When choosing a college advisor for your child, it’s natural to prioritize help with course selection and financial aid. However, other factors significantly impact the quality of the support you receive, such as:
- Tailored advice for your child’s age: Juniors are often in an exploratory phase, considering various post-secondary options, while seniors need to focus on committing to a path and preparing for interviews.
- Consideration of learning differences: Advisors should identify colleges that suit unique learning styles and accommodate neurodivergent students, including gifted students, twice-exceptional students, students with dyslexia, and students with sensory processing disorder.
- SAT/ACT preparation support: Strong SAT/ACT scores are crucial for college and course acceptance. Advisors who prioritize test preparation can give your child a competitive edge.
- Guidance on non-college paths: If college isn’t the right fit, an advisor should discuss alternatives like gap years, trade schools, or military service and provide helpful resources.
In this article, we’ll outline eight college advisory options to help you find the best fit for your child. These options include both free and paid services, catering to a range of budgets.
The advisory services we’ll discuss are:
We’ll begin by discussing the college advisory support offered by Fusion Academy, our middle and high school with a uniquely personalized model of education.
Paid College Advisory Providers
1. Fusion Academy
Fusion Academy is a middle and high school where each student has 1-to-1 lessons with teachers. This allows teachers to customize their approach to each individual student.
Fusion has campuses in 18 states, including California, New York, Texas, and Florida.
Click here to explore our list of over 80 Fusion campuses and find the one closest to you.
We also offer Fusion Global, an online option, with some students attending a hybrid of in-person and virtual classes.
Fusion has a strong track record of preparing students for college success. In 2024, for example, 99% of Fusion students who applied to a 4-year college were accepted, with 87% attending their first-choice college.
This success is partly due to Fusion’s 1-to-1 learning model, which tailors education to each student’s needs and fosters both academic and social/emotional growth. This approach allows:
- Academically gifted students to move at their own pace without feeling bored.
- Remedial students to catch up with their peers.
- Students with learning challenges, such as ADHD or sensory processing disorder, to receive the extra support they need.
Alongside the 1-to-1 program, Fusion offers dedicated post-secondary counseling, with a strong focus on college preparation. Full-time students are eligible for one advisory session at no charge.
College Counseling Tailored to Your Child’s Individual Journey
In line with their personalized learning model, post-secondary counseling at Fusion is tailored to each student’s age and stage in their educational journey. This sets Fusion apart from providers who offer the same support to all students, regardless of individual needs.
For example:
- For freshmen and sophomores, who are typically just starting their post-secondary planning, the focus is on selecting extracurricular activities that align with their interests and strengthen their college applications. Fusion also helps them create their first resume.
- For juniors, Fusion provides preparation for the SAT and ACT, including accommodations if necessary. They guide students through exploring college options and majors, and assist in setting a timeline for the entire college application process.
- For seniors, Fusion offers support with college applications, interview preparation, and decision-making. A key focus is helping students apply for financial aid and scholarships to reduce financial stress. Seniors also receive help creating an extracurricular list and crafting their personal statement.
College Advice That Takes Learning Differences Into Account
Similarly, post-secondary counseling at Fusion is tailored to each student’s individual learning differences. All staff are trained to recognize differences such as giftedness, twice-exceptional students, dyslexia, and sensory processing disorders.
Understanding these differences is essential when planning life after high school, as neurodivergence can have lifelong consequences beyond education. Post-secondary advisors help students find pathways that respect their unique neurological profiles by:
- Identifying colleges that offer accommodations for specific learning styles. For example, dyslexic students may receive extra time on tests or be allowed to provide oral responses instead of written ones.
- Investigating community-based transition programs designed to help students with intellectual disabilities pursue a rewarding career.
- Providing information on courses that support the development of social skills, adaptability, and emotional self-regulation.
Comprehensive SAT and ACT Coaching
Given that high SAT or ACT scores are a prerequisite for most colleges, no college advisory solution is complete without rigorous prep for these tests. Test prep is particularly beneficial for students who become easily stressed by tests and want to build their confidence.
In line with Fusion’s personalized education philosophy, their test prep is customized to address each student’s specific knowledge gaps. Students work through practice problems with their teacher using a combination of workbooks and an online portal. They can take quizzes and track progress as they learn.
A typical test prep program lasts 20–40 hours, spread over 4–12 weeks, depending on the level of support needed.
Discussion of Non-College Alternatives
College isn’t for everyone, and Fusion advisors keep this in mind when discussing future plans with students. Nevertheless, even for those who decide college isn’t the right path, it’s important to have a plan for success. Fusion advisors can help your child create that plan.
Some non-college options Fusion discusses with students include:
- Vocational schools that teach specialized skills for trades like plumbing or construction.
- Joining the military, potentially after boot camp and/or officer training.
- A gap year focusing on programs like animal welfare, language studies, coding or ecology.
- Community-based transition programs for students with disabilities or learning differences.
Fusion prides itself on flexibility, so if your child is interested in an option not listed here, let us know, and we’ll do our best to support you.
