College and College Applications

Hi T.,

I skimmed the other responses and noticed that no one suggested that you go to the college board site for the SATs (collegeboard.com). They have a college matchmaker feature on their site that is very useful. It will help you and your daughter narrow down her interests, geographical preferences, educational preferences, etc. and return a list of schools that she can further explore. My son found this very helpful.

Your daughter should consider whether she wants to go to a big university or a smaller college, and which will best serve her learning style. At a large university, especially a big name one, she can expect large (sometimes huge) classes in the beginning (some survey classes will seat 200 or more students) and, typically, little professorial personal interaction for the first 2 - 3 years. Classes will be taught by professors whose primary function, in many disciplines, is to do research, not teach. Labs and study sessions are typically run by graduate students, often in their 1st or 2nd years of study (by their 3rd and 4th years, they are also very involved in their doctoral research, although I taught advanced labs in my 3rd and 4th years of grad school -- I needed the money!). At smaller colleges and community colleges, more emphasis is actually paid on teaching and there is often more opportunity for direct interaction with the professors. Also, your daughter should consider how competitive the other students are likely to be - will she thrive in a super-competitive environment?- and things like if the school offers co-op or internship programs that will give her real world experience. For example, my daughter is setting her sites on the University of Alberta. She talked to an admissions director at the Pierce College college fair this past fall and found that they have one of the top undergraduate programs in international business that includes study at their sister school in Cremona, Italy, and that incorporates a co-op program for every year of study. Students finish in 5 years, during which time they will have co-oped with several major international companies and ofter receive their first jobs as a result of a co-op position. Another school she was interested in (Mason college, I think, on the East Coast) has a 5-yr program that grants both a BA and an MBA upon completion, and where the 5th year is essentially free (a HUGE bonus, especially if you consider that graduate programs are very expensive and can take another 3 - 7 years, depending on the field of study).

Your daughter should also seek out college fairs. Most of these happen during the fall and early winter. If your guidance counselor is doing his/her job, the school should also be bringing in admissions representatives on a regular basis to talk about their schools. Students should absolutely attend these sessions. Many colleges and universities ask the students to sign in and use this as a method of marking interest in their school. This, attending school recruitment events (your counselor should have this information), making site visits to the school, and calling to speak to admissions officers all indicate to a school that your daughter has real interest in being there. It DOES get considered when applications are reviewed. Some schools actually have a kind of point system that they use to assess whether a student is really interested or just using a shotgun approach to application (not a good idea!).

Site visits are helpful, but they should be limited to the schools that your daughter has already decided that she has real interest in. Taking a tour can be expensive and is best done during the school year, when classes at the college are in session and you can meet with admissions and recruiting officers. Unfortunately, this conflicts with high school attendance, so it needs to be handled judiciously (like not right before the AP exams in the middle of May!)

Other things to consider: What is the social life like? Is she interested in joining a sorority, and does the school have them? What is the cost? This is a biggie! If there's no way that you can afford the cost of tuition, books, housing (often off campus by or before junior year), and additional living expenses without substantial aid or scholarships it is important to take this into consideration before deciding to apply to a school. This doesn't mean not to reach for the stars, just to make sure that your daughter knows that, unless aid and scholarships are forthcoming, she may not be able to matriculate everywhere she wants to.

When it comes to application time, make sure your daughter spends a LOT of time writing and rewriting her personal essay(s). These are crucial in the admissions process as they will give the admissions board the clearest picture of each applicant. She should do this over the summer while she doesn't have as much on her plate as during the school year. It is a very good idea to have multiple people read and critique the essays. They must be PERFECT. No spelling or grammatical errors, and they should show good writing and expository skills. If you don't feel up to the editorial task, find someone who is. There are professionals who actually work with kids on their college apps and essays, but they are very expensive. Instead, ask a colleague, a friend, relative, etc. for help, preferably one who has had a good college education and is successful in their field.

Personal interviews can help sometimes -- if your daughter has a good list of achievements to her credit, is articulate, and is comfortable with her interviewing skills. The personal interview can actually hurt the student more than it can help though, and is usually not required. On the flip side of this, the personal interview can also chalk up another "point" indicating the student's interest in the school, and gives the student the opportunity to learn more about the school from another person's perspective, too. Many schools rely on local alumni to do the interviewing (I interview prospective candidates for Northwestern on occasion), so the process will also depend on the skill of the volunteer, too.

