle School College Planning Boot Camp

2022 College Planning Boot Camp for middle school students.   

2021-22 9th-10th Grade Cohort

Setting goals within a college context reflects the concept of, "Backwards Mapping," or beginning with the end in mind. For one student, the end may be getting into their top choice college. For another student, the end may be earning a full scholarship. For Omar, who joined our Atlanta-area Cohort as a rising 9th grader, his goal has been to develop an exceptional body of work. Now, a high school sophomore with a perfect 4.0 GPA, ranked at the top of his class, and a member of our College Planning Cohort Youth Leadership Board, Omar embodies the example of beginning each school year focused on developing the body of work required to achieve your college, career, and scholarship goals. Students in our 9th-10th Grade Classroom set goals and engage in a similar set of activities as high school juniors during the first semester, in which they: 

  1. Explore their gifts, talents, and areas where they believe themselves capable of pursuing exceptionality.
  2. Identify their personality type and interest profile, and explore careers and college majors that best match to their personality and interests.
  3. Identify the type and level of coursework aligned with their gifts, talents, and interests.
  4. Identify activities and community service aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.
  5. Explore leadership opportunities, honors, and awards aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.
Students complete monthly presentations outlining what they have learned as part of their small group discussions. 

2021-22 High School Junior Cohort

The COVID-19 impact on high schools and the future impact on college admissions, requires that high school seniors be intentional in their course taking, grades, leadership, activities, and service. Sydney (pictured here), from our 2020 Pinellas County Schools Cohort, begin our program as a high school junior with a clear focus on making herself the strongest possible candidate for being offered admission to her top choice school, the University of Chicago, where she was ultimately offered admission, together with a full scholarship.  High school juniors are on an aggressive timeline to create the highest qualify body of work as possible prior to the end of their junior year of high school within each of the following 5 areas: 

  1. Gifts, talents, and areas where they believe themselves capable of pursuing exceptionality.
  2. Aligning their personality type and interest profile with careers and college majors.
  3. Identify the type and level of coursework aligned with their gifts, talents, and interests.
  4. Engaging in activities and community service aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.
  5. Pursuing leadership opportunities, honors, and awards aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.
Collectively, what students accomplish within these 5 areas by the end of their junior year of high school, will create a body of work that will define their college and scholarship opportunities as a high school senior. 

What to Do After Applying to College

There are many important steps to be taken after applying to college—while your application being processed or after being offered admission. This class provides step-by-step guidance.

The Meeting Street Scholarship

Overview The Meeting Street Scholarship Fund provides an opportunity for Florence County School District 3 students to receive up to $10,000 of college assistance. If you meet the eligibility criteria, and attend one of the eligible South Carolina 4-year colleges or universities, you may be awarded up to $10,000 through the Meeting Street Scholarship program. The video presented below shares how the scholarship program was inspired and the first scholarship recipients from the Charleston County School District. While the scholarship is limited to 18 South Carolina colleges and universities, each of the units in the class will provide guidance in researching and matching to the college or university best aligned with your educational and career aspirations. The units will also allow you to compare the net price of attending each college after applying the Meeting Street Scholarship. Eligibility
  • Reside in Florence County
  • Graduate from a Florence School District 3 public high school
  • Qualify for the South Carolina LIFE or Palmetto Fellows Scholarship
    • Two of the following three requirements must be met:
      • Earn at least a 3.0 GPA in high school
      • Score at least 1100 on SAT or 24 on ACT
      • Rank in the top 30% of your graduating class
  • Attend one of the eligible SC colleges and universities
  • Qualify for the federal Pell Grant after completing the FAFSA
Eligible Colleges and Universities

2022-23 High School Junior/Senior Cohort

The COVID-19 impact on high schools and the future impact on college admissions, requires that high school seniors be intentional in their course taking, grades, leadership, activities, and service. Sydney (pictured here), from our 2020 Pinellas County Schools Cohort, begin our program as a high school junior with a clear focus on making herself the strongest possible candidate for being offered admission to her top choice school, the University of Chicago, where she was ultimately offered admission, together with a full scholarship.  High school juniors are on an aggressive timeline to create the highest qualify body of work as possible prior to the end of their junior year of high school within each of the following 5 areas: 

  1. Gifts, talents, and areas where they believe themselves capable of pursuing exceptionality.
  2. Aligning their personality type and interest profile with careers and college majors.
  3. Identify the type and level of coursework aligned with their gifts, talents, and interests.
  4. Engaging in activities and community service aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.
  5. Pursuing leadership opportunities, honors, and awards aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.
Collectively, what students accomplish within these 5 areas by the end of their junior year of high school, will create a body of work that will define their college and scholarship opportunities as a high school senior. 

2021-22 9th-10th Grade Cohort (2nd Semeste)

Setting goals within a college context reflects the concept of, "Backwards Mapping," or beginning with the end in mind. For one student, the end may be getting into their top choice college. For another student, the end may be earning a full scholarship. For Omar, who joined our Atlanta-area Cohort as a rising 9th grader, his goal has been to develop an exceptional body of work. Now, a high school sophomore with a perfect 4.0 GPA, ranked at the top of his class, and a member of our College Planning Cohort Youth Leadership Board, Omar embodies the example of beginning each school year focused on developing the body of work required to achieve your college, career, and scholarship goals. Students in our 9th-10th Grade Classroom set goals and engage in a similar set of activities as high school juniors during the first semester, in which they: 

  1. Explore their gifts, talents, and areas where they believe themselves capable of pursuing exceptionality.
  2. Identify their personality type and interest profile, and explore careers and college majors that best match to their personality and interests.
  3. Identify the type and level of coursework aligned with their gifts, talents, and interests.
  4. Identify activities and community service aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.
  5. Explore leadership opportunities, honors, and awards aligned with their gifts, talents, personality, and interests.
Students complete monthly presentations outlining what they have learned as part of their small group discussions.