My S is a junior and we are just starting to seriously research the college admissions process, with much help from the experts in CC forums, of course! But I am wondering if veterans of the process can suggest favorite books, blogs, articles (or even threads here) on things like choosing colleges, financial aid, sports recruiting, merit aid, etc. There is such a wealth of info out there, it’s hard to know where to start.
It kind of depends upon whether your son intends to apply to highly selective colleges or your in-state flagship but I’v done a lot of research and here are some suggestions:
Books - “A is for Admission” by Michele Hernandez, “Admission Matters” by Sally Springer, “Conquering the College Admissions Essay in 10 Steps” by Alan Gelb, “On Writing the College Admissions Essay” by Harry Bauld, “The Gatekeepers” by Jacques Steinberg.
Websites - Parchment.com, meritaid.com, ■■■■■■■■■. Podcasts - Getting In: Your College Admissions Companion, Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, The College Prep
Podcasts: The College Checklist Podcast.
The New York TImes also had a series called “The Choice” which was very well done several years ago
It is hard to find clear, up to date information on how financial aid works
I’ve written a book myself. PM me if you would like a copy
Thanks for all these great suggestions! I knew about a few of the books but the others are all new to me.
We are in the process of trying to see what our options are. He got a 34 ACT, good-ish GPA and competitive in a sport so we were planning to focus on pretty selective colleges – but after some initial research realized that we are in a complicated situation where we are probably eligible for no financial aid but do not have the finances to cover private college costs. So…I feel like we are starting from scratch.
Definitely look at the NY Times “The Choice”… also Fiske’s Guides to Colleges
@youngbeck Gatekeepers by Steinberg, as @Wje9164be mentioned, is one of my favorites and one I frequently recommend to parents. Notably, I’ve found that it doesn’t help prospies very much outside of sating their basic curiosities.
youngbeck- start here
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html#latest
Then head over to the Financial Aid/ Scholarship forum. And re-post what you said in#2. There are lots of parents there that can steer you to colleges that will PAY your DS to go to college.
youngbeck-
here is another CC compiled list of colleges that offer full tuition scholarships for hi ACT scores
For dealing with the financial issues of college (merit, fin aid etc) the book “The College Solution” and website is the best. We used her information and it saved us a ton of money by having a smart college list for my children to apply to.
For learning all kinds of things about each college, I love the website www.college data.com. It does an excellent job of summarizing common data sets.
Good info on sports recruiting can be found at the website,http://diycollegerankings.com
For books I like www.college admission book.com. You can get exact title from their website which is also good. I also like “Admission Possible” and the website by the same name www.admission possible.com. Great forms and checklists to use. I also like “Essay Hell” (Google to find website).
Finally it is the time of year for the National College Fair, be sure to check if it will be in your community. Also summer is when “Colleges that Change Lives” has their fair www.ctcl.org
A 34 ACT is outstanding. If your sons unweighted GPA is high enough he may qualify for merit aid at a number of colleges. Kenyon, GWU, and Case Western are all very generous. It is not uncommon for colleges to offer $25k or more for students like your son but he needs to apply to colleges that award a lot of merit aid. Depending on how high his GPA is and the caliber of his ECs he might get accepted at an Ivy League or tippy top liberal arts college. Financial aid at colleges like Harvard is extremely generous even for families with incomes well above $100k/year
I second …
- The Gatekeepers for perspective on the idiosyncrasies of selective college admissions. (Agree more for parents - my kid wasn't interested.)
- collegedata.com for raw data you can use to help sift once you know where you're looking.
- ctcl.org for some great suggestions about less fraught schools with generally good merit.
Also would add, for dos an don’ts for putting the actual application together,
- How to Prepare a Standout College Application (Chisholm/Ivey). My kid didn't read that, either, but some of the information informed the advice I gave him.
These are really great resources. There are so many books and sites out there that it is extremely helpful to narrow them down! Putting these on our family reading list ASAP.
@Wje9164be mentioned Parchment – is that worthwhile? I came across it and couldn’t figure out if it had value.
And @itsv thanks on the college rankings link – not sure if he will end up having much luck with recruiting but we are hearing from some coaches so I’d like to understand how it all works. Thanks!
As for our specific situation – we moved and have a house we are renting out (and can’t sell anytime soon) and I only recently understood the value of that house will probably make us ineligible for financial aid even though our income is not high. So I am definitely soaking up the wisdom of CC in terms of merit aid schools. We are in California so we’re hoping the UCs come through for us but these boards suggest one should not consider them a sure thing. And my son has his heart set on a major city so we are focused on NY/Boston/LA/SF/Portland at the moment. There are options but…seemingly not as many as I had hoped with 34 ACT! (His GPA is not as high, 3.76 UW)
Parchment can help give someone some idea of their admission chances at various colleges. It is one way to figure out safety, target, and reach colleges