Advising Appointments
Planning for life after high school can feel overwhelming—but you don't have to figure it out alone. ICAN Student Success Advisors provide free, personalized advising to help students and families make informed decisions about careers, education, college, and paying for college.
Appointments are available in person or virtually and can be scheduled at any stage of the planning process. Whether you're just beginning to explore career options, building a college list, preparing for the FAFSA, or comparing financial aid offers, our advisors can help you understand your options and identify your next steps.
ICAN advising is available to students and families beginning in middle school through the college-planning process, with guidance tailored to where you are and what you need.
ICAN Advisors Can Help You:
- Explore Careers – Identify interests, strengths, and career pathways that align with your goals.
- Plan for College – Explore colleges and programs, build a college list, understand admission requirements, and plan next steps.
- Prepare to Pay for College – Understand college costs, scholarships, financial aid, and strategies for creating an affordable college plan.
- Complete the FAFSA – Get personalized, step-by-step assistance completing the FAFSA.
- Complete the CSS Profile – Get guidance completing the CSS Profile and providing the additional financial information required by participating colleges.
- Understand Financial Aid Offers – Compare financial aid packages, identify remaining costs, and understand your options.
- Navigate the Process – Get answers to your questions and personalized guidance throughout your career and college planning journey.
Not sure which type of appointment you need? That's okay. Start with a conversation, and an ICAN Student Success Advisor can help you determine the right next step.
Next Steps
- Schedule an Appointment
- Prepare for Your Appointment
- What to Expect From ICAN Advising
- What You Leave With
Scheduling Your Appointment:
Click here to schedule online or schedule by phone at (877) 272-4692. Visit the Locations section to learn more about the ICAN Student Success Center near you.
Prepare for Your ICAN Advising Appointment
Make the most of your time with an ICAN Student Success Advisor by preparing ahead of your appointment. Whether you’re exploring careers, comparing colleges, completing the FAFSA, or reviewing financial aid offers, a little preparation can help you get more out of your session.
Before Your Appointment
Know What You Want to Accomplish
Think about your biggest questions or the decisions you’re trying to make. You don’t need to have everything figured out—your advisor can help you determine your next steps.
Bring the Right Information
Depending on the type of appointment, you may need specific documents, account information, or financial aid materials. Review our appointment preparation guides before your visit.
Set Up Your Accounts in Advance
Some appointments require you to have accounts created before you meet with an advisor. Taking care of this ahead of time can save valuable appointment time.
Join Ready for a Virtual Appointment
Virtual advising appointments are designed to provide the same personalized support as an in-person appointment. Review our virtual appointment guide and watch the short video before your session to make sure you’re ready to connect.
Appointment Preparation Guides
FAFSA Appointment: What to Bring
Learn what information and documents you and your parent(s) may need to complete the FAFSA. Click here.
How to Prepare for Your FAFSA Appointment
Complete important steps before your appointment, including setting up your StudentAid.gov account and gathering the information you’ll need.
Virtual Appointment: How It Works
Learn what to expect from a virtual ICAN advising appointment, including how to connect, what technology you’ll need, and tips for a successful session. Click here.
Financial Aid Offer Review: What to Bring
Have your financial aid offers and other college cost information ready so your advisor can help you compare your options.
College Planning Appointment: How to Prepare
Come prepared with questions, colleges you’re considering, career interests, or other information you’d like to discuss with your advisor.
Have Questions Before Your Appointment?
You don't have to know exactly what you need before scheduling an appointment. ICAN Student Success Advisors are here to help you understand your options, answer questions, and identify your next steps.
What to Expect From ICAN Advising
Every student and family has different questions, goals, and circumstances. ICAN advising is designed to meet you where you are, provide personalized guidance, and help you move forward with a clear plan.
Personalized Guidance
Your appointment is about you and your goals. An ICAN Student Success Advisor will take time to understand your interests, questions, circumstances, and priorities before helping you identify the options that fit your situation.
Practical, Actionable Advice
We won't just give you information and send you on your way. Together, you'll work through your questions, identify your options, and determine specific next steps you can take after your appointment.
