Personal Development

Personal Development

This section is designed to track any and all qualitative efforts that you pursue. While the work in this section may not directly make it onto your application, each effort here is in pursuit of becoming a more well-rounded, developed, and informed student.

There are four categories in this section:

• College Admissions 101
• Readings
• Writings
• Essential Skills & Experiences

College Admissions 101 Overview

The heart of Collegewise's admissions philosophy is not only helping students along their admissions journey, but also educating them on the 'why' of college admissions. Why do colleges need letters of recommendation? What is a 'liberal arts' curriculum?

College Admissions 101 is the central hub for all of our conversations around the 'why' of college admissions. Over the course of working together, your counselor will assign you topics and resources to explore like:

• Academics
• Activities
• College Visits
• Demonstrated Interest
• Essays
• Financial Aid
• Letters of Recommendation
• Summer Planning
• Testing
• Financial Aid 

In meetings, you’ll also discuss each topic in the broader scope of how they relate to your college admissions journey.

Readings

Here, we will track our reading and hopefully dive more into interests using the written word. 

To add a reading, click the + icon, then click “Create from scratch.” Enter the following: 

• Book Name 
• Author Name 
• Description - describe the book (optional)
• Start & End Date - when should you be reading?
• Status - note if it’s “Planned,” “In Progress,” or “Complete”

Writings

Here, we will work on our writing skills so we can better hone our craft for college essays and beyond! Your counselor will be the one to assign you writing tasks/assignments, and everything you do will be noted in this section. 

Essential Skills and Experiences

If there are any skills you want to learn, develop, or master, this is the place to keep track. 

To add a skill or experience, click the + icon, then click “Create from scratch.” Enter the following: 

• Mission Name - Ex. cooking
• Description - (Optional) Ex. planning to get better with chopping skills and baking, especially souffles
• Start & End Date - with these soft skills, dates aren’t as important. It’s more of a way to hold yourself accountable, so enter a time period you plan to work on this skill. 
• Status - note if it’s “Planned,” “In Progress,” or “Completed