<p>Hey all, here is a recent blog post I wrote and wanted to share with the College Confidential community. Feedback and discussion welcome :)</p>
<p>3 Things Every Parent Should Know About College Admissions </p>
<p>‘Tis the season for stressed out seniors, frantic parents and last minute personal statement submissions I wanted to share the three tips I have developed to help parents eliminate stress and allow their children to maximize their chances of getting into their dream school.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Allow your kid to choose the school where they are most likely to succeed, not the highest ranked in US News and World Report.
College is the time where teenagers get their first trial run at adulthood. While prestige, rankings and name brands matter, the most important lessons your child will learn in college will come outside of the classroom. Allow your son or daughter to pick a school with an environment where they can learn and thrive. Guide them towards schools with great departmental resources in their desired areas of study, opportunities for research and internships outside of the classroom and a social environment that fits their personality.</p></li>
<li><p>Have your child talk to current students at all the schools they are applying to.
Campus tours and brochures only tell the story from the perspective of the admissions officers. In order to get the inside scoop of what life is really like at any college, you need to talk to real students who go there. Want to know what attending a school in New York City is like? Are you secretly wondering just how much you will have to study? Curious about the WiFi coverage across campus? An informal chat with a real student will allow your son or daughter to ask all the questions that they are afraid to ask on campus tours. Moonlyt provides a way to find and videochat with students from a number of colleges across the nation. It is a tool that can help you and your child talk to a real person who recently navigated the whole application process successfully at the school of your dreams.</p></li>
<li><p>Your child is a person, not a statistic.<br>
Too often I have parents tell me “Johnny is 75th percentile in his SAT I scores but only 60th percentile in his SAT IIs for admitted students so he only has a 62.57485% chance of getting in!” This is ludicrous. Admissions officers are not soulless robots who coldly admit or reject candidates based on some ranking algorithm. They are real people who try their best to get to know the applicant in order to make a judgement call. Scores and grades need to be in a range “good enough” to be considered as a serious applicant. Once an applicant is in the “good enough” bucket on the quantitative measures it is the personality that shines through essays, extracurriculars and recommendations that matters. Applicants should focus on making their application a coherent story that tells why they were born to attend that school and why they will become the most passionate, involved and enthusiastic member of the community ever!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Parents often get too caught up in the college admission process and end up putting more stress on high schoolers than necessary. Be empathetic to the fact that this is most likely the most stressful thing your child has ever gone through. Help them through it by providing positive support and the resources they need to succeed.</p>