Last few things: 1. register on fastweb.com to start hunting for scholarship opportunities. My daughter's been hunting these down since 8th grade.

2. Go to the bookstore or look on line and buy a few books on writing the college essay, filling out college apps, and applying for scholarships. I spent about $100 on such books for my son's college search and it was well worth the money. I've got a good list at home -- email me through mamasource if you want my list.

3. If you're a CA resident, the UC system MUST give your daughter a space on one of their campuses (but not necessarily the campus of her choice) if she has maintained a minimum of a 3.0 GPA

4. Getting a good score on the SATs or ACT is very important. She should buy a couple of books, learn the test taking strategy and practice taking a lot of pretests. If she does not increase her score after reading the books, an SAT or ACT prep course might be a good idea. Your daughter should research what the average SAT and ACT scores were of the previous year's entering class at the schools she's interested in. She will get that information from the college matchmaker on the college board site. By the way, the ACT and SAT's test different skills. The ACT is a cumulative knowledge test (like the SAT II's), while the SAT is a reasoning test. Different tests play to different students' strengths. Some schools also have a preference for one or the other.

5. Rule of thumb: Apply to at least two safety schools. Apply to at least two mid-range schools. Apply to at least two stretch schools.

6. Consider that community college is a good place to start off for a number of reasons. The teaching staff is pretty dedicated to teaching. The cost is *substantially* less. The education is virtually as good as at many big name universities. Also, most schools have up to a 25% dropout rate in the freshman and sophomore classes. Colleges still need to fill those junior and senior (and super senior!) seats though, so it is often actually easier to transfer into a top university in the junior year than to gain admission in the freshman year. Be aware, though, that it can actually take 3 years of community college before earning enough credits to meet the transfer requirements.

Best of success to your daughter! Getting into college is much more competitive and a much more daunting task than it was 20 - 30 years ago.

R.

Dear T.,

CONGRATULATIONS on having an 11th grader getting ready for college. You must be a great mom. MY SUGGESTION: Do not try to get her into the MOST PRESTIGEOUS college. In her college years she will be growing so much and still needing the guidance of her mom. Let her grow at her own pace without pushing her far away like the east coast Ivy League. Take it slow and pray that God will guide her life. I've been through it, and have the most fantastic son. He is at UCLA in his third year in Spain as a student abroad. We went the route of having a college counselor from a Pasadena high school help fill out the applications for the many U.C. schools. We also did the prep SAT class, but bottom line is, you help her in however you can, and the rest is up to her. God Bless you and her in all her accomplishments.

OH, AND MOST IMPORTANT: DO NOT COMPARE HER ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO THOSE OF HER FRIENDS!

Hello T.
Congratulations that your daughter is planning to go to college. My daughter is in her third year, and I remember all the confusion about selecting a college. First, there should be a College Career Counselor at her high school who she should talk to first. Please make sure she has taken the correct high school classes which consist of the A-G requirements. She also need to take the SAT's, and/or ACT's, which are like admission tests. Those are some of the things to get into college.
To make a selection, she has to ask herself some questions i.e. What will be her major? Does she want a big or small college? A college in the city or rural area? The costs? Does she want to live in the dorms? Or does she want to live at home and commute to school? These are just a few of the questions to narrow her choices.
Good Luck
S.

T.,

It really depends on what you daughter wants to study...because I was unsure of my career path, I chose a community college and then, from there chose the college to transfer to. This saved on money and helped me choose the right path for my education.

Good Luck!

Hello! I actually do this professionally. I have been a teacher, a college student (currently working on my Master's) and a college admissions representative. Please check out my website and let me know.
www.collegeboundstudentsinc.com
I haven't had a second to update my website since beginning the moving process, but I am willing to negotiate on fees. :)

Hi T.,

I work at a college, as does my husband (he is in admission
). If I were pick a top 5 in terms of considerations, they would be something like this:

1. Cost; not only of an undergraduate degree, but of any other graduate degrees that may be required for your daughter's field of interest. Sometimes, if it looks like she will need to be on an extended educational path, it's good to consider more "affordable" undergrad options that put her in a good position for graduate education.

