<ol>
<li> Reach schools are “reach” for a reason. Go into the application process with hope, but realistic expectations.</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>
<li> Use time carefully visiting schools where accepted student SAT/ACT scores are significantly higher than your childs.</li>
<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>
<li> 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 qualify for, call the school and see if they do offer those opportunities before you visit.</li>
<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.</li>
<li> 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.</li>
<li> 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 until April when the school year is close to an end.</li>
<li> If you are seeking financial aid, make sure that school at least is listed at not gapping a large amount on average (i.e, 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.</li>
<li>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).</li>
<li>Include in your college list different types 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>
<li>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.</li>
<li>Investing a few bucks in a service: i.e., US News & World Report and yes…even College 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.</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>It takes a lot of time and money to prove you have no money and need financial aid.</li>
<li>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 be allowed inside a dorm during the tour.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.</li>
<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>
<li>First thing parents need to do in the college search process is fill out a financial aid estimator online to understand what their financial commitment is expected to be.</li>
<li>If you don’t do well on the SAT, try the ACT.</li>
<li>You should be planning for the SAT Subject Tests by 10th grade at least.</li>
<li>The real deadlines for submitting college application paperwork are not the ones set by the colleges. They’re the ones set by your child’s high school for dealing with recommendations and transcripts, and they may be as much as two months earlier.</li>
<li>Sit down and have the money talk with your kids. Tell them realistically how much you are willing to pay/borrow for their education. Run your numbers through the financial aid calculators using both the federal and institutional methodologies.</li>
<li>Financial aid is based on what the school thinks you can afford to pay, not how much you are willing to pay (there is often a big disconnect).</li>
<li>If your school uses the CSS profile yes, they will ask for the financial information from both you and your ex-spouse along with the financial information of your current spouse(s) if applicable. In the college’s eyes there are 4 people with income and assets to pay for your college.</li>
<li>Students, if your parents tell you that they are only willing to pay $ “X” for your education, believe it. Don’t think that just because you have been accepted at _______________, with no $ that all of the sudden it is going to magically appear.</li>
<li>Plan on carting a quarter of the needed supplies home in August when child discovers there is not enough room for it. Another quarter will probably come home in May without ever being used (and after you have tossed all receipts).</li>
<li>Unless your child is superhuman, super organized, insanely mature, insanely well read on the college process, or doesn’t sleep, do not expect your child to do this alone. He or she will be at a disadvantage without some support (organizer?).</li>
<li>Understand the concepts of yield and enrollment management as they relate to the college admissions process today.</li>
<li>Get the Common Dataset information for your schools. Virtually all schools submit this annually and its prepared, usually, by departments named something like Institutional Research.</li>
<li>Recognize the reality of grade distribution in high school (B is the new C?). Understand what having SATs in the upper 2% of the population really means in terms of thousands of applicants. Use the tables provided by the SAT for this information.</li>
<li>Search for activities in your child’s area of interest/passion that are outside your high school to give your child more depth in their interest area and also another place to have fun and develop friends and skills.</li>
<li>Applications, if done well, take time to percolate/ripen/cure/mellow. It is not a linear progression. As a parent, accept that essays may happen in fits and starts.</li>
<li>Encourage your student to take contemporaneous notes when visiting colleges. Helps to distinguish “which one had the great ice cream but lousy profs?” later on.</li>
<li>Rolling/EA can be a very good way to get a feel for a student’s competitiveness in the applicant pool. It sure is nice to have an answer in hand in December.</li>
<li>Relating that the process is going well, with little involvement of you, is not appreciated, even if you are asked.</li>
