<li> Reach schools are “reach” for a reason. Expect not to get into any of them.</li>
<li> “Holistic admissions” means “holistic for anyone with a 4.0 GPA and a 2200+ on the SATs.”</li>
<li> Don’t make your kid apply to a school they really aren’t interested in. Even with merit money they still won’t go.</li>
</ol>
<p>haha, the #2 is <em>almost</em> true, but there are miracles, so don’t give up hope completely…:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/433076-accepted-1700-sat-score.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/stanford-university/433076-accepted-1700-sat-score.html</a></p>
<p>Great thread…</p>
<p>
</p></li>
<li><p>“Need blind” admissions means when FA awards come out they are blind to your need.</p></li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>Don’t waste your time visiting schools where accepted student SAT/ACT scores are significantly higher than your PLAN and PSAT scores.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li> If you know or suspect your EFC will be high, push your kid to do LOTS of community service. Most outside scholarships weigh heavily on this and you will need those scholarships!</li>
</ol>
<p>If you can’t afford the school, don’t waste time and money visiting it. If you don’t see out of state or merit scholarship listed on their web site that you quailfy for, call the school and see if they do offer those opportunities before you visit. My older daughter and I spent a couple thousand dollars visiting schools that we couldn’t afford to send her to. I’d love to have it back now. My younger daughter visited 4 schools that we can afford, picked one, and everyone is happy.</p>
<p>I agree with caveat #3 in post #1 above. Caveat #6 is also true regarding “outside” scholarship money. Disagree, based on multiple experiences with many students, with caveats #1,2,4 & 5.</p>
<ol>
<li>For your sanity, pick a rolling admit safety school with merit financial aid your child will garner (lower tier) and go through the entire senior year with that fall admit and merit aid in your pocket- what a pressure reliever</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>The non-academic aspects of collegiate undergraduate life will often have a larger and longer-lasting impact on your college experience than anything that takes place in the classroom. Look for colleges that reflect the types of students/people that you want to be around for four years and the kinds and varieties of activities that will entertain and energize you. </p></li>
<li><p>Consider the weather and realize that the college calendar is different than high school and make sure you are psychologically in sync with what you are going to experience. For example, if you like spring weather, you may not get much in some parts til April when the school year is close to an end.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you are seeking financial aid, make sure that school at least is listed at not gapping a large amount on average (ie: look for schools that meet as close to a 100% of need as possible keeping the applicants stats in mind). Also, check that need is met with tons of student loans and w/s vs. grants.</p>
<p>Look at gpa needed to keep merit awards at a school, and the % of students that actually keep them for all 4 years (tough info to get).</p>
<p>If you want your student to graduate within 4 years, look at the % of students who do graduate in 4 years (keep in mind that some % of students can be coming into the college with advanced standing through APs and dual enrollment courses).</p>
<p>I agree with #7 so much. It’s been a tremendous relief to have this & I am so glad I pressed for it & that merit aid has been offered, as well as a ticket in.</p>
<h1>8 is also very important, as it seems that students tend to leave/transfer more often for non-academic reasons than academic.</h1>
<hr>
<ol>
<li> Include in your college list different <em>types</em> of colleges, as you’ll never know what strikes the fancy of some admissions committee about you, positively. Fine if you insist on applying to all 8 Ivies, but throw in some offbeat choices just in case. There may be a college with a “vacancy” for someone just like you but for which no one (as attractive) has applied.</li>
</ol>
<p>10) Never assume that because your son’s or daughter’s high school guidance counselor has been doing his/her job for 20 years that they know much about more than a handful of colleges, or that they know your child well enough to make meaningful recommendations. Experience does not necessarily mean efficiency and thoroughness in forwarding recommendations, HS profiles and transcripts either.</p>
<p>Amen hudsonvalley</p>
<p>Couldn’t agree more with #10. Parent and child must really take on this project together-and the earlier, the better. Nothing gives a greater sense of security than getting to know schools early, getting the application materials in early, and having at least one sure thing scoped out that is still an appealing prospect.</p>
<p>If I knew when I was looking at colleges 1/10th of what I know today, my experience would have been so different.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Reach schools are “reach” for a reason. Expect not to get into any of them.</p></li>
<li><p>“Holistic admissions” means “holistic for anyone with a 4.0 GPA and a 2200+ on the SATs.”</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t make your kid apply to a school they really aren’t interested in. Even with merit money they still won’t go.</p></li>
<li><p>“Need blind” admissions means when FA awards come out they are blind to your need.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t waste your time visiting schools where accepted student SAT/ACT scores are significantly higher than your PLAN and PSAT scores.</p></li>
<li><p>If you know or suspect your EFC will be high, push your kid to do LOTS of community service. Most outside scholarships weigh heavily on this and you will need those scholarships!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>7) Don’t decide before exploring your options that you can’t afford to go private. They can be more affordable that public. But most everyone should have an in-state public or two on their list as a financial safety.</p>
<p>8) Investing a few bucks in a service: ie USNWR and yes…even C0lL ege Prow1er can help you decide if you want to get on that plane and make the visit or cross a school off your list before the visit. Spend a little to save a lot</p>
<p>ACK crossed post with bunches of people!!!</p>
<p>Historymom, I’m going to call your 7 and 8, 11 and 12 to fit into the sequence.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Start earlier. Do what it takes to visit in Junior year and then do apps early, early in senior year before it gets any busier.</p></li>
<li><p>Prepare child for weirdness of college admissions (good merit aid at top school vs none at safety). Scholarships are recruiting tools and there’s no telling what they may recruit this year.</p></li>
<li><p>It takes a lot of time and money to prove you have no money and need financial aid. :-P</p></li>
</ol>
<h1>16?: Respect the privacy of the college residents and do not expect to see any dorm rooms during a college tour. It can happen, but more likely you will not allowed inside a dorm during the tour.</h1>
<p>Not seeing the dorms frustrated me a little when we were touring with our oldest, but now that he is enrolled and living in a dorm I can very much appreciate the security and privacy issues that would arise if tour groups were allowed in their living spaces. And besides, most dorms/dorm rooms on a college campus are not homogeneous. Seeing a random dorm room during a tour tells a student and parents very little about the future living conditions of a newly enrolled freshman.</p>
<p>LOL hugeunot, on #15</p>
<ol>
<li>Face the fact that there are always students out there with higher SATs, more APs, and insane GPAs…and they are all posting Chance me threads on CC.</li>
</ol>