Can someone please answer this....

Applying to College
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<p>Our daughter is a junior in high school and other than getting almost daily correspondence from various colleges all over the US (we live in N.C.) since taking the PSAT (168) in Oct. and the SAT (1700) in Jan., we haven't contacted any colleges yet about admissions. She is going to take the SAT again in May to see if she can increase her scores a bit. Her GPA currently is 3.5.</p>

<p>We are planning on doing college visits this summer and will be visiting Gardner-Webb, Wingate, Campbell, UNC-Asheville, Appalachian, and UNC-Chapel Hill even though the last one is probably a stretch. I did email Gardner-Webb, Wingate, and Campbell and they were very receptive and positive and want her to visit their campuses. Carolina was kind of luke-warm and said for us to check back in a couple of weeks to see what the average SAT score for the class most recently admitted to see if hers is in the ballpark. I know they get bombarded and don't have to seek applicants and I think her dad would rather her go there more than anyone. Haven't heard from the other two yet.</p>

<p>After the visits what is next? When is the best time to apply.....does each college have their own deadline and because she gets a printout twice a year with her GPA on it from first and second semester do they average those to get the final GPA and then go by her SAT scores from whichever test you send them? When does she request recommendation letters from her teachers? And last but not least.....when/if she gets acceptance letters does the letter include scholarship information or does that come after she decides to attend that college? Actually we aren't counting on any scholarship offers but it would be nice. Thanks for your help.</p>

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<p>Have you tried visiting the websites of these colleges' admissions offices? Those are generally pretty helpful.</p>

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<p>1) Students apply in the fall of senior year. If she is applying Early Decision (binding early notification) or Early Action (non-binding early notification), applications are generally due between Nov. 1 - Nov. 15. If she is applying to "rolling admissions" schools (those which read applications and issue admissions decisions in the order that the completed application is received), she should apply as soon as possible - September/October time frame. </p>

<p>Regular decision deadlines vary. Some are Jan. 1, some are Jan. 15, some are Feb., etc. Also, some schools have earlier deadlines if you want to be considered for merit scholarships. She should check the websites of each school she's interested in. (Same for EA, ED and rolling admissions deadlines.)</p>

<p>2) How colleges see her GPA depends on what her high school sends. My d gets quarterly grades, but the high school only sends the final grade to colleges (except of course senior year). Check with your guidance office to see how they send the grades and how they calculate and send the GPA.</p>

<p>3) When you send SAT scores, you send scores for all the tests you've taken up to that point. (Both SAT I and SAT II's.) You don't have the option to send only the ones you want. Many schools also "superscore" the SAT - they take the best score from each subsection. But some don't. This again is something to check on the individual college websites.</p>

<p>4) Ask your guidance department when and how to ask for recommendation letters. Some schools suggest you ask in the spring of junior year; some not until senior year. And of course if there's a teacher she really likes, she can just ask him/her directly. "When do you want us to ask you if you could write a recommendation for us?"</p>

<p>5) Whether you get the scholarship with the acceptance depends on the school; it can sometimes come several days later. However, every school tells you what you can expect to receive before you have to decide to commit to the school. That's because that financial information is a key part in making the final decision for most people.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this to me. Sadly, her guidance counselor is a bit of a 'space cadet' so I try not to rely on her for too many important answers. She was formerly a guidance counselor in an elementary school which must be very different because she doesn't seem to be coping with her promotion too well. Anyway, I will do what you said and see how they determine and report her GPA although I think it is twice a year. She has two teachers she likes this year and I didn't know if the recommendation letters are to come from jr teachers or sr teachers or if it mattered. She will probably ask her English and Advanced Formulas & Methods teacher for letters and maybe wait and get one from a teacher her sr year also. Thanks again!</p>

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<p>A word of warning</p>

<p>This site is very very helpful, but it is also additive, so you have been warned ;)</p>

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<p>Thanks......I happen to be housebound right now with a broken ankle and this is helping me pass the time AND answer some questions. My husband and I never went to college so I actually do have many questions and the people here have been very helpful but I do appreciate the warning. :)</p>

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<p>Sharon: You might want to post your questions in the parents forum. Lots of very helpful parents there. Also, do searches on things like college visits, teacher recommendations, etc., and you'll come up with old threads that will give you tons of advice.</p>

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<p>Sharon:</p>

<p>Campbell reports this as their SAT range for the class entering fall of 2005 (most recent available):</p>

<p>SAT scores (25/75 percentile - which means 25% of the kids scored higher than this range, and 25% scored lower):
Verbal: 510 – 620
Math: 495 – 630
Combined: 1005 – 1250
Average GPA 3.6</p>

<p>For $15 you can subscribe to the online version of the US News Premium College edition. There is a ton of information on there, including a lot of information about how much financial aid specific schools give out. You can also get a lot of the same info for free on the College Board site if you dig a bit.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>OOPS. Now I see you said it was "Carolina" that was lukewarm, not Campbell. Which schools is that?</p>

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<p>:( OK.....I guess you don't want me here.</p>

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<p>UNC-Chapel Hill......lukewarm. Not so sure D would be a good fit there anyway.</p>

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<p>Sharon, this board is a good place to get questions answered by those who have been thru the process or are going thru it with you. Some advice is great, some not so good. What I strongly suggest is that you read a book or two about college admissions before going much farther. You want to have a solid foundation before you go much farther. I recommend the book "Admission Matters" by Springer and Franck (table of contents at <a href="http://www.admissionmatters.com/tableofcontents.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.admissionmatters.com/tableofcontents.html&lt;/a> ) and there are undoubtedly many other good ones out there. You can see books like this cover a lot of important topics. With your ankle you have time to read a book or two ;)</p>

