The Parent’s Role In College Admissions

About Joanna

A proud alumna of Georgetown University, Joanna has decades of experience in the college admissions and standardized testing space. She’s a longtime admissions interviewer and current member of the Board of Governors at Georgetown, has worked for standardized test agencies (the Graduate Management Admission Council and HR Certification Institute) and prep companies (Veritas Prep), partnered with a great many admissions offices, and served as a college admissions consultant for hundreds of applicants to elite programs. As a nonprofit marketing executive, she focuses her efforts on educational technology and higher education, and volunteers her spare time at a variety of athletic and military organizations including Dog Tag Bakery, Team Red White & Blue, the Ironman Foundation, and the Pat Tillman Foundation.

About the class

College admissions are the ultimate team sport: for every student applying to college, there are parents, relatives, friends, teachers, and guidance counselors helping with everything from advice to moral support to project management. And parents have the most prominent, but also the most nebulous, job of all: balancing what they believe is best for their child with what the child genuinely needs. Couple that with the fact that emotions are often flying high during this time because college is the time for that child to demonstrate independence and self-reliance, and it’s a perfect storm. So where is a parent’s influence and management helpful and productive, and where may it just get in the way?

To discuss these issues and develop strategies, join veteran admissions expert Joanna Graham, an admissions interviewer at Georgetown University and longtime admissions consultant. She’ll break down the parent’s role in everything from school research and visits through application strategy and “project management,” helping parents build a game plan for being ideal teammates in the admissions process with a keen feel for how to play their position perfectly, as well.