Ann Kjorstad

Best Advice from our College Counselors

 

October is the cruelest month for high school college counselors, besieged on all sides with seniors intent on applications and juniors beginning their college search and testing. So we gave the counselors a pass for the month. Instead of our Counselor of the Month feature, we bring you a round-up of best advice from the counselors who have graced our website with their guidance and wisdom. Read on to learn their recommendations for applying and financial aid, mistakes to avoid, guidance for students with learning differences and undocumented students, and do's and don'ts for students -- and parents, as well.  One of our personal favorites?  From Albuquerque Academy's Ralph Figueroa: "Proofread. Spell Czech is knot yore friend and it will betray ewe." See more from Figueroa and others here: 

Alice Kleeman, Menlo-Atherton High School, Atherton, California

What is your best advice for applicants?

Have fun with the process; you have the opportunity to think about who you are and who you want to become. Why shouldn't that be enjoyable?

 

Jayne Caflin Fonash, Academy of Science, Loudoun County, Virginia

What is the biggest mistake you see students make in applying to college?

Ann Kjorstad, Academy of Holy Angels

Our counselor for the month of October is Ann Kjorstad of Academy of Holy Angels, a coeducational Catholic school in the Minneapolis suburb of Richfield. A graduate of Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, Kjorstad worked in admissions at the college level for sixteen  years, beginning as an admission counselor at her alma mater and rising to Associate Director of Admission. But Kjorstad is a true daughter of Minnesota. She grew up in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” and wanted to return. In 2000, she joined Hamline University in St. Paul, becoming Director of Admission there five years later.