International College Counselors Expands with New Florida Offices

April 26th, 2012

International College Counselors is pleased to announce the expansion of their college admissions counseling business with new offices in Miami, Coral Gables and Palm Beach, Florida.

International College Counselors operates in three states – New York, Florida and Massachusetts, and three countries – the United States, Colombia and Venezuela.

Their new offices in South Florida will bring the International College Counselors team’s expertise closer to more students, their families, and area schools.

“We saw a need and an opportunity to bring Miami, Coral Gables and Palm Beach a local college admissions resource,” said founder and CEO, Mandee Heller Adler. “With our new offices, we’ll be able to provide more students and local schools with the personal attention International College Counselors is known for. Our guidance is based upon a student’s individual needs and talents.”

International College Counselors new branches are located at 1395 Brickell Ave., Suite 800, Miami, FL 33131; 2525 Ponce De Leon Blvd., Suite 300, Coral Gables, FL 33134; and 800 Village Square Crossing, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410.

International College Counselors will maintain their current headquarters in Hollywood, Florida and they look forward to continuing their intelligent growth, while maintaining the high quality of personal, professional service they provide their clients.

In 2012, the college advisors at International College Counselors helped more than 200 students find, apply to and gain acceptance into the college of their dreams. The expert college advisors at International College Counselors are dedicated to helping students and their parents with the often daunting and complex college application process.

For more information on International College Counselors or to contact an expert college counselor, please visit http://www.internationalcollegecounselors.com

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE COUNSELORS:

International College Counselors provides expert college counseling on undergraduate and graduate college admissions, financial aid, tuition, essays, and college applications to domestic and international students. The college counseling and college coaching services are tailored to address the goals, needs, and dreams of each student. Mandee Heller Adler, founder of International College Counselors, is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She also received an MBA from Harvard Business School. Ms. Adler’s achievements have brought her recognition as one of South Florida Top 100 Small Businesses in 2010.

International College Counselors has offices in White Plains, New York; Miami Beach, Florida; Miami, Florida; Coral Gables, Florida; Palm Beach, Florida; Boca Raton, Florida; Medellin, Columbia and Caracas, Venezuela.

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Great Ways for Parents of High School Students to Spend Their Tax Refunds:

April 23rd, 2012

According to the Internal Revenue Service, the average 2012 tax refund is roughly $3000. Here are some great suggestions for what to do with the money you get back if you’re a parent of a teenager who plans to attend college:

1. Pay for Tutoring. The importance of grades for colleges cannot be ignored. The GPA is the single most important part of a college application. Not only that, colleges want to see a challenging high school curriculum. If your student needs help in one or more subjects, spend some money on tutoring. (It may even pay off more in the form of scholarships.) If you need help finding an amazing tutor, contact your International College Counselors college advisor for more information.

2. Put money into a 529 plan. Even if your child will be a junior this year, it’s not too late to make a tax-preferred investment for college. Many states, including Florida and New York, provide a tax deduction for 529 contributions even if you’re investing for only a short time.

3. Invest in a summer enrichment program. Summer enrichment programs can help propel your student toward college and gain acceptance into a school of their choice. Let your student explore a subject of interest or bolster volunteer work credentials. College advisors at International College Counselors know there are programs for all interests, including engineering, career exploration, robotics, entrepreneurship, women’s leadership, music, drama and test prep. Nearly every school, including the Ivies, offer a summer program for high school students, allowing students to experience life on a college campus. Some programs offer college credit.

4. Go for the test prep. Next to grades, test scores are one of the most important factors in college admissions. Please contact your college advisor at International College Counselors for the name, number and email address of a (SAT word alert) splendiferous SAT, ACT, SAT subject test, AP and TOFEL tutor who can help you increase your test scores.

5. Visit colleges. College visits can be costly but worthwhile. Your student just may find their top-pick school is nothing like they imagined. Visiting a school may also increase chances of gaining admittance and of getting a better award package, if only slightly. Taking the time to tour campus shows commitment.

6. Encourage summer college courses. Summer college courses can give your student the opportunity to attend school classes with undergraduate students or other select high school students and earn college credits.

7. Hire an independent college counselor. If you are not a client of International College Counselors, what are you waiting for? Our expert college advisors can give your student the individualized attention to properly tackle the college admission process. With new offices now in Coral Gables, Boston, Miami, New York and Palm Beach Gardens, and advisors who speak fluent Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, we can better meet your needs. From help choosing colleges, going on interviews, editing essays and more, we will give your student the tools to find and get into the college of his or her dreams.

If you need help evaluating and choosing a summer opportunity for your student and/or want information on tutoring, and are a client of International College Counselors, please give your college advisor a call or send an email.

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How to Ask for an Early Letter of Recommendation

April 16th, 2012

1. Make an appointment to speak with your recommenders.
Don’t just thrust letter materials into a teacher’s hand the five minutes you have between periods or tackle a coach in the locker room. This shows that you’re respectful of their time.

2. Explain.
Given the number of students who (erroneously) wait for the last minute, your teacher will most likely be surprised you’re asking for a letter so early. Explain that you already know that you’d want a recommendation from him or her. And you wanted to give him or her plenty of time. Also you wanted the teacher to be able to write you a recommendation while your achievements were still fresh in mind. The expectation is that the teacher will store your recommendation on the computer until it is time to paste it into an official letter of recommendation form.

3. Help your recommender.
At your meeting, make sure you give those chosen people information they can use to write your letter. You gain extra points for yourself because your letter will, more likely, be properly detailed. You gain extra points with recommenders for showing them that you are taking this process seriously and that you appreciate their time and effort.