<li>Find out your HS policy on test scores and whether theyre automatically put on the HS transcript.</li>
<li>Don’t be afraid to take a gap year. If college is not right for you in this point in your life, don’t waste your money on it now. You can either apply as a senior and defer admission for a year or two… or you can apply a few years after graduation.</li>
<li>Don’t rule out a class of schools (urban, suburban, large, small, rural, “preppy,” “athletic”) based on one college visit to one type of school. I did this when I visited one Liberal Arts College (LAC) and immediately dismissed all LAC’s… that was a big mistake on my part.</li>
<li>Don’t use US News Ranks (or any ranks, for that matter) as the final determining factor between schools.</li>
<li>Parents, recognize your limits. Your kid is going to college and applying to college, not you. Drop the royal “we.” Ideally, parents should be there to support their children, to talk money, to spew age-old advice from time to time, and to offer to read over applications. But nothing more. If a tour guide asks your son what he is interested in studying, for example, do not answer for him.</li>
<li>If you did great on the PSAT and you weren’t a national merit semifinalist, there is no need to take the SAT. Try the ACT first. You might get a great ACT score and you will never need to take the SAT. (If you take the SAT and do not do well, any college that wants to see official copies of your great SAT II scores will also see your not-great SAT scores. This will annoy you.)</li>
<li>Despite all the angst and disappointment your child may face, in general the colleges know what they’re doing and most kids end up where they should be.</li>
<li>Don’t try to fit the mold of the perfect stereotypical applicant. Consider your ethnicity, your gender, and your background, and then try to do something that completely contradicts all of that.</li>
<li>Students should realize that they sometimes make mistakes and, despite how smart, independent and capable they are, someone else really should edit/proof their essays before they hit the “send” key.</li>
<li>If you are applying to a rolling admissions school, apply EARLY (as early as August in some cases) and certainly before the priority deadline (usually in the fall).</li>
<li>Kids are applying late (Dec) to some of these schools as safeties (usually state schools) and then are SHOCKED to find out that they are waitlisted or deferred to secondary (and undesirable) campuses. GCs need to do a better job of communicating the importance of early applications to these schools. I can’t believe how many kids are on the PSU boards whining about their rejections. APPLY EARLY!!!</li>
<li>Ask if there is a parent support group. I was put in contact with another Mom who had a student in the program my child was interested in, and she was very helpful. This was after child was accepted, but before he had made his final choice.</li>
<li>Encourage your student to take advantage of the “any questions- contact student _____” option. We forced child to send an email to the upper classman representative in his major, and he got a very encouraging letter in return.</li>
<li>Some of the admissions officers are recent grads, not seasoned specialists in the evaluation of 17 and 18 year olds, or admissions credentials in general. Some are more seasoned and have made a career of admissions. Regardless, there are no real outcome studies to verify that either group makes “right” choices or that everyone ends up where they should be. That categorically close kids who aren’t admitted to school A, adapt to school B, go on with their lives, and even thrive at school B is not necessarily evidence that it was THE correct choice by admissions, but, more likely, that kids’ (humans’) have a natural ability to adapt to new environments/situations, develop new friends and live new “realities”. It’s certainly evidence that people can be happy wherever they land but again, not of a “correct” choice. This can probably be eliminated from the list since it’s really commentary and not advice!</li>
<li>A large percentage of college students change their major once during college, therefore, consider how strong a certain school is in another major(that you may change to).</li>
<li>Look at the prospective college’s meal plans/food service. Its easy to get depressed w/ terrible food day after day.</li>
<li>If your child is an athlete, start everything 6 months earlier. SAT’s/ACT’s by Jan/Feb of junior year (to prequalify with coaches), emails to coaches in March-May, down to 3-4 schools by the end of August (for official visits), final decision made by Oct 15 (to be on the coach’s list for admissions).</li>
<li>If you think your child has a shot at National Merit Scholarship, have them take the PSAT as a sophomore. It doesn’t count, and is good practice if the score needs to be tuned up a bit.</li>
