I’d love some help crowdsourcing a list of FAQs that students and families have when applying to college. In your experience, what are some of questions that people ask when applying to college, researching schools, or choosing between their options?
Thank you!
Common questions I hear:
How do I start making my college list?
What is a safety school?
How do I find merit scholarships?
Is it advantageous to apply ED?
Can you still get merit if you apply ED?
Can you apply to other schools in EA/RD if you are also applying ED?
Should I take the SAT/ACT even though most schools are test-optional?
Will attending a summer program at a college increase admissions chances at that college?
What if I don’t have 10 different activities to put on Common App?
How much do AP scores matter?
How much do essays matter?
How much do extracurriculars matter?
How much do recommendations matter?
Spent the last year helping a friend with their (then HS Junior) student with questions. So much had changed in the almost 4 decades since they had been to HS or college, that they felt lost - never having heard many of today’s considerations/factors.
Answer: it has assured admission (including to major if it admits by major), assured affordability, and is otherwise suitable (appropriate majors and courses of interest, etc.).
In general, weighted GPA from the high school is only useful within the high school, since other high schools and colleges are likely to have their own weighted GPA calculations.
Note that something similar can apply to all kinds of classes, not just AP (or other advanced level courses like IB HL) classes. For example, skipping physics, precalculus, or higher levels of foreign language may result in needing to take additional courses in college that might have been avoidable if they were taken in high school.
I think letting students/families know about the Common Data Set would be helpful. That is something I learned about here on CC.
Questions like these might elicit the CDS in an answer:
How much does the essay matter?
Does demonstrated interest count?
What is the average ACT for admitted students?
Etc etc
Factoring in the program you’re applying into when putting together your college list (a college may look like a safety or target but the program you’re applying to is a reach).
Applying to a State School from OOS - with certain states putting limiters on the % OOS kids they accept - again, the school might look like a safety or target but because of being OOS it’s a reach.
In addition to considering the program or in-state / out-of-state for state schools, also consider that if a large-enough merit scholarship is necessary to afford the school, the reach/match/likely/safety estimate must be based on the scholarship, not admission.
Affordability always a principal consideration but not sure how you can put Merit Scholarship consideration ahead of Admission. Some schools are generous and some are stingy but you don’t know how that’s going to apply to the student until after they’re admitted.
Probably the appropriate question for this thread is:
What is a Net Price Calculator (NPC) and how does it apply to me?
At least that would give a non-merit included view of cost.
Because of the lesser transparency around competitive merit scholarships, they (at least big ones) should generally be considered reaches, even if admission to the school is match, likely, or safety.
Does it really matter to apply EA (non-binding) vs RD?
Thank you to all! We have a solid list so far. Anyone have anything else to add?
What are “hooks?”
How much money can I get in loans? (They don’t ask, but they should!)
I want to go to med school. What should I be thinking about when searching for a college?
I want to go to law school. What should I be thinking about when searching for a college?
I want to go into CS. What should I be thinking about when searching for a college?
I want to go into engineering. What should I be thinking about when searching for a college?
Does demonstrating interest matter…and if so…how to do it!
I would add something that lists which schools have their own applications separate from Common App or Coalition App. Some students use the separate applications to apply to more schools than the Common App allows. Others don’t realize than the UC application is a separate beast of its own.
Along with directing applicants to NPC and CDS, I think it is important for students to know that each school posts their Estimated Cost of Attendance.
Along these lines, many ask if they need to take the test at all. Does taking the course show rigor by itself or do colleges expect (or want) to see test scores?
Also, can you apply to other EA schools if you are applying SCEA/REA? For the most part, the answer is “no.” However some schools have exceptions saying that you can apply to another school EA if it is non binding and you need to do so in order to be considered for a scholarship (ex. USC).
This is a big one. Many students don’t realize there is a limit.
Common question: My parents won’t share their financial information. How do I know if a school is affordable?
This is important, especially for majors like CS, engineering and nursing.
Tried to read the above and not be redundant but sorry if I missed one…
What are ED, ED2, EA, SCEA, REA and RD and what is the difference between each?
Does it matter if I apply with the Common App or Coalition App if I have a choice? What’s the difference?
If I got an AP Scholar or Scholar with Distinction award, should I include that in my application – will it help?
If a college sends me emails encouraging me to apply, does that mean I’ll probably get accepted if I do?
[and: But what if the email seemed really personalized to me/my student?]
How do I know if I will be able to afford a school (before I bother applying)?
Is a school is test score optional, do they really mean it (i.e. will it really not hurt me to not send them), and how do I decide if I should send scores or not?
How do I know if a college is a safety, likely, match or reach for me?
Do colleges prefer the SAT or ACT?
If it important to tour or do info sessions for colleges I may apply to or does it not matter for admission?
[variation of the demonstrated interest question but some people may not recognize that demonstrated interest is related to their question]
If a college says additional information (extra questions, video submissions, etc.) is optional, is it really or should I always do it?
Why do some people posting here seem to have impossibly high GPAs – how can I compete with that? [every school calculates weighted GPAs differently]
If my GPA and test scores are below average for a college, is it still worth applying?
If I know someone with lower stats than me that got into a school, does that mean I probably will to?
How does a college know if I am taking the most rigorous classes at my school?
I can’t afford the submission fees for applications, is there a way to apply free?
Is it more important for me to get an A or to take the hardest class even if it may lower my GPA?
[If I have to chose between risking a B in the hardest class or am confident I can get an A in the next level down, which is better for my applications?]
Should I explain why my GPA isn’t higher in my college essay?
Should I talk about my [ADHD, Anxiety, OCD, etc.] in my essay?
Interesting, I never noticed before that this forums automatically striped out any text done inside of brackets. I explained or provided extra questions and context in brackets in my above post and all that is missing. I’ve been on here for years and never noticed it before. Good to know, to avoid lost information…
EDIT: It didn’t just delete the text inside the brackets, it deleted the entire paragraphs that the brackets were in – so entire questions are missing because I used brackets to list subsets of information.
What exactly did you do? [text]?
Exactly like you did with the word text in brackets. Which I can see in the email notification I received. But on my iPhone what shows up on the actual CC website is:
“ What exactly did you do? ?”
So it striped your brackets out too. At least on the mobile version. Mystery deepens.