College EVALUATOR
We are thrilled to offer you Mr. Don Betterton's College EVALUATOR Program. We've worked closely with Don in integrating this excellent program into our Comprehensive College Planning service. It's also available "a la carte".
So Who IS Don Betterton?
Don only recently retired from serving at Princeton University for 39 years. He was the Director of Financial Aid for 32 of those years and he served on Princeton's Admission Committee as well. He also coached the Men's Soccer Program AND began the Women's Soccer Program.
Don's credentials speak for themselves. There's no finer authority in the nation to work with 1-on-1 when it comes to how the College Admissions process "works". We are thrilled to have Don as a Charter Member of our GetCollegeFunding Advisory Team!
REALISTIC College List Construction
One of the most important elements in planning properly for college is the College List - and more specifically, constructing a REALISTIC College List. Surprisingly, this task is one of the most misunderstood and misdirected of all!
Through his many years of experience, Don has developed his own evaluation "system" of matching students with colleges. The foundation of Don's system is based on his proprietary point system. Through a series of data collection forms in the Clients Only section of this website, a student and his/her parents go through a Step-by-Step process in providing assessment data to Don.
During the 1-on-1 meeting with Don, he then offers his professional "ranking" of the student - both academically and personally. He then evaluates their likelihood of admission based on his personal ranking of the colleges. He updates his College Ranking every year.
Most "systems" limit the college "bins" into the traditional 3:
- Reach schools
- Target, or match, schools
- Safety schools
Don's College EVALUATOR Program is much more sophisticated, offering far more resolution. When he rank orders a student's chance of admission to a given college, his system provides 7 "bins", with the most extreme reach schools landing in the "10-30% chance" bin and the most extreme safety landing in the "70-90%" bin.
A common mistake we've observed often is for high achievers to "over-reach". Many students have only the highest-selective colleges in the nation on their Final College List. With few exceptions this is ill-advised, even dangerous! Occasionally an accomplished student finds themselves with not a single admission offer.
After he initially provides a rank ordering of "chance of admission", Don then fills in the "holes", assuring a well-balanced Final College List. For some students this is the most important step of all. Under Don's direction many students come out the other side of the College Application process with multiple offers and a variety of good options as they prepare to make their final decision by May 1st.
Meeting 1-on-1 With Mr. Betterton
Every year Don travels to our Dana Point facility in order to deliver tag-team seminars with GetCollegeFunding. During these visits he loves to meet live with client families 1-on-1. For families outside southern California or those whose schedules and planning needs don't align with Don's visits to Dana Point, that is not a problem! We utilize GoToMeeting and SKYPE technologies for effective and efficient 1-on-1's. If this applies to you, we will record the session and email a link to the recording so you can review the session at your convenience.
Added BONUS: Complimentary SAT/ACT Test Prep
Thanks to the close relationship Mr. Betterton and GetCollegeFunding have with ePrep, we're happy to offer you a complimentary SAT/ACT Combo Study Program through ePrep valued at $499. (Our discounted price to GCF clients is $375.) This Combo Program includes 4 SAT practice tests and 2 ACT.
If your student would like more practice tests, for an additional $100 we'll upgrade you to the Premium Combo package which includes 8 SAT practice tests and 3 ACT.
Interested in College EVALUATOR?
- Email us with any questions
- Enroll your student in Don's program
- Read about Don's College EVALUATOR for Athletes
