<p>We are in a fairly rural area in Iowa. Yet in the past couple of years we have sent kids to Harvard, U of Chicago, Northwestern, WUSTL, Rice, Carleton and more. That being said I’d say that 90% percent of parents are still relatively uninvolved. But I also see a correlation between first-time parents being less involved than those who have been through it before. Those who have been through it know by the second time to start going through the process earlier.</p>
<p>The GCs at our kids’s (big, public) schools wanted the student and parent questionnaire that they used to write rec letters by the end of junior year. Their goal was to have letters written over the summer and then update as needed.</p>
<p>At home, we had talked about college for years and years, but didn’t start actually looking at places til the summer before junior year. A couple of teachers/family friends made suggestions to S1 in soph year (Mudd and Olin), which got him excited about the process.</p>
<p>Both guys’ teachers would emphasize taking the SAT-II at the end of specific classes – so things like Math Level II, USH, World History, etc. were taken as early as 9th grade. Both were in specialized selective admit programs where huge percentages of the kids made NMSF, so parents and teachers were pretty tuned into the process. I recall one parent being flabbergasted that S1 had never taken the SAT until March of junior year – the presumption among his peers was that one takes it in middle school for CTY, etc. </p>
<p>I <em>do</em> wish was that more schools emphasized the ins and outs of FA. The counselors won’t touch it here with a 10 ft pole out of fear of tracking based on economics. I was asked to speak at a junior parent meeting one time and discussed EFC. You could see the shock – and these are highly educated parents who pushed their kids (in many cases, extremely hard). The focus among them was Ivies or full ride at the flagship, and everyone assumed their kids would rake in lots of merit $$. Places like Chicago, CMU, and the top LACs were not even considered “worthy.” Since the economy tanked, more and more of these 2200+ kids are at the flagship.</p>
<p>In our neighborhood, a lot of kids go to the local CC (considered very good with guaranteed articulation to the flagship) or a directional state U. The top students at the local HS head to the flagship if they can get in, or other OOS schools (Florida, Penn State, Virginia Tech, ASU among friends we know).</p>
<p>Other than all the good times on CC, I’m not sure that the ‘thought and planning’ stage yielded any substantial returns for me.</p>
<p>I think it’s easy to make the application process complicated when it is really pretty simple. YMMV.</p>
<p>I don’t think the actual application process is difficult at all, but researching and finding schools that fit what you want just plain old takes time. Now, if you are ok just throwing out a bunch of applications without consideration for where you go, easy, but if you want to step foot on campus before you apply or at least before you put your deposit down, there are just limited times for most kids to do this so planning does need to happen.</p>
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<p>Ours wanted it before senior year too. I think S’ school does give a lot of support to students (test prep, common app workshops, college essay work in English class, onsite college fairs, etc). For parents there are meetings about college timelines, financial aid, etc. Of course for parents it’s not mandatory and some don’t go, these things are in the evening.</p>
<p>I also found it hardest to help S make the list of schools to apply to.</p>
<p>Our public school is also good about telling students about the SAT Subject Tests. Students taking honors classes are told about the tests, and are also told when test prep classes are held.</p>
<p>Our public high school sends many kids to various IVY/top 25 schools year in and year out so I assume the guidance department, along with the parents, must be pretty on top of things. That being said, it comes nowhere near what my son’s private school does. Starting January of jr. year and going until December of their Sr. yr. they all take a class which meets once a week (4 kids in each class) with the guidance counselor on all things college. They work on their lists, their essays, their apps, getting their recommendations, etc., etc., etc. The school also holds two workshops for parents about financial aid. All college apps must be in the GC’s office by Dec. 1 and the GC proofs them all. </p>
<p>We literally did nothing except take our son to see schools and fill in the FAFSA/CSS. We didn’t even read his essays.</p>
<p>Our GCs can barely keep their heads above water…so many students, so few of them.</p>
<p>My daughter is a dead average student in intelligence and achievement but she works her butt off to maximize her grades. We have been talking college prep stuff with her starting in junior high. She has a unique combination of interests that very few colleges can meet, plus she needs a college that an ‘average’ kid can successful (no Ivies here) and offer LD support. She also need significant aid. We are putting a lot of work into her freshman and sophomore year to expose her to the different types of college out there. She is doing the PSAT and PLAN as a freshman, not that we think she is a potential NMS but just for the experience. She is a very different student than everyone else in our family. I know that it is going to take signifcant research to find a strong match for her. </p>
<p>OTOH, my nephews are brilliant. Both will likely be in Calculus as sophomores (they earliest our school will let them take it) and complete the dual enrollement program (graduate with their HS diploma and an AA from the local CC). My sister isn’t worried about college because she figures that they’ll just go to the closest State U (not the flagship) that her and BIL attended. It drives me INSANE that her boys have so many outstanding choices and she doesn’t even have any idea. I have taken to talking directly to the boys about the opportunities in front of them. Their eyes light up! </p>
<p>My school GC was horrible as well. I should have been steered to schools like Smith, Wellesley, Radcliffe instead of just to the state flagship. I learned the hard way how important a good match is for college. </p>
<p>I’m truly hoping that by taking such an active role in DD’s college search as a freshman/sophomore, that I can back off her junior year and let her drive the choice.</p>
<p>Our sons went to a private where parents were very tuned in, and many hired private college counselors though the GC was pretty much on top of things. The only kid in this year’s grad class not going to college is on the US Ski Team 
Evening parent college meetings were well attended. About a third of the kids go to the JC but many then move on to universities. The rest are headed to a wide variety of 4-year schools. Several of 2012 grads are going to top schools (Brown, Georgetown, Stanford, USC, Cal etc), and lots going to very respectable private colleges. It was a really intense, competitive environment. Meanwhile, I read that only a third of the kids at our local public will go on to any type of college.</p>