A Judgment-Free Environment
There is no such thing as a bad question—and you don't need to have everything figured out before you meet with us. Whether you're just getting started or already deep into the college process, our advisors are here to help you understand your options without judgment.
Guidance That Grows With You
Career and college planning isn't a one-time conversation. As your interests, goals, and circumstances change, you may benefit from additional advising appointments. ICAN can help you continue building your plan from career exploration and college planning through financial aid and enrollment.
Support for Students and Families
Parents and families play an important role in the planning process. Depending on the appointment and the student's needs, families can participate in advising conversations, ask questions, and better understand the decisions and next steps ahead.
In-Person or Virtual
Choose the format that works best for you. ICAN offers in-person and virtual advising appointments, providing access to personalized support wherever you are.
What You Leave With
The goal of every appointment is to leave you feeling more informed, more confident, and ready for your next step. Your advisor will help you identify what needs to happen next and provide resources and guidance to help you move forward.
You don't have to know all the answers before you start. That's what we're here for.
Appointment Types
Career Exploration/Planning Appointments (9,10,11,12)
Imagine finding your dream job and building your education and social life around that goal. Career exploration and assessment is the first step and the ICAN team can help you on that path. Utilizing a Career Assessment tool, an ICAN student success advisor can help you find a career pathway that fits you by discovering what really interests you and what you value most.
Assessments:
- Identify strengths, skills and areas of interest
- Match your results to career pathways or industries
- Link career pathways to specific careers and salary expectations
- Link careers to education and training requirements
- List education requirements that will lead to potential college majors or career fields
- Help narrow your list of potential college and training programs to those that fit your interest area and price range
Students will work with an ICAN student success advisor on specific areas of their career assessment results and begin mapping out specific careers with the identified pathways to research including education requirements, recommended high school courses, and potential job shadows. Discussion will surround lifestyle expectations and the ability of identified careers to help meet those goals, steps needed to reach those goals including education and training beyond high school, cost of that education and training, and the affordability based on predicted starting salaries. Students may have a series of Career Exploration appointments as they continue to learn and reassess their interests.
College Exploration/Application/Selection (9,10,11,12)
Appointment Times: 60, 90, or 120 minutes
Picking a college is one of the most important decisions you can make, and we can help you identify the factors that should weigh most in that decision. In this advising session, or sessions depending on where you are in the process, we’ll discuss what matters to you when you picture your college and career experience and identify the factors you should research to help make your college decision.
We’ll start with the basics and discuss all your options; the different types of colleges, distance, campus facilities, and career path/college major. If you’ve already completed the interest inventories using the ACT Career Assessment Tool, we’ll factor in your results as part of our discussion and begin exploring colleges based on your assessment results, aligning them with the educational requirements that will help identify programs and majors for that career field. This will help identify potential colleges that offer the programs relevant to your career interests. As part of our work, we’ll also setup an online college search analysis profile utilizing the College Raptor tool, which we can refer back to each visit as you further develop your interests.
There are many factors that go into college selection. If you’ve been meeting with an ICAN advisor you’ve likely been talking about career and college exploration, you’ve assessed your options, and perhaps even taken a few campus visits. In this advising session we will take these conversations and visits and determine a short list of colleges you want to apply to based on your campus visit experiences and the merits of each school in regards to your assessment results and college desires. We will look at the requirements of each college admission process and determine a list of next steps and deadlines. We will also begin discussing the financial aid process timeline. If enough time is available, this session could be combined with a Paying for College session specific to the short list of colleges determined.
Preparing to Pay for College (Pre-FAFSA and Scholarships) (9,10,11,12)
Appointment Times: 60 minutes
Possibly the most important part of college planning is having a plan to pay for college. Part of this plan is understanding all the costs associated with each school and knowing your career education budget flexibility. In this advising session we will work through the costs associated with each college you are considering and calculate the recommended costs associated with your intended career areas. With these figures we will determine a recommended budget and talk about the options available to cover the estimated costs. In this session we will also discuss the realities of financial aid and do a forecast of what you can expect to receive in financial aid, which will then be figured into the overall college budget.
