Help Me Help Kids at my HS!

Applying to College
1

<p>Greetings all,</p>

<p>Recently, I volunteered to give a powerpoint presentation to my former HS's