<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=643855279873876&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Skip to the main content.
College Guidance for Parents & Guardians

 

Create an Account

Pricing

Scoir is free for your students and for you. We also offer Advanced Solutions to help you better guide your students.

Learn More

Resources

Access resources in the areas of test prep, essay support, and financial aid to better navigate every part of the admissions process.

Explore

Scoir is Free for CBOs

 

Join Now

Pricing

 

Learn More

Resources

College and academic advising resources to guide and inspire college counselors.

Explore

Simplified Advising for Counselors

 

Book a Walkthrough

District Solutions

 
Pricing

We offer a flat 50% discount for each student who receives free or reduced lunch in your school or district.

Learn More

New! Middle Schools

Enjoy Career Readiness Early Access for grades 6-8, built to help you guide students and track progress in the early years of career learnings and activities.

Learn More

Resources

ScoirU_WP_image-1

Career development (certifications, courses & curriculum) for changemakers.

Explore

View Bonus Resources

Enrollment Solutions for Colleges

 

Schedule a Consultation

Join a Demo

View Pricing

Resources

Check out content and practical guides to help inform your enrollment strategies and programs.

Explore

Family Bootcamp Podcast Mini-Series | Scoir
4:09

For families, especially parents and guardians, the college search and application process can feel like entering a whole new world. Between touring different schools, remembering all of the deadlines, and learning about financial aid, it can be a lot to wrap your head around!

In this podcast mini-series, we're breaking down 5 big college planning topics into digestible episodes, while sharing insider advice from a college expert and former Dean of Admissions. Our hope with these episodes is that you and your student walk away with a stronger understanding of these topics, so that you all feel more confident going into this new step in your student's journey!

 

 


Curious what each episode is about? Here are previews of each!


1. Family Bootcamp: Keys to Getting Started with College Planning

 


Here's a preview of this episode:

Go window shopping. Don’t go to find the ‘perfect school’ but go to see what you can see. Experience lots of different campuses, and what you’ll discover in the process is that you're going to be able to calibrate on the kinds of things that are important to you. And by the end of the window shipping you’ll know what you like, you’ll go back for more at those particular types of schools.

Take the tours, do the information sessions, knock on doors, talk to professors if you can. Try to understand the culture of the program. How do people treat each other? How do people engage each other in the learning process? Where do you feel comfortable? Where don’t you feel comfortable? And it’s all fair.
It’s not a matter of finding good schools or bad schools, you’re finding places that match up well with you.


2. Family Bootcamp: Why Course Selections Matter in the College Admissions Process

 

 

Here's a preview of this episode:

“When admissions officers look at the student's academic record or the application in general, the very first question they’re going to ask is ‘Can this student do the work at our school’?

...This is an essential part of the admission process and what we’re talking about now is building that foundation so that an admission officer can proceed with confidence that the student is going to be a viable candidate academically.”



3. Family Bootcamp: Strategies for Managing the SAT/ACT Experience



 


Here's a preview of this episode:

Test prep, when you do it [through a program], is effective one time. Many test prep programs run for about 12 weeks. My strong suggestion is that, if students are going to do test prep, they engage with a program such that the last week will come within 2 weeks of the time that they sit for the actual test.

There are parents that want to send their kids to SAT/ACT camps over the summer—I'm not sure that makes a whole lot of sense. I mean, there are going to be a lot of tips that the students can get from that, but then if they don't take the real test for 3 months or so, they're going to forget half of it."



4. Family Bootcamp: Tips for Building a Productive College List

 


 Here's a preview of this episode:

"One mistake to avoid is the sense that selectivity is a proxy for quality. The assumption is that [selective or dream schools] are the best schools.  Sometimes parents lead with that assumption, so parents need to back off of that assumption themselves. 

But when you have a student parroting that assumption as well, as a family, step back a little and recognize that there are a ton of high-quality places around the country that are not necessarily as well-known…but they’re just as good. 

So I think that as a family, you just need to stay grounded in what’s important for the student and how can we find elements of that ‘fit’ in institutions even beyond those places that we seem to regard as ‘the best schools’ out there.”



Catch up on the series and listen with the whole family today!


To hear the full series, check out Family Bootcamp on Inside College Admissions, now out wherever you listen to podcasts. Sign up for our newsletter and students, follow us on Instagram (@scoirinc) for more advice! See you next time! ☺️


Elena Polin


We make college prep simple for parents, too - Read the Scoir Guide to Getting Started as Parent/Guardian
6 Ways to Make the Most of Your Winter Break ❄️

4 min read

6 Ways to Make the Most of Your Winter Break ❄️

Hey, it’s Elena! It's already the holiday season (YAY!) and winter break is just around the corner ❄️ Here are 6 ways (self-productive and...

Read more
How Middle School Counselors Can Help Families Succeed

7 min read

How Middle School Counselors Can Help Families Succeed

Middle school is a time of transformation. Kids are growing up fast, and it can feel like a whirlwind of change for students and families.

Read more
It's About the Kids: Student-Centered Enrollment Marketing Trends

7 min read

It's About the Kids: Student-Centered Enrollment Marketing Trends

When I started college admissions counseling 20 years ago, students would come to meetings hefting heavy boxes of viewbooks they'd received from...

Read more