Scholarships can play a big part in making college more affordable, but the process is just that, a process. There is nothing easy about getting scholarships; it’s a lot of time and effort but the rewards can be substantial. In the Scholarship Process advising session, we will go over scholarships searches, the application process, and what it takes to win. During the session your advisor will go over the different areas that hold potential for scholarships, the best approach to searches, applications, essays, letters of recommendation, and how to stay organize through the whole process. This session can include practice interviews and essay review.
FAFSA Completion (12)
Appointment Times: 45-90 minutes
- One New/ Renewal FAFSA – 45 minutes
- Two New/Renewal FAFSAs – 60 minutes
- Three New/Renewal FAFSAs – 60-90 minutes
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is the form developed by the US Department of Education that is used by colleges and universities to determine how much financial aid a student qualifies for. The FAFSA is the only form that enables students to apply for assistance from the federal and state governments, as is required by many colleges and universities for their financial aid process as well. At ICAN we understand that for many the FAFSA is a daunting task. In our FAFSA Completion Appointments we strive to make the process as painless and stress-free as possible, while fulling explaining each detail of the form, the results and answering any questions you have about financial aid and the college planning process in general. During your appointment you'll sit down with a highly trained Student Success Advisor and, together, you will complete the form on the federal government's secure FAFSA website. All the information submitted is secured by the FAFSA website and ICAN does not store any of your personal information once your appointment is complete. Once submitted your Student Success Advisor will go over your results, explain your next steps and review the process for additional scholarships. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions and get personalized planning advice throughout your appointment.
Click here to see a list of what to bring to your appointment.
Prior to your appointment, set up your StudentAid.gov Account username and password. This account is used to log onto and sign the FAFSA form. Your StudentAid.gov Account must be created at least five days prior to completing the FAFSA. Learn about the StudentAid.gov Account process at www.ICANsucceed.org/StudentAidAccount.
Covering College Costs (FAFSA/Financial Offer Review) (12)
Appointment Times: 60-90 minutes
While many students and parents think the FAFSA is the hardest part of the process, the real trick is understanding the results and making an informed decision about the future. Knowing how to read the award letters sent by colleges, and how to compare them apples to apples can be tricky because right now there is no standard form for a letter outlining financial aid packages. In this advising session we’ll review each financial offer you’ve received and break them down so you can compare each school evenly and get a clear picture of what’s being offered. We’ll also talk about any funding gaps that remain to be covered and the different options available to cover those gaps. Part of this conversation will include a review of the estimated borrowing budget for your future career, which will help determine if a school and/or package is affordable and realistic for the career of choice.
While in an ideal world no student would ever have to borrow money to cover college expenses, in reality it is very common. When faced with taking on debt to pay for college, it’s important to ensure that you are making the best and most informed decisions you can on your payment options, including selecting the right loan for your situation. In this advising session, an advisor will review your options and talk to you about the different student loan options available. While ICAN advisors cannot tell you what loan to take, we can make sure you have all the information you need to make an informed decision.
CSS Profile (12)
Appointment Times: 2 hours
The CSS PROFILE (College Scholarship Service Profile), is an application allowing college students to apply for financial aid. It gives select institutions a closer look into the finances of a student and family. It is much more detailed than the FAFSA. The CSS Profile asks questions about the financial status of the student and the student's parents. The information the student provides in the CSS Profile is then sent to colleges or universities that the student specifies. Along with the FAFSA, the CSS Profile is the most common financial aid application that students in the United States fill out. In this advising session we will help you complete your CSS Profile. This session takes approximately two hours. While ICAN does not charge for our completion assistance, there is a charge to complete the CSS Profile itself and you will need to pay online during the advising session to complete the process.
Development and Implementation
ICAN attends conferences, works with professional organizations surrounding admissions and financial aid, as well as researches and reviews current studies on employment expectations, education trends and the topics today's students need to know the most about to be successful in both college and their career. ICAN works closely with school administrators, counselors, college access groups, community and business leaders and foundations to provide information and services that are:
- Accessible to every Iowa school and student
- Appropriate for individual situations
- Empowering for communities and families