2. Small vs. large- this is a big one that many other moms have mentioned. I would add that if your daughter has any interest in research fields or internships, she will stand a better chance securing those opps as an undergrad at a smaller school vs. a larger school where those opps may be primarily reserved for grad students.

3. Graduation in four years? Ask what schools are doing to help students (faculty advising, peer advising, frequency of those meetings) stay on a four year graduation track. While larger public schools may appeal in price, some students have a lot of trouble getting into the classes they need to graduate on time. This may mean 5 years of tuition vs. 4.

4. Career Counseling - ask what the school does to help students get internships during and jobs after graduation.

5. Location. Where the school is situated has to suit your daugter - and if it's far from home, travel expenses (how frequently will she get to come home?/And you travel to her?) need to be considered.

Best of luck!

M.

Some ideas to add ... be sure to visit as many as you can. Based on your daughter's personality, she will have specific needs - for instance yes, UCLA is a great school, but maybe it is too large of an atmosphere and she might need a smaller, more personal school, or just the opposite. Also, encourage her to go somewhere maybe a few hours a way - close enough to come home if she needs to, but far enough to encourage her to find her independence and self confidence.

This is the advice I give to my students and I have been teaching at the high school level for 9 years.

Oh my gosh!! What a huge task!!! Does her school guidance counselor offer assistance? You can narrow it down in several ways:
1. Which can you afford?
2. Do any offer scholarships that your daughter has a chance to get?
3. Which schools offer programs in your daughter's area of interest (have her pick a major - chances are she'll change her mind in 2 years, but it is good to have a starting point)
4. Location, Location, Location

Forget the mailers. Use online tools (again - guidance counselors can help with this) to narrow your search. You may not get a mailer from a school that is perfect for her. If she is interested in a school, she can call and request their info.

It is great that you are getting started now...many schools have application deadlines in November!

Good LUCK!

We have a junior in college, a high school senior, a high school junior and 2 1/2 year old twins. We started with serious discussions regarding their goals and aspirations. Since most colleges have programs that they excel at, this may help to point you/her in a direction (or minimize the selection process). Is she interested in the medical field, law, business, theater, etc.? Most brochures, while being somewhat vague will make note of graduates and what careers fields those graduates have gone into, as well as graduate schools.Go on line to the school's website to learn a lot more. And, a visit to the top 3 or 4 on her list will help a lot! If she knows someone attending a school of her choice, she may be able to attend classes for a day with this individual. Our high school senior is off to Colorado next week for such a visit. Hope this helps, Congrats and good luck!

Hiya,
Colleges usually "specialize" in certain areas of study. Find what subjects your daughter is interested in and then find colleges that focus on that subject matter.

Also what type of personality she has will help determine where she will be happy. If she is a "city girl" type she probably would not be happy at a rural college. If she is conservative she probably wouldn't be happy at a liberal type college. Stuff like that will help narrow the field.

Best of luck...it is daunting, isn't it?

Deb

Have her speak to her high school counselor. They can help her weed through the puzzling information that colleges tend to put out. Additionally, alot of colleges require that students take the ACT or SAT exam prior to enrolling. A counselor can help her identify which schools will best meet her needs (small or large classes, small or large campus, area of interest, financial aid, etc.), as well as making sure she has the necessary classes in high school, takes the required entrance exams and has the financial stuff taken care of - such a applying for scholarships, grants, work study and financial aid. Good luck!

Great suggestions below me. I agree that you need to consider junior colleges. So many kids are ready academically, however are not ready emotionally to be away from home. I work at a high school and can't tell you how many kids are back home within 6 months because they just were not ready. There is so much pressure to apply to so many colleges without taking into consideration if it is the right one. Does she play a sport? Will she need to work? These are also things to consider. I am a year away with my daughter in looking at colleges and we are looking at smaller, lesser known schools where she can also play volleyball. You can also create an account at collegeboard.com which helps you look at colleges in your daughter's major. Good luck!

I'm new to mamasource so I'm not sure if this advice is too late. If your daughter has an idea of geographic area, size, and possible course of study, you can immediately eliminate all brochures that do not fit into the desired categories. If you are looking for financial aid, you may want to select those with the best possible aid packages. It is good to have a balance of choices. Since she is a good student, it is easy to want to apply to a selection of very challenging colleges, but it is always good to have a few "safety" schools in the mix. My best advice is to look beyond the name. Sometimes lesser known school offer challenging programs and more attention than one would receive in a large university.