<p>I would suggest reading early on the chapter about financial aid to learn about the process and to calculate your family's situation. You don't want to spend your time with colleges it turns out are financially impractical. There are online sites that let you run sample EFC (expected family contribution) calculations to see what colleges are going to expect you to pay.</p>

<p>As for the May SAT test, is she working with a review book? The Princeton Review book is a good starting place if she hasn't done any practice because it explains the logic behind the questions so you're learning how to approach the test rather than just drilling on problems. Of course once you understand the types of questions drill is important. She should be spending 45 minutes or more seriously studying (TV off, phone off, Ipod off, etc). The reason I'm emphasizing this is that many colleges base their merit aid on SAT cutoffs. You've mentioned scholarships, and by raising her score she could qualify for more aid.</p>

<p>Regarding the letters of rec, one thing her teachers will REALLY appreciate is to have the complete list of where she's applying and then ask for the recs. Teachers get asked for recs by lots of kids, and it is a bit irritating to be asked for a letter for 3 schools, a few weeks later for more letters, and at the last minute for one or two more. Also it is critical that she ask each prospective recommender if they will write a positive letter or if they suggest she ask someone else. A lot of kids are too intimidated to do this, but it is appropriate and any ethical teacher will give an honest answer. The point of asking is not to argue or try to change someone's mind if they say ask someone to write the letter, it's to find teachers willing to support your D in her college app. A letter of rec asks a teacher to express their honest opinion to the college and you'll never see the letters, so if for some reason your D has rubbed a teacher the wrong way and doesn't know it that person is free to express it in their letter.</p>

<p>BTW in opening your first post you mentioned your D is starting to get a stream of mail from colleges. No doubt she is surprised and impressed they are writing to her. But these letters have no more meaning than the credit card offers you get in the mail every month. The letters from colleges are carefully written to give the impression that somehow the admission office heard about her, they liked what they heard, and decided to write a letter encouraging her to apply to their school. In fact nothing is farther from the truth; I can pretty much guarantee you that no person at those colleges has ever heard of her, any more than the CEO of Citibank has personally reviewed your credit history before sending you their glossy brochure. The letters are computer-generated, a service the College Board offers to colleges using the info they have from the kids taking the SAT. So put some boxes aside for them (you'll need them!) and enjoy the colorful viewbooks all promising wonderful experiences; but make your college choices based on your own research and not what happens to show up in the mail.</p>

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<p>Hi SharonD, My neighbor's senior D is planning to go to Campbell next year. She got deferred by UNC-CH and decided not to sit around and wait on them. Campbell has something called the Presidential Scholarship. It's worth varies. I believe it is based on a set scale according to GPA and SAT. No separate app. was required. I got the impression all applications are reviewed for eligibility. Neighbor's D got $10,000 per year renewable.</p>

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<p>That was a terrific response</p>

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<p>Something I would suggest is being VERY organized in this process, in whatever for works</p>

<p>Keep track of ID numbers, passwords, codes, etc</p>

<p>Some people use folders, some use spread sheats, some calendars, some big bulletin boards, you get the idea</p>

<p>Set goals for essays, appiclations etc</p>

<p>Make a schedule for EVERYTHING, and ideally, see your own deadlines, </p>

<p>Computers break, internet goes down, and in the winter, well, power outages this year with people sending in applications from libraries</p>

<p>So make hard copies of thinks, print out everyhing even if applying on line, so if something happens your D can fax papers</p>

<p>Get supplies-envelopes, stamps, paper, whatever that is JUST for this process</p>

<p>Set aside a place- a shelf whatever for the applications and such</p>

<p>Gather up all records needed- score reports, recs, resumes and put in a file</p>

<p>I have one D going to Fordham in the fall, and a sophmore in HS, who is already getting a ton of email and snail mail</p>

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<p>Oh, and my D would email her essay's to herself so that IF her computer crashed, it does happen, her essays, wouldn't have to be retyped, she could just open them on another computer</p>

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<p>Gosh....so many things to think of and since I love being organized and D does too this may be kind of fun! Thanks for the advice and we will definetly adhere to it. I actually started her a school file when she was in kindergarden and it has all of her report cards, Scholastic Achievement Tests, PSAT, SAT, Athletic Scholar Recognition Letter, etc. I also started a list of everything she participates in EC wise as far as school and community when she started 9th grade so this should help too. She will be getting her first real job this summer and she is looking forward to that and will also be doing community work organized by the all-star competitive cheerleading team she belongs to. I wish her school cheerleading squad did community service but coach is not interested in doing so.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the heads up on the review book and will check into those. I will make sure her list of the schools she decides to apply to is complete before she asks her teachers for the rec letters. She already knows who she will be asking and luckily she gets along with all of her teachers and according to her report card comments they all like her and comments are all positive. As far as all the letters that are starting to come in, SHE actually told me to "chill cause everybody gets this stuff and these people don't know me from Adam's house cat". Darn....and I thought she was special. :)</p>

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<p>PackMom....good for your neighbors daughter as I have heard that Campbell is an awesome school! Seeing how we live in N.C. we know several people that have kids there and they love it! This is definetly one of the schools we will be visiting this summer and d has already spoken to the cheerleading coach and gotten info on their tryout requirements so she is excited. I emailed her stats to one of the guidance counselors and they were very positive and encouraged us to visit as soon as we can.</p>

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<p>SharonD, we are in NC too. Three kids from outrchurch go to Campbell and all seem happy there. Possible drawback could be Buies Creek if you're used to being in a large town/city.</p>