<li>Stop at all flagship universities as you vacation - this means from first grade on up. As your kids see their friends older siblings go off to college they will have a campus to put with the person and they will begin to understand the personality of each school. Most of the states are smaller, they are looking for quality students and many have money for quality out-of-state students.</li>
<li>College Web sites, although helpful, are not enough. It’s benign propaganda and every university believes that they are the best.</li>
<li>Applying to too many schools can/does affect you mentally, physically, and socially.Consider what youre getting into.</li>
<li>If you don’t like it, tell your parents NOW. No matter if it breaks their heart that you don’t want to go to THEIR dream school.</li>
<li>Recognize that the obsession of the College Confidential (CC) community with rankings and stats is not an accurate reflection of the college bound public at large. Don’t get sucked into the madness.</li>
<li>If your child applies EA or SCEA to their first choice school, don’t send safety schools application in until you hear. You can waste hundreds in applications fees, SAT scores, ACT scores, being sent to several schools that he was no longer interested in after early admit. Prepare your essays etc, but you don’t need to send them if you get your first choice.</li>
<li>Your transcripts should be looked at as personal assessments of your high school learning experience. It should not look like a job application.</li>
<li>If the time and money spent finding scholarships ends up higher than the actual scholarships you are eligible for, you’ve screwed up (This excludes very high merit ones like Siemens or National Peace Essay, but you never lose money if you qualify for those).</li>
<li>The PSAT is more important than the SAT in terms of merit money. Dont neglect to study for the PSAT.</li>
<li>Make sure the GPA that your HS has calculated is correct.</li>
<li>Order an official copy of your transcript during your Junior year. Go over it carefully. If you ask for corrections, get another copy and make sure that the correction didn’t just make a new problem.</li>
<li>Start a “resume” in 9th grade and update it twice a year. Include awards, clubs, summer activities and community service. When you get to applications, you won’t be trying to remember what you did “way back” in 10th grade.</li>
<li>If you don’t want your kid to consider a $40,000 plus school, don’t take them to see ANY. None of those $20,000 schools will look as good.</li>
<li>Realize there will be a point after which studying for the SAT’s is useless towards score improvement. </li>
<li>During college information sessions, the admissions counselors go down a list of criteria they look at. Usually SAT/ACT is last on their list. This leads one to think that it isn’t as important as grades, ECs, rank, etc. When in fact it is the final quantifier that separates and categorizes students. A student can pass all the hurdles until the SAT; but the SAT is the one criterion with enough granularity to resolve differences between otherwise equally matched, highly talented students. Rather than being the least important, the SAT may be one of the more important indicators.</li>
<li>If you take an admissions decision personally, or any part of the college process for that matter, then YOU are the idiot. Not the colleges. Not the admissions people. And definitely not your URM, Athlete, Legacy, etc.</li>
<li>If you decide to go to a school that is far away from your house, make sure it doesn’t take FOREVR to actually get to the school. It can become quite a headache to have to take more than 2 modes of transportation to get to your school (e.g. you really don’t want to have to take a 5-6 hour plane flight followed by a bus ride to a train system followed by a 1 hour train ride followed by a shuttle bus ride to your school or something).</li>
<li>If your child is an athlete, have them talk to at least one coach at every level of play, Division 1, 2, and 3. The expectations are very different, and that athletic scholarship may not always be worth it. My D got very interesting responses when she asked the coaches “How are athletes supported here academically?”</li>
<li>Celebrate your uniqueness in your apps. If all the guys stay away from Vassar, head there. If you are a city girl, head to a country school. Go somewhere that wants the “diversity” you bring. And remember diversity is not all about race or religion. You can find some great admissions values this way. Some merit $, too, if that’s the goal.</li>
<li>Don’t just ask the adcom’s about the school’s negatives, and don’t expect anything but a sugar-coated sales-pitch if you do ask the adcoms - ask the “invisibles”. Think the kids are a bit snooty? Ask the lunchlady. Think they might party a bit? Talk to a store clerk at the mini-mart/liquor store. Safety on campus? Talk to a beat cop. It might surprise you what these folks know about the school, the faculty, and the students. And they probably ain’t trying to sell the school to you.</li>