Hi T.,
When I went to college (a long time ago), the guidance counselor had a questionnaire for us to fill out. It was then run through some sort of program and printed out a list of colleges that met my criteria for what I wanted - city vs rural, large vs small, type of speacilty, etc. This was almost 30 years ago so I'm sure something like this exists now. It really helped me and I wound up going to a college I had never heard of. Maybe the school or local library have something like this.

Hope this helps.

I know when I was doing that 10 yrs ago I focused on the schools that were good for what I planned on doing all my life. You don't want to go to a school that is tops for literature if you want to be a scientist and vice versa. If she's planning to go on to graduate school I'd try to find some that are close together. My brother went to college in OC, medical school in Mo, and specialist training in Conn. He is so tired of moving!
Also, if there are any clubs, sororities, sports, use that as a secondary to minimize the choices. I took the brochures and then researched the schools online because you can find more specific information. The brochures are pretty broad. You can request videos from the school too that give you a tour and a feel for life at the school. She'll click with something. Good luck to the both of you!

T. J

I work with 11th and 12 grade students at a local community college. To narrow down a college choice I would start with what is her major. Not all colleges carry her major. Most high schools have a career night. Make sure she keeps her eyes open for those nights. Often times recruiters come to the high schools and set up tables during lunch time. Does your daughter qualify for financial aid? She should register on FastWeb (fastweb.com) for scholarships. Keep in mind, CSU's and UC's are great and more affordable than private universities.

Hi, T..

What an exciting time for the both of you!

Has your daughter already picked out a major? If she has, you can easily weed out schools that aren't known for the program she wants to enter. You can look up info online to find out how a school is ranked. Some schools are well-known party schools and that may not be an environment you want your child going to.

If cost is an issue, state universities are great options to keep expenses to a minimum. If cost is irrelevant because she is valedictorian material, then private schools have tons of options for scholarships, which will make attendance cost little to no money at all.

If she is undecided on a major, your local community college is a good place to start to just get prerequisites out of the way and also a great place to take classes in different areas to see exactly what piques her interest most.

There's lots of things to consider. Do you want her to be close to home or is going out-of-state or further an option that's suitable to you? Both of you should sit down and discuss what is going to be okay (i.e. financially, distance, etc.)for the both of you. Have you asked her where she would like to go?

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

E.

I T.. I don't think I have any advice. We're in the same situation. My daughter is a very bright 16 yr. old Sophomore- and we're getting so many brochures. My daughter knows she doesn't want to go to a huge school, nor a tiny school- that's about it. Since she really doesn't know of her anticipated preferred occupation, I'm advocating a school that has a wide range of good undergrad majors. She's going to "on-line" visit schools- especially those out of state. I don't think she's interested in out of state schools- but we'll see.

So, not much help- just in the same boat. It was easier with my 2 older kids. They're all good students,but this youngest is exceptional- which makes it a little harder actually to narrow down schools.

T.,

I have a Masters in Higher Education Administration and did College Admissions work for a long time. I am currently free lancing various projects and Mommy-ing full time. If you would like to have your daughter talk with someone about how to get focused I'd be glad to speak with her by telephone or in person. I think this time in someone's life is so important, because you are figuring out what you like, and as important, what you don't like and who you want to be and how you see the world. Please feel free to send me a personal message and I'd be glad to figure out how to best assist your daughter in this process.

T.

Hi - You may want to speak with the high school guidance counselor, maybe they have some insight. And then visit some schools with your daughter.

Dear T.,
I so understand this. My husband is set on our 16 year old junior attending the local university after graduation. I have consistently told her that she can go where God is leading her to go. He has provided for her financial needs in the past (through gifts, work, scholarships, etc.) so there is no reason to limit herself when He has proven Himself over and over. We pray for God's wisdom and discernment. She has something in the mail almost every day and looks at each one. I'm sure she looks at where the school is located first and then at some of the other programs. What is your daughter interested in? Does she play sports? Is she involved in civic organizations? Do you attend church? What careers interest her? Start with these questions. As those pieces of mail come, check out the school's website and see how the school fits with her answers.
If she is interested in sports there are several websites that for free will allow her to post her information and school athletic departments will contact her. We have had emails and calls from two different schools, both in the region she is interested in attending.
Use her school resources. Many colleges schedule visits to high school campuses. Encourage her to attend these visits to see if any of these schools interest her.
It is a long and difficult task, but have fun together looking at the brochures and the school websites. Do virtual tours and visit a few campuses (even if she isn't interested in the campus she will be able to see what they look like). We took our daughter to three different sized campuses so she could decide what she wanted in a school size.
Hope this helps.