Information to provide your recommender should include:

* Your full name, address, email and phone number.
* A copy of your resume or a list of activities and achievements. (This information can
be used to write a stronger letter.)
* Detailed examples of any accomplishments/ improvements in this particular teacher’s
class or subject

4. Follow Up.
Remember, your recommenders are doing you a favor. Show your appreciation by sending a thank-you note.

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Get Your Teacher Recommendations Now

April 16th, 2012

Juniors, we’re talking to you.

Even if you don’t know what schools you’re applying to, the time to ask for a Letter of Recommendation is now. If you’re applying to almost any private college at all, you’ll need a Letter of Recommendation.

By asking for a letter early, college counselors know you’re

1. Making life easier for yourself. You will be busy next year.
2. Making life easier for your teacher and he or she will appreciate it. More importantly, that appreciation may be reflected in your letter!

By giving a teacher more time to write the letter, you’re giving him or her more opportunity to write a letter tailored for you. The best letters of recommendation say something special about you. They provide insight about you, your talents, abilities, strengths, positive qualities, merits, achievements and more.

Choose who you ask wisely and carefully. Make sure you choose someone who likes you. You will most likely never even see the letter that is written about you so it needs to be someone you feel comfortable with.

Different schools may require different formats for Letters of Recommendation. However, the majority of students will be using the Common Application to apply to schools. This means it’s suggested that your teacher writes a general letter for you. Also, the idea here is that the teacher will store your letter on the computer and thus be able to paste it into whatever official letter of recommendation form you provide when the time comes.

International College Counselors note to International Students: Don’t feel you need to ask an English teacher because you think they’ll write the best. The letters need to be in English if you’re applying to a U.S. school, but the teacher can “Google” translate it or have someone in the school translate it. An exception to this would be if you know a school’s admissions office accepts recommendations in other languages and has someone on staff who can read them.

Please click here to read How to Ask for an Early Letter of Recommendation

If you have any questions on Letters of Recommendation and are a client of International College Counselors, please give one of our college advisors a call or send an email.

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Decision making after the thick envelopes!

April 8th, 2012

The envelopes are in.
 
If your student has more than one thick envelope in hand, they’re in the driver’s seat. The colleges have taken their sweeeeet time choosing you, and now it’s your turn to choose them. They’ve given you the month of April to make your choice. Far beyond the glossy paper of the brochures, here are some things college advisors at International College Counselors say you and your student should consider:
 
Economics. It’s hard to deny that this may be a factor for many students. If they’ve been offered a generous financial aid package or a scholarship, it’s going to be hard to ignore this “bonus”.
 
If the student has not received the full financial aid offer, college advisors at International College Counselors recommend you begin to explore your financial options through free tools like the one offered on FinAid.org.
 
The Ivies and a small number of other schools have policies that allow them to attend irrespective of their ability to pay. Contact each school separately for information on these policies.
 
Fit. Where does a student feel like he or she will fit in best? Some students thrive at universities where the city itself plays an important role in one’s overall education. In cities such as New York and Boston, the cultural and internship opportunities are enormous. However, city schools tend to be more impersonal. Residential campus schools like the University of Florida pride themselves on a school community atmosphere. Then there are considerations like the size of the school, the role of Greek life, the athletic culture, and more. College advisors at International College Counselors recommend that your student look for the campus energy that matches his or her own.
 
Academics. Ideally, a student should have a vague idea of a desired career path. What is needed is a school that offers a major or program that will allow your student to explore that option to fullest.
 
Culture. Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan College presents this consideration excellently:
 
“The evolution of student culture over many years that comes to define the way a place feels to the young men and women who spend these transitional years on campus. Students – not teachers and officials – make that culture. At Duke, for example, there are extraordinary programs and deep research going on. But over several weeks of the spring semester, it’s Blue Devil basketball frenzy that takes over campus culture. At Middlebury, there is currently an energetic student debate about the meal plan, which many students see as a defining element in their campus experience. At USC, the entertainment industry seeps into the fabric of the place, even when the subject areas are quite distant from Hollywood. At Wesleyan, the students have created vibrant music and film contexts that seem to fuel independent rock and hip-hop on the one hand, and popular film and TV on the other. Although most students here study neither music nor film, the energy of these areas percolates around campus.”
 
Job connections. After college, your student will want to get a job so it’s smart to consider a college’s career services center. Call them and ask about job fairs, internship opportunities, on-campus corporate interviews, and the number of students per career counselor.
 
Only you and your student will know what is truly important to you. Ask questions and take a good hard look at the school. Visit the top two choices again if you can. This is going to be your student’s home away from home for the next four years.
 
Experienced college advisors at International College Counselors believe if a student is having a tough time choosing among two or more schools it is probably because he or she has done a good job putting together the list. Most likely that student will be happy at whichever college is chosen.
 
Worse comes to worse, a student can transfer.
 
Most importantly, don’t let your student procrastinate. This is probably the biggest decision they can make at this point in their life.
 
For help from an experienced college advisor, please contact the expert college counselors at the Miami based International College Counselors of http://www.internationalcollegecounselors.com

International College Counselors
(954) 414-9986

About International College Counselors
International College Counselors is a Miami-based company that provides expert college counseling on undergraduate and graduate college admissions, financial aid, tuition, essays, and college applications. The college admissions counselors at International College Counselors work with domestic and international students. International College Counselors, founded by Mandee Heller Adler, tailors college counseling and college coaching services to address the goals, needs, and dreams of each student.

International College Counselors has seven offices in three countries.

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International College Counselors
4700 Sheridan Street, Suite J
Hollywood, Florida 33021 USA
(954) 414-9986

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