<li>The college application process is frustrating and anxiety-ridden, but don’t allow it to overwhelm your lives. Parents, take these last few months before they leave home to savor every minute with your child. Find the good in them, compliment them (sincerely, of course) and simply shower them with love. Let them know that you have not lost sight of what truly matters. The memories will serve them well as they adjust to college life.</li>
<li>If your child says that s/he does not want to go to a college smaller than his/her high school, don’t waste your time visiting small LAC’s even if they seem like a great fit otherwise.</li>
<li>If your child dislikes the student tour guide, s/he is almost certain not to include the school among his/her favorites. (The converse is also true but to a somewhat lesser extent.)</li>
<li>“Optional” essays are only optional if you don’t want to go to that school.</li>
<li>If you travel to a school and don’t take the tour, at least sign in at admissions. You never know if that school tracks interest. (This does not pertain to Ivy’s, I don’t think they care, but some schools a notch below, do.)</li>
<li>Don’t let your college visit be over after the tour. That’s almost as bad as having somebody else decide on your college for you. Instead, hang out with students, in the cafeteria, in the student center, even in class.</li>
<li>If you’re shy about approaching somebody directly, pretend you’re lost and use that as a way to throw yourself into conversation with a current student.</li>
<li>For students: Take a look at the common app during the summer before your Senior Year. Work on a draft of the essay. You will end up with a more thoughtful end result than if you wait until the chaotic Fall of your Senior Year. For parents: When you find yourself wishing the process to be over, remember that it will be over. And then they leave. Savor the process and your child.</li>
<li>If you have many out of state visits and/or require multiple visits for things like auditions, try to stick with one popular hotel chain and sign up for their rewards programs. Many of the larger schools actually have hotels on campus. For our last audition, we had a free room from all of the previously earned points.</li>
<li>Check how each college treats special considerations: medical, learning accommodations, dietary. Most claim to handle these, but implementation, and the availability of facilities and support, varies.</li>
<li>Putting your name and social security number on the Common Application does not mean its mostly done.</li>
<li>Know that the SAT subject test report to the schools comes with SAT scores – so beware if you had a bad SAT day.</li>
<li>Take 3 SAT subj tests and prepare to take them before May of the senior year.</li>
<li>If financially possible, VISIT any school put on your short list.</li>
<li>Read the “Brag about your lesser known school” thread on CC to find names of numerous valuable colleges – many of which would stump most any average college counselor.</li>
<li>If you and your child start to bang heads about getting things done, and you find yourself hovering and your child is getting annoyed, agree with your child that you will check in only once a week to see what they’ve accomplished and what’s on the agenda for the following week.</li>
<li>Start the financial aid process as early as possible and read everything you can. Get your finances in order long before you fill out the application and learn everything about the process. Have the student send the questions to schools regarding admission or financial aid. They always seem nicer to them!</li>
<li>Don’t wait until October 31st (early) or December 31st (regular) to apply, especially if you plan to apply online. If the server is down for some reason, you’re out of luck.</li>
<li>Get a small notebook to take with you in the car to different schools. As soon as you get back into the car, just start writing about all of your feelings about the different schools. Then, when you are trying to decide which schools to apply to, you can look back at what type of feeling you had about the different schools.</li>
<li>If you qualify for financial aid don’t bother with “need sensitive” schools. Add more need-blind schools to the list.</li>
<li>A very simple but useful tip - If you are applying to reach schools, apply to ones that are in geographically diverse area. Nearly 90% of the top tier kids tend to apply to the same area (within 4-5 hrs driving radius) of the HS thus appear like “clones” to Adcoms. Students who apply to far out areas tend to get noticed and accepted more easily since fewer kids apply to those schools from your region.</li>
<li>Make sure the schools on your list will enable you to grow for four years – whether that’s because you are coming in with coursework beyond AP in your intended major or (and a more likely scenario) you change your mind about what you want to study. MANY, many kids change majors. It shouldn’t have to mean a transfer to a different college.</li>
