<p>Info for my friends :) Just what would you say, for those who go to a non-competitive school?</p>
<p>Start activities toward admission NOW. Start studying for the SAT or ACT, and plan to take it at least twice this spring. Get a copy of the FIske Guide to Colleges, and make a few visits this spring at least to nearby schools of different types to see what appeals to you. Make up a list of all extra curricular activities for each year of high school (it will pay off when you go to fill out the Common Application). Sit down with parents and discuss finances. How much can parents afford to pay each year? Run net price calculators on the school websites for some schools the student is interested in to see what kind of cost of attendance the student might end up with (DO NOT rely on the FAFSA EFC calculator for this, that does NOT tell you what kind of aid an individual school will give you).</p>
<p>Yes and if you need merit aid research the schools who are likely to offer it for your stats and apply early. A lot of kids posted here recently needing significant merit and missed alot of deadlines already.</p>
<p>Our experience…
- Your Junior year is your most important. Work hard and when you think you are burnt out, find someone to give you a pep talk. I told my son that it only gets better since he will take courses that he enjoys in college.
- We put together a spread sheet with colleges that were of interest with data from their common data set then color coded them for safety, 50/50 and reach. This has changed so much since the first draft.
- We visited several colleges over the summer and fall break and discovered what my son would like in a college. He discovered that he wanted to be in a large city, medium to large campus, and more along the lines of traditional. We also identified colleges that were living off an old reputation and those that would be up and coming.<br>
- Identify areas of interest that you might want to major in. See if you can meet an adult in that field and maybe even spend a couple of hours with them at work. Don’t be afraid to explore and change your mind. Now is a great time to explore as much as possible before the cost starts to add up in college.
- Finish your essay during the summer between Junior and Senior year. Ask others to edit and make suggestions. My son did a lot of brainstorming and found some quirky things that were actually a strength and allowed him to share a part of his personality in the essay.<br>
- Take both the SAT and ACT. My son spent a lot of time prepping for the SAT but ended up doing much better on the ACT.
- Make sure to register for subject tests (if you plan to take them) well in advance.
- School- stay on top of your counselor to make sure they do their part and identify teachers that you would like to ask for a recommendation (my son actually shared a copy of his essay with his teachers).
Best of Luck and enjoy the college search process.</p>
<p>@2015momcollege thanks! I’m not OP, but it’s a very informative post. I’ll be trying the spreadsheet idea soon!</p>
<p>Very helpful guys! You guys gave me some information that I never thought of telling others :)!</p>
<p>It is not too early to talk to your parents about costs and run some net price calculators. You want to know your cost limits before you make your list.</p>
<p>Some things that might not be obvious. Doing well on PSAT is helpful. Depending on your state scores above about 220 are worth thousands in scholarships. Take both ACT and SAT, you might do much better on one of them. D scored 36 on ACT and 2070 on SAT. Understand whether your families financial circumstances will limit college options. This is more complex than it seems. Objectively look at your ECs and interests. What is your theme, your elevator speech, what makes you unique and memorable?</p>
<p>Adding on to what everyone else said, start looking at potential summer programs now!</p>
<p>Thoroughly research types of schools that you might want to attend (urban, suburban, private, public etc.) Understand the difference between ED and EA before you start applying. ED is binding however it is possible to get out if the financial aid package is lacking. However you have to PROVE that there is no possible way you or your family could swing it. Like others have said do well on the PSAT because making National Merit can get you FULL SCHOLARSHIPS at some schools like ASU if I remember correctly. Visit as many schools as you can afford. And if you cannot afford to visit all of the schools that interest you visit different types of school so you know what you like as that can be done often without leaving your town. I live in St.Louis and I visited Wash U, SLU, and Mizzou which are three different types of school which taught me that I didn’t really like big schools or super urban campuses. Do community service and have some leadership position in either your ECs or your volunteer work. Start EARLY! Like summer before senior year start getting a more final list together and start your essays. </p>
<p>If you don’t care about going to top colleges, then like @collegebound1515 said, do well enough on the PSAT to get into the NM competition. That is honestly one of the easiest ways to get college money as long as you can do well enough on the tests are a decent student.</p>
<p>@thanksagain Kids at mine school don’t do great summer programs, most do community service at the library, a city kid program, or nothing. I was lucky enough to do political work. What would you recommend, where should I look at?</p>
<p>@wencito Some of the big ones are TASP and MITES. Search here for some you might be interested in: <a href=“Summer Programs - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/</a>
I don’t recommend choosing an expensive program, because that might just scream “PRESTIGE!” to admissions officers. Difficult ones that are hard to get in to, but are also free like MITES are great.</p>
<p>If you don’t want to do a summer program, you could also look for internships.</p>
<p>@thanksagain Haha, wait, what do you mean by Prestige? How so?
Thanks though! I’ll be sure to recommend some to those websites and programs.</p>
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<p>I wouldn’t worry too much about this. Colleges know that few kids can afford expensive summer programs, and there are very few that are free (and they are very competitive). Do something that you are interested in and that ties in with some of your other extra curricular interests or possible major. Don’t worry about attending paid programs (all they really mean to colleges is that your parents can pay for your attendance…).</p>
<p>@wencito haha not prestige! I meant privilege, way too tired right now lol</p>
I wonder if these free programs are harder to get into than Stanford @intparent
Don’t get bogged down in the workload. I did next to no college research as a Junior and looking back on it I feel as though my college list could have been better thought out.
Like TASP and RSI? They are comparable with acceptance rates around 5% for TASP (in 2012 it was 4.7% – recent RSI admissions rate are hard to track down, but they are similar). It is getting late to apply for this summer anyway for those – one of my kids spent her entire winter break junior year working on her TASP applications, but still didn’t get in.
Depends on where you want to go, but regardless you should take your tests early and study a lot for them. It might suck while you are studying but it pays off in the end. Also, don’t slack off you’re senior year.