College Counseling

Our goal? Help students find their right fit.

At Maharishi School, guiding our students as they apply for selective colleges and universities is a privilege and a responsibility that we take very seriously.  Our Academic Director, Kaye Jacob, has had years of experience with college admissions and will take the lead on creating a sequential program that leads students step by step, from as early as Grade 9 through sending off their final transcripts after they graduate.  

Personalized college counseling is part of your student’s tuition and planning can begin in the 9^th grade.

Our registrar, Emmy Auge, is the one who actually handles transcripts, as well as coordinating our standardized testing and liaising with the College Board.  All students in grades 8 through 11 take the PSAT in school each fall–and students can register for the SAT on the College Board website or the ACT through their website 

Amy Rushing also incorporates college and career readiness into her financial literacy course and is herself an experienced college counselor. Between Ms Jacob and Ms. Rushing, they teach all of the upper school students in English class, so the process is thorough and coherent at every step along the way. This includes taking the juniors on at least two trips to representative colleges–one large public university (either U of Iowa or Iowa State) and one small private college, such as Grinnell–during their junior year.  Parents are welcome to take students out of school for an “excused absence” for additional college visits, although we recommend that this is done during the summer between 11th and 12th grades when colleges typically schedule tours and visitors’ weekends.

Individualized counseling and additional resources are always available.

For valuable tips to help you stay on track with college planning and financial aid issues, you can sign up to receive a weekly email newsletter from Iowa College Access Network (ICAN). (Go to www.icansucceed.org, and click on “Get E-News”.) This website has information for parents and students from Middle School through College level. The College Board website (www.collegeboard.com) also has a great deal of helpful information. For college fairs in Iowa go to:  http://www.iowacollegefairs.com. 

Every senior who is applying for financial aid in college, including federal and state student grants, work-study, and loans, should submit the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) as soon after January 1st as possible.

Visit http://www.pin.ed.gov to obtain a pin number used for the application and then visit http://www.fafsa.gov to complete and submit your financial aid application online. Check with individual colleges for deadline dates.