A Real-Life Everybody Else's Guide Experience

Want to test out the information you'll find inside Everybody Else's Guide To Getting Into College? Well, College Summit, a non-profit organization, provides a 4-day college preview workshop that provides an opportunity to test-drive all of the strategies and apply all of the information you've read about in the book. It really does work!

College Summit Workshops are limited to 40 low-income high school students. The workshop is held on a college campus where students stay in dorms and eat in the dining halls, just like real college students.

Students work through each component of their college application and participate in peer discussion groups led by volunteer facilitators.

Here the program features (as described on the College Summit website):

Essay Writing –
College Summit’s Writing Team (TM) method, developed by a Harvard Writing Instructor, helps students learn to open up, take risks, and produce essays that reveal their true strengths – beyond what any number could show.

Rap Sessions –
Led by a trained youth facilitator (“Rap Director”), students identify the personal challenges they will face in trying to go to college, and develop strategies to overcome them.

One-on-One College Counseling –
Students meet 1:1 for an hour with professional college counselors to pick colleges that match them academically, socially, and financially, and to develop concrete Next Steps to accomplish senior year.

Financial Aid –
Students learn about financial aid, the importance of planning, and the fundamentals of advocacy in “winning” at financial aid. They practice interviewing and presenting through role-play.

On-Line Common Application –
With College Summit’s on-line Application Management tool, “CSNet,” students complete a common application that they can use for more than 250 colleges.

Great Review (TM) –
Adults with different perspectives – Writing Coaches, hometown teachers, and college counselors – meet to individually review each student and identify the colleges and resources that best match their needs.

Peer Leader Training –
Students who attend the workshop are given tips for helping their classmates to start addressing their own college transition during their senior year, allowing the “Peer Leaders” to practice their leadership abilities in their own schools.

The Workshops are held each year between June and August. The final 2006 workshop runs August 6-13.

Don't worry if you've missed the workshop deadline. You can still read Everybody Else's Guide To Getting Into College and receive the benefits of the same strategies and ideas. Then, next year, apply early for the College Summit Workshop.

Other Info:
View participating school districts.
View participating colleges.
See your guidance counselor for information on participating in a College Summit Workshop.

College Summit and Everybody Else's Guide To Getting Into College are not affiliated.