Support with Finding Financial Aid
Like many of the other college advisory options in this article, Fusion’s counselors offer support in finding financial aid, including college scholarships.
This is crucial for inclusivity, ensuring that every student has access to a college education, regardless of their financial situation.
2. IvyWise
IvyWise is an educational consultancy that specializes in helping students gain admission to top Ivy League colleges like Harvard and Yale, as well as similar institutions abroad, such as Oxford and Cambridge. IvyWise students are 4x more likely to be accepted to their college of choice compared to the average acceptance rate.
IvyWise counselors are former admissions officers from top colleges, giving them insider knowledge of what college committees prioritize when making decisions and what it takes to stand out. On average, their counselors have 15 years of tutoring and test prep experience.
The college counseling services offered by IvyWise are diverse and customizable to each student’s needs. The main focus areas include college planning and tutoring, which encompasses both academic support and test preparation. Uniquely, IvyWise also offers the opportunity to conduct research projects under the guidance of a PhD mentor and a mock interview simulation known as the IvyWise Roundtable.
3. Prepory
Prepory is a provider of college counseling and career advisory services, with over 14,000 students worldwide enrolled in their college counseling programs — proof that their approach works!
Prepory offers one-to-one consultations, ensuring each student works directly with a dedicated advisor. For high school students, a parent or guardian must be present during consultations.
The process includes unlimited essay reviews, making it an ideal fit for students refining their application materials. Additionally, Prepory offers a mock committee review, allowing students to assess their chances of acceptance and identify areas for improvement.
Prepory has helped students gain offers from prestigious institutions like MIT, UCLA, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard, as well as top companies such as Google, Bain, Goldman Sachs, and JP Morgan.
4. BeMo
BeMo offers personalized admissions prep for top colleges and universities in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia. With a 93.5% success rate, they even offer a money-back guarantee if you don’t gain admission to your chosen institution. BeMo is especially suited for students aiming for competitive programs like medicine, law, dentistry, or an MBA.
The support offered by BeMo is comprehensive, including unlimited application reviews and mock interviews, making their service great value for money when fully utilized.
BeMo also assists with obtaining financial aid, with a particular focus on prestigious scholarships that enhance a resume. For high school students in the early stages of the process, BeMo helps with selecting extracurricular activities that colleges value.
Free College Advisors for High School Students
When affordability is a major factor in choosing a college advisor, exploring free options can be a smart choice. Here are some of the best free college advisory services nationwide.
5. CollegePoint
CollegePoint is a free program designed to help high-achieving high school students from lower-income families attend college. Endorsed by Michelle Obama, it specifically supports first-generation college-bound students. As of now, the program has assisted 67,000 students.
The advisors at CollegePoint are individuals who have overcome similar challenges, having made it to college despite coming from underprivileged backgrounds. The guidance offered includes help with selecting colleges to apply to, choosing the right college from multiple offers, navigating FAFSA, and improving college essays. The program is fully remote, utilizing SMS, phone, email, and video calls for support.
6. UPchieve
UPchieve is an online platform offering free college counseling and tutoring services to disadvantaged students. With over 20,000 certified tutors volunteering their time, UPchieve helps students build skills and secure college offers.
College counselors at UPchieve assist with college essay planning, building a college list, and choosing a major. They also have experience supporting students through financial aid applications, including various scholarship options.
Additionally, UPchieve’s tutors provide academic support in core subjects like math, science, and English, which is particularly helpful for SAT preparation. If a student struggles in a specific area, they can easily connect with a tutor for free assistance.
7. UStrive
UStrive was founded in 2007 to help underserved high school students in St Louis, MO, gain access to higher education and navigate financial aid. The service has since expanded nationwide and even introduced a virtual platform in 2015.
The platform connects high school students with mentors who guide them through the college admissions process and transition into college and the workforce. Mentors and students communicate through text messages, phone calls, and video chats.
In addition to one-on-one mentorship, UStrive publishes I’m First!, an annual workbook for high school students who are the first in their family to attend college. This guide is distributed to high schools and youth organizations nationwide.
8. Bottom Line
Bottom Line helps students of color from underprivileged communities gain college access and establish careers. Unlike other providers in this article, Bottom Line operates in person, with offices in Boston, Chicago, New York, Ohio, and Detroit. The organization aims for each student to graduate with no more than $31k in debt and to be employed or in further education six months post-graduation.
Advisors at Bottom Line assist with creating a college list, writing essays, applying for financial aid, and selecting the right college. Uniquely, their support continues during college for up to six years.
Bottom Line has developed a proprietary curriculum to help students build skills necessary for success, such as time management and self-awareness. As a result, Bottom Line students are 23% more likely to graduate in four years than the average student.
Choose the Right College Advisor for Your Child
We hope one or more of the college advisor options discussed in this article resonates with you!
If you’d like guidance tailored to your child’s age and learning style, along with test prep, financial aid assistance, and a discussion of non-college options, Fusion Academy’s post-secondary counseling could be the perfect fit.
Reach out today for more information.
