For Bainbridge Island high school juniors and seniors, the college application process can feel like a second full-time job layered on top of an already demanding academic schedule. Essays to write, deadlines to track, schools to research, recommendations to request — and all of it happening during what is already one of the most stressful years of a young person's life. The good news is that with the right guidance, the process becomes significantly more manageable.
Start Earlier Than You Think
The single biggest mistake Bainbridge Island families make with college applications is starting too late. Most students don't begin thinking seriously about the process until the fall of senior year — by which point many early decision and early action deadlines are already weeks away. Ideally, the college research process begins in the spring of junior year, with a preliminary school list, a sense of essay topics, and a plan for test scores already in place before summer.
The College Essay Is More Important Than Most Students Realize
At highly selective schools, the college essay is one of the few places an applicant can stand out as an individual rather than a set of numbers. The ones that stand out are specific, honest, and written in a voice that sounds like a real person — not a student trying to sound impressive. A great college counselor helps students identify their best story and develop it into an essay that sounds like them at their very best.
Test Scores Still Matter — But Not the Way You Think
With many schools now test-optional, Bainbridge Island families often wonder whether SAT and ACT scores are still worth pursuing. At test-optional schools, a strong score can still strengthen an application, while a weak score is better left off entirely. Understanding when to submit scores and when to withhold them is part of smart application strategy — something a good counselor helps families navigate on a school-by-school basis.
Building the Right School List
One of the most valuable things a college counselor does is help families build a balanced, realistic school list — one that includes genuine reach schools, solid match schools, and true safety schools where the student would actually be happy to enroll. The goal is a list of schools where the student genuinely belongs, not just a list of prestigious names.
Jane Stenerson at Bainbridge Learning Connections has guided many Bainbridge Island students through the college application process from start to finish. She combines academic tutoring expertise with her E.S.A. Continuing Certification in Counseling — meaning she understands not just the logistics of applications but the emotional weight students carry through the process.