<li>Refrain from asking seniors (and possibly parents as well) whether they’ve heard from their schools, and where they’ve gotten in, because they don’t need the added pressure/vulnerability. The “news” will all be out in April.</li>
<li>The admissions process is not always rational. I’ve seen kids get accepted to Harvard and rejected at UVA. I’ve seen kids get rejected at their state honors college (granted, not an easy admit) and accepted to Cornell. Many times, kids get one top school to say “yes” while others top schools say “no”.</li>
<li>Applying to more schools may increase your chances - although I think you have to watch out for application burnout - resulting in less than stellar essays and attention to detail.</li>
<li> Be aware that some people are very sensitive about their alma mater. “Why isn’t she applying to XYZ? I loved it.” Even worse is telling them she was accepted to XYZ but is choosing not to attend!</li>
<li> Visit as many schools as possible before the applications are started. It can be a “time-saver” if you spend 8 hours driving and touring a school and cross it off your list before the student embarks on the complicated, multi-essay application.</li>
<li> Visits that separate the parents and students are good. Everything is a lot more “real” for the student.</li>
<li> Prospective student overnights can be invaluable for many students. It allows them to see themselves at the school and gives much more confidence in the fall. (Consider, however, that overnights can also give a very biased/wrong impression, depending on the host. So if you choose to do an overnight, try to talk/spend some time with variety of students on campus. Your host is not necessarily a good representative of the campus culture.)</li>
<li> Know a bit about the stats for the schools you are considering. For example, what percentage of a class is being accepted through early decision? Some schools are known for taking 1/3 -1/2 of the class during the early round. Selectivity for the regular decision round can end up (not always - depends on the school) being tougher than it seems according to overall numbers.</li>
<li> When you visit a college you should eat in the student dining hall to obtain an unfiltered look at how the students conduct themselves.</li>
<li> When you visit a college you should pick up the student published newspaper to read the campus news and see if the activities touted by the Admissions Office really exist and/or are as active as advertised.</li>
<li> Reading online version of the students’ publications regularly will give you much more insight into the campus culture than a 2hr visit and info session.</li>
<li> In addition to essays, use the summer before senior year for composing the brag sheet and a letter from the parents to the guidance counselor. That way they will be ready to go in September and can be given to the guidance counselor and/or teachers writing the recs (especially important for those who are applying to rolling admissions schools, for example U Michigan, where getting the app in early is crucial). If you aren’t asked to compose such a letter, consider writing one anyway! As advised for the college essay, “show, don’t tell.” Relate anecdotes. Also - if there are special circumstances at home, an obstacle your child has overcome etc. it’s a way to encourage that the counselor/teachers will make reference to it in their letter.</li>
<li> Recommendations: Counterintuitive though it sounds, consider asking for a letter of recommendation from the tough teacher of a class in which your child struggled a bit along the way, as opposed to the class with the easy grader, easy A. The teacher will no doubt make reference to the rigor of the work and commend the student for any extra efforts he or she displayed.</li>
<li> Interviews: Even if your child doesn’t think he or she needs to practice, encourage a mock interview before going in to the real thing. Being put on the spot and asked questions is a skill that even a very verbal student may need to practice. Try to schedule the first interview at a school that is not one of your top choices. Read the online student newspaper ahead of time and ask questions that can’t be found easily on the website, for example, regarding issues students are talking about on campus.</li>
<li> Don’t be afraid to contact the college admissions rep if you have any additional information about yourself after the deadline. (Awards, epiphanies, etc.) Admissions reps are your friends. They did not take their jobs to slash and bash. They really look for applicants they can root for.</li>
<li> Someone might have said something like this already, but it’s too true: when it comes to extracurriculars, do what you LOVE, and do it well, which shouldn’t be hard if you love it; you’ll have a fulfilling high school experience, not to mention coming off as genuine and passionate on paper.</li>
<li> Spend a little prep time on college admissions vocabulary with your kid. After a few visits and tours I realized that DD had no context for terms like “distribution requirements, gen. ed, seminar, section, lab, major, minor, concentration, certificate…” I understood what the tour guides and info sessions were saying, but she didn’t until we talked about it - and then things made so much more sense to her.</li>
