<p>
But I would say that before you do that, make sure YOU really understand how much college costs, how much money you really can afford to spend, what kind of loans you could get, etc. I think some people have unrealistic ideas of what they can afford (both high and low).</p>
<p>The following is a cumulative list from another thread:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Visit schools before the senior year.</p></li>
<li><p>Have at least one Rolling Admission school that is applied to by late
September/early October.</p></li>
<li><p>Get the essays done over the summer. Your child will thank you for
nagging them about this later!</p></li>
<li><p>Understand the benefits of EA/ED as they apply to your child and each
school.</p></li>
<li><p>Prepare a “high school resume” with a brief description of your
college/career goals to give to the people doing your recommendations and
to attach with the applications (I kept a file in MS Word for each year in
high school, so that we wouldn’t forget any activities.)</p></li>
<li><p>Have a financial safety that your child would be willing to attend.</p></li>
<li><p>If a school says something is recommended or optional treat it as
required if it’s a school your child is really interested in.</p></li>
<li><p>If the first SAT scores aren’t great, try the ACT (and vice versa).</p></li>
<li><p>Use the new net price calculator tool that all colleges are now
required to offer on their websites. This will give use a realistic
ballpark of what FA you might receive. Better to know this info upfront -
than to apply to colleges that simply will not work out financially.</p></li>
<li><p>Look at the Common Data Set for each college - simply Google “XYZ
University Common Data Set” and you will generally find it. A wealth of
information on acceptance rates, admissions criteria and test scores.</p></li>
<li><p>Apply to one or more schools where your child’s stats are at or above
the mid-range. (You will know this after checking out the CDS). This will
provide both an admissions safety school and a great chance at merit aid.</p></li>
<li><p>Start applications in August - particularly for any rolling admission
schools. The Common Application becomes available August 1 each year and
most other applications are available by mid-August. Anything you can
accomplish in August will be a blessing in September/October.</p></li>
<li><p>If you are applying for need-based financial aid - check each
college’s website very carefully. Deadlines and requirements vary
considerably. Familiarize yourself ahead of time with FAFSA and CSS
Profile. Don’t be intimidated by all of the acronyms - these are fairly
straight forward forms.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t pay for SAT/ACT tutoring prematurely. Just as you would not head
in for surgery without the proper diagnostic tests - don’t get sucked into
an expensive test prep program before you know what your child needs. Have
them take both an ACT and a SAT junior year. Decide which test suits them
better. Decide which sections of that particular test need work. Then -
you can do some paid test prep to focus on that specific area.</p></li>
<li><p>The most important lesson of all - and the one that many wise posters
taught me last year - is to love your child unconditionally - despite the
occasional bad grade - despite their lack of interest in their college
process - despite their innate ability to push buttons. No college
admissions process is worth damaging the relationship you have with your
teenager. If you find yourself veering towards the deep end with stress
over the college process - take a deep breath and step back. The nest will
be empty soon enough.</p></li>
<li><p>Have your child pick a theme. This theme is their story. It should be
what makes them unique. The theme should play out in interviews, resumes,
and essays. It can be an after school activity, a charity, a learning
difference, or anything. It may sound odd, but it makes sense. You want a
story conveyed, that might resonate with admissions.</p></li>
<li><p>Pick two or three schools and market your child to these schools. It
is important to set your applicant apart. If these schools are a reach,
you need to put a name and story to your child. Don’t rely solely on SAT
and GPA numbers to sell your child. Demonstrated interest can be very
important. Colleges want to admit kids who are going to enroll. They want
high yields. We selected two schools that were reaches for my daughters.
