Georgia

Georgia’s thoughts and convictions are stronger than may initially appear, resting just below the surface. The first time we talked, Georgia mentioned that she might want to be an elementary teacher. As we worked together the MIGHT changed into a stronger conviction. The majority of college students change majors and career trajectories at least once while in college, and Georgia may do so as well; she is willing to consider other options now and in the future, but it does seem that she pretty strongly orients toward that elementary school teaching, and she’d be amazing at it.

For the college list, our starting point was very broad. She wanted to consider every school and find a place that really worked for her. Awesome! Through our college characteristics exercises, we identified that her dream school would have at least the following characteristics:

• Teaching Degree
• Friendly Campus
• Residential Campus
• Sunshine
• Weekend Life

As we talked, “sunshine” changed into just wanting to go someplace new. She also identified the following characteristics as things she absolutely does not want:

• Conservative Campus / Liberal Campus (Georgia explained that she doesn’t want overly political environment)
• Small College
• Women-Only
• Competitive Environment
• Thrive on Pressure
• Top of My Class
• Rural Campus

During the FIT phase, Georgia reviewed several lists of colleges. As the work progressed, it became clear that the Western was her ideal destination. We identified a number of schools that intrigued her and that seemed to work. In fact her list was pretty big. Additional research and a  couple college visits got her list to a good size at 9 schools. (I think 6-12 is all reasonable, not counting wild-cards). My only comment was that after I color-coded her list based on my best -estimate on chance of admission, all of her schools were green (high chance) or blue (medium chance). She did not want to add any orange (low chance) schools because she was happy with her list. Fair enough!

Student Facts

Interests and Extracurriculars

Dance Team, DECA, Instrumental Music, Friends

Academics and Tests

Good grades in classes that are just below the most rigorous classes in her high school. She should be proud. Test scores that almost matched her good grades, but in some cases warranted applying without them.

College Characteristics

Georgia used the following terms to describe herself: Caring, Fun, Trustworthy, Hardworking,  Chill. She said her friends and family would say that she does the following well: Good with other people and kids (and adults), Listening, and Empathizing.

Perfect-Fit College List

Gonzaga, Arizona State U., Northern Arizona U., U. of Arizona, Oregon State, CU Boulder, Western Washington U.

Outcome

Georgia visited a number of schools and fell in love with Gonzaga. The size felt right, and while not as sunny as Arizona, she felt that it was the right mix of supportive, medium size, sporty, and caring. She loved the Jesuit emphasis on the whole person, and attention to service to others especially resonated.

Georgia was accepted at every single school and she went to Gonzaga, her top choice.

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Note: This is a description of an actual student-client of Bell College Consulting. All aspects are real and accurate; however, the name and photo have been changed to protect the student’s privacy. The photo is used by permission from Philip Wang’s page at https://www.thispersondoesnotexist.com and uses the underlying algorithm created by Nvidia.