<li> There is a big difference between need blind (which simply means your having a financial need will not be a factor in the admissions decision) and meeting 100% demonstrated need (cost of attendance - Expected Family Contribution = demonstrated need ). Only a small number of schools meet 100% of your demonstrated need with large amounts of institutional aid (and they are amongst the most competitive when it comes to admission).</li>
<li> In the eyes of the Financial Aid office, loans (both parent and student loans) are considered Financial Aid.</li>
<li> Make a chart comparing the variables/stats/majors/requirements/size/cost/etc. of each potential college. Create an organization system including, for example, a separate filing cabinet with hanging folders filled with college literature, and hole-punch all forms to put in a notebook (color-code tabs). Mark each file with any ID #s, passwords, usernames etc in an easily and quickly accessible spot, in our case…on the inside of each hanging folder. With the # of such passwords, ID#s etc, that are never remembered for each diff school, it saves a lot of time fishing around amongst papers and correspondence. Be sure to prepare some kind of spreadsheet or system that tells you what you sent to each school and when, and by what means (fax, mail, email) especially during the period when all the financial aid documents are forwarded. Make hard copies of all email or mailed correspondence and file. If a non custodial parent is involved who may be uncooperative, save all correspondence as well.</li>
<li> Build your list from the bottom up. Love your safety.</li>
<li> Find out the name and email address of your regional representative, who is typically the gatekeeper who does the first read on your application and ultimately has a large part in deciding your fate. If that person is in the area, i.e. at a HS or local info session, make sure to attend, and introduce yourself to him/her. It can help for these people to be able to put a face with the name. Follow up with a note thanking, keep in touch if the application needs updating or if you have a question but don’t overdo.</li>
<li> In the words of several admissions officers at selective schools: Unless you clearly have a unique story to tell, try to avoid hackneyed topics that they see a million times like “finding one’s independence at sleep away camp” or “learning empathy at a volunteer program abroad.” DO allow someone to check your essay for errors.</li>
<li> If you get a score that makes no sense in context with anticipated or past results, don’t be afraid to ask for hand scoring of SATs. Mistakes do happen!</li>
<li> Apply to more than one safety. They may be the only schools where you’re admitted and you’ll still have a choice. (Plus, you may do far better at one than the other financially.)</li>
<li> If your child loves a safety best and chooses it in spite of acceptance into a more prestigious campus…be happy for them even if you feel it is “less” of a school than you hoped for them.</li>
<li> Don’t assume that just because your high school record wasn’t stellar and that your SAT score was average (not cc average) that your college opportunities are doomed. There are lots of schools out there for the non-stars that offer great opportunities. Find one (or several), visit and get excited about it and disregard the naysayers.</li>
<li> Verify to see if your guidance counselor and secretary sent all of the forms to your schools.</li>
<li> Know schools that do not require standardized testing. The list is growing.</li>
<li> There are Facebook groups for all rising college first year’s. Once yours makes a final decision s/he may join the “2012” group. My dd has already made over 25 “friends” and they IM, call and Facebook like crazy!</li>
<li> Prepare to work with your child (usually a daughter in this case…) to feather the nest: get room dimensions and plan for a nice rug, curtains and linens (this from a sad rising empty nester!)</li>
<li> Best feeling as this has wound down and child is thrilled with his/her choice? Deleting all college bookmarks, recycling the catalogs, getting every single thing not related to child’s college search process out of the house!</li>
<li> Put the decal on the cars. Your child will be so proud!</li>
<li> International students. Periodically check with the college to see what kinds of mailings are sent to accepted students. (Harvey Mudd has a calendar online that has a copy of all the mailings that go out, and when they were mailed.)</li>
<li> Make sure colleges can find you: housing worksheets, week of welcome schedule, orientation information, etc. were all mailed to our house, AFTER we had left for our summer leave in the states. We were able to have duplicate copies mailed to a relatives house in California, but would have been in trouble if we hadn’t asked for them.</li>