We visited, met with admissions, followed up, and set our kids apart. The
results so far have been great. In one instance, my D1 personally
delivered her application and materials. She told the admissions rep she
flew there to hand it to her, because she wanted her to know how much she
wanted that school. It worked. Now we hope for one more good result for
D2.</p></li>
<li><p>ignore those around you who give you ‘the look’ or question, why that
school or comment I have never heard of it. be proud of the school. it
doesn’t have to be ivy league.</p></li>
<li><p>fit, fit, fit</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t second guess yourselves. No woulda, coulda, shoulda. Do your
research - make your decisions and choices - and live with the results.</p></li>
<li><p>Start taking the ACT early in your kid’s Junior year and take it
OFTEN! Many schools use a “superscore” which takes the highest score in
each category. Our kids did better each time they took it, confidence
comes with practicing a little every day (30 minutes) and focusing on one
subject each day. Most problems kids have is getting the section completed
in the time allotted and practicing with a kitchen/cell phone timer each
day teaches them to speed up the process.</p></li>
<li><p>Make sure it’s their voice that comes through in the essay. It’s fine
to have other people look it over to make sure it reads well and is
grammatically correct and without typos. But it has to be their essay and
don’t let anyone polish it too much.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Please do searches for relevant past posts on this website. It is better and more up-to-date than any book.</p>
<p>I’d like to second the recommendation above to take both the ACT and the SAT. The results are often very different.</p>
<p>There are many good suggestions above. Just don’t put too much reliance on the net price calculators - some of them aren’t very good. Generally, the more questions they ask, the more accurate the result.</p>
<p>I recommend starting your college visits with a large university and a small college close to home. That can help to narrow your interests before you spend money and time on trips to visit colleges that are further away. Try to plan ahead for the “open house” dates offered by most colleges - they are much more in-depth than the typical powerpt. and student tour, and may offer opportunities for sessions on your particular interests.</p>
<p>Start essays early, so there is time to think about them and revise them.</p>
<p>At many colleges, admissions is easier and financial aid is better for students who apply relatively early. That is particularly true for universities for rolling admissions. </p>
<p>I personally hate binding early decision processes. Early action is best for a student. </p>
<p>Try to apply to a couple colleges that are more likely to give an early admission decision - it greatly decreases the stress vs. waiting for late march to find out if you got into any college. </p>
<p>Be aware that at some selective private colleges that emphasize binding early decision, it is much harder to be admitted if you do not apply early decision. That factor made me recommend that my son not apply to some of those colleges, because it irritated me that they filled up half their class with kids who didn’t need to compare financial aid offers.</p>
<p>The only addition I have is to read “Paying for College without Going Broke”. Especially if your family owns a business.</p>
<p>Be aware of the difference between a FASFA school (only requires the Federal Financial Aid form) and the CSS/Profile schools (require additional information, generally private schools). Having this information in advance was helpful to our family.</p>
<p>I’ve looked at a lot of college admissions books and if you only had to get one I would go with the College Solution by Lynn O’Shaughnessy. She also has a blog. There are others that I liked Acceptance, CrazyU, and Colleges that Change lives. The thing I liked about the College Solution is that it starts with finances and then covers all the other aspects.</p>
<p>Find a safety–financial and academic U that is HIGHLY likely to admit your child, is affordable even if you get no FAid, and that your student will be HAPPY to attend. Have kiddo apply, preferably on rolling admissions, so s/he can have that in hand.</p>
<p>Once you find that, you and your child can build on that list. Your child’s HS Guidance Counselor may or may not be able to point you in the direction of Us that are likely to admit kids with grades & test scores similar to your child’s. S/he may also be able to point out Us likely to give merit awards to kids similar to your child.</p>
<p>Many folks find a financial safety by looking at in-state colleges & Us, as well as some that have cooperative agreements to charge reduced tuitions to neighboring residents. Agree with many of the points raised by other posters in this thread.</p>
<p>It is important for you to carefully examine your finances–resources and expenses, as well as whether there are other children to educate & all likely scenarios to figure out how much you & your family can realistically pay for college. For many folks, it is partly savings (if there is any), partly current earnings, and partly future earnings (via loans). Keep in mind tuitions and other costs tend to rise every year faster than inflation. Also keep in mind that quite a few kids may take > 4 years to graduate. </p>
<p>It is very sad but not uncommon that a student or family may have heart set on expensive U & then before starting or even after taking a year or two realize there aren’t enough resources to get degree & kiddo has to leave & figure out plan B, and/or graduate with huge debt but degree from much less expensive U.</p>
<p>Consider finances early, and know what you are getting yourself into. Some of the high end schools are around 60K, and many of them give no merit based aid. You need to figure out how much you are really willing to pay and how much you are willing to take on in debt for college. Figure out how much you are likely to get in financial aid, and factor that into the equation. Talk to your kid about these issues, unless they don’t exist for you.
My son decided not even to apply to his first choice school, because he would not have received any money and he would have had to take $80K in loans Fortunately, eventually he understood an undergrad education was not worth that kind of money. It’s certainly not all about money, but I think many of our high achieving children are learning some valuable lessons during this tough economic time.</p>
<p>I want to thank everyone that has given me plenty of information and a great starting place. I am feeling a bit better and will start with the resources indicated…websites and the other forum.</p>
<p>Start walking the dog. Or just start walking. There will be times you need to step back – might as well get in the habit of getting some air. </p>
<p>Also, invite the student to walk with you. Walking, side by side, is MUCH less dominant than being face to face across from the table – you can bring up your fears and talk about them and that will lead offspring to do some of the same. </p>
<p>I like pocket folders (like a file folder only with sealed side seams) – I did set my guys up with a pocket folder per considered college. Into the pocket folder went any forms, brochures, etc. On the outside we wrote things like:</p>
<p>SAT SCORES SENT:<br>
TEACHER REC:
DEPOSIT:
SAT II SCORES SENT:
PASSWORD: (often a student finds that they can be “SoccerGirl13” at the Happy College website but that will be taken at the next school where they have to be “SoccerMad” and so on).</p>
<p>Jolbecca,</p>
<p>My disorganized son was helped by this website and book:</p>
<p>[adMISSION</a> POSSIBLE The WEBSITE: Everything you need to know about finding, applying and getting into the best colleges for you.](<a href=“http://admissionpossible.com/]adMISSION”>http://admissionpossible.com/) </p>
<p>College Confidential was helpful to me!! These folks here are really, really helpful!</p>