Have you checked with her school? My daughter's high school has a college counselor. If you need an outside counselor, there is an excellent woman named Teri Solochek located in Woodland Hills. You can google her for the phone number. Good luck.

You have some excellent suggestions. I have a couple things to consider-I went to UCLA (seems like 100 years ago) and even though it was my dream, I hated it. i hated being a number, I hated the 300 student lecture halls, i hated living off campus and not having many friends. I had gone to a small High school where everyone knew everything about everyone-and I thought I wanted drastically different (because when you are in high school you know everything).

I think now, a jr college would have been smart. i could take a couple yrs to figure what in the world I wanted to major in-save some money-and then move away for the last 2 yrs. oh well...

First off does she know what field she wants to go into?
Then decide if she is going to say in state or go out of state. Out of state will be more expensive. Does she want to say close to home. After figuring out some of these things. Then I start to look into the housing that will be
available. If she is going to have a car or need to live close to campus or public transportation.Will she need to work to help out with expenses. If so look at the types of business that would offer jobs to college age children.
In alot of ways she would be wise off to stay at home & go to a community college the 1st yr while getting alot of the required courses out of the way. This will help cut expenses.

Best thing we did was to take tours of the colleges my son was interested in. they usually give you a great feel for the school and give good info on costs, room/board, athletics, special programs, etc. you can go to each schools website to schedule tours we went on mostly Friday and Saturday ones and they last about 3 hours. we even took a few road trips and that was fun.

This can be a stressful time, but also remember that it is an exciting time. I'm going through the same thing right now, so here are some of the things I've learned. You don't say what kind of student your daughter is or if she has a specific are where she would like to go to school (i.e., home v. away). In any case, if she was thinking about a private school, the first thing I wanted to say is that private schools can be more apt to give aid than state schools, and sometimes, it can be cheaper to go private than state! (I know, this was a shock for me too!) My advice to that would be apply to whatever schools you feel would be a good fit for your daughter, and then compare aid packages to help choose the school.

Choosing the school is simply a matter of figuring out what she wants out of her school experience. Besides what major she might want, you want to explore what kind of environment she would be comfortable in (large classes where she can blend in or small classes where she can get to know teachers and get personalized attention), urban, small town or rural, home or away, a school that is athletically oriented, what activities does she want to participate in, does she want to dorm, and what kind of dorms is she looking for, do they offer a good study abroad and internship program. I personally like to look at schools that have good alumni networks, so that when she graduates and looks for a job, there are alumni who like to hire from the school. You can go online to sites like collegeboard.com, petersons.com, or princetonreview.com. They will all give you a survey of likes and dislikes and help narrow down your school a bit. Also, a good site for virtual tours and finding out about the school from students is youniversity.tv or unigo.com. Also, I would just go around to local schools in the area, just to check out school atmospheres. A school like UCLA will be different than a school like Pepperdine which will be different than a school like a Cal State. This will help her narrow down the types of atmospheres she would like to be in.

There is also the matter of cost, which is huge. So don't forget to file your FAFSA next year on or as close to after January 1. Getting good aid packages will help give you more options for schools by making them more affordable. Obviously, you want the package that gives you the most gift aid as opposed to loan aid.

There is probably so much more to tell you, but I think that's a good place to start. Hope it helps!

Congratulations on having a wonderful daughter! My older son is a freshman at a good university, so I went through it already, but get to repeat the process when my younger son goes through it in 2 years. This year was the toughest year for applications, so next year is a big question mark. You might wish to consider obtaining the Fiske Guide to Colleges. Also, does your daughter's school have a good college counselor? It should give you a more realistic understanding of the schools in which to apply to. Make an appointment now. Have you had time to tour the local colleges and universities? It's a good bonding experience. Does your daughter have a particular interest or activity? Find schools which have programs that nurture that interest. For example, my younger son is a musician, we have a list of conservatories and universities with excellent music programs. Best of luck!