<li> Talk to people in the colleges you are looking at- not just admissions kids!</li>
<li> Encourage your child to (within reason) be themselves on their application. I know this is trite, but I’d like to point out that many of the admissions workers are in their mid to late twenties and remember what it’s like to be a high schooler.</li>
<li> DO OVERNIGHTS at colleges when deciding which college is your number 1. And try to do the overnights with someone similar to yourself.</li>
<li> Don’t visit a college campus when no students are there. It is nigh impossible to overcome the sense that the place was dead and sterile. Do know why the campus is deserted on your Saturday morning tour…they are all in bed asleep still…go after lunch. Eavesdrop in the cafeterias and see what is up socially get the vibe of the place.</li>
<li> Especially if you live in the northern states, look at some colleges in Canada. They can be a great value.</li>
<li> Read “The Price of Admission” by Daniel Golden for a peek into the college admission process. It may be disheartening but it is better to know how the game works before getting the thin envelopes in the mail and wondering where things went wrong.</li>
<li> More than anything, remember the admissions process is imperfect at best, and the decisions do not prove, disprove, validate or invalidate anything, especially who your children truly are, at heart. If they don’t get into their dream school, reassure them, “They let a good one get away.”</li>
<li> Unless you (parent) are completely clueless, avoid spending the money to hire a private college counselor. All you need is a good organization system and a sympathetic and patient English teacher to help with the essays. Unless you REALLY don’t have any time or inclination, taking this on as a family activity is just plain fun and interesting–most of it anyway.</li>
<li> Absolutely agree on not having one be-all, end-all favorite college.</li>
<li> Dont underestimate the time and pain of essays and the associated burn out as the process goes on (common app is better than none, but the supplements drive you nuts.)</li>
<li> Understand the cost of the process (application fees, test fees, visits to colleges, etc.) I knew all of these things but somehow never aggregated them. The number is big, particularly if you are in a sport that requires significant travel also (i.e., $1000/event).</li>
<li> Exact nature of the athletic quality academic quality tradeoff. This seems important has the acceptances come in and we see people who have made the wrong decision by pushing the athlete side at the expense of the academic side.</li>
<li> If you don’t know what you want to do, or if what you really want to do isn’t offered as a major at your prospective schools, consider applying undeclared. I’m not sure how it is at other universities, but at mine, it is troublesome to switch majors.</li>
<li> Trim your list! Spend more time on the front end, researching which few colleges are the very best fit, and this will translate to less time during the application process. Fewer applications means better applications! and more genuine essays about your sincerely wanting to be part of that college community. ONLY apply to colleges that you sincerely wish to attend.</li>
<li> I wish I had known that little little things can make you really love a place.</li>
<li> Make sure you’ve learned how to converse with elders and strangers and make sure you’ve got some basic social skills. You’re going to meet many tour guides and admissions folks and future employers. Social skills are the most important skills you’ll ever learn.</li>
<li> Dont rely on a guidance counselor 100%. Theyre often overworked by numbers and deadlines. Take ownership of the application process.</li>
<li> Make sure your school sends transcripts to the right campus you are applying to if the college has more than one branch. Right out the address on the envelope if you have to.</li>
<li> When your mother tells you that if you go to college in Florida or California (or any other states that aren’t near you), you’re only coming home twice a year, she means it. It’s probably a good idea to think this one through before sending applications off to colleges thousands of miles away.</li>
<li> Be very careful about Early Decision (ED.) And I mean VERY careful. The fact that it is binding can NOT be understated. Know everything (From education quality to QUALITY OF LIFE to foods, to dorms… know this stuff very in depth. Read reviews online/visit). If you are even partially unsure about a college, but are applying just because of the higher chance of acceptance, don’t apply ED. Hold out to RD. Make sure you have fully considered and would TRULY love going to that school. If you get in, you can’t get out.</li>
<li> Don’t tell everybody where your child is applying - my mistake. Keep it vague, esp if they’re applying to high caliber schools. I should have been more private, although so far my d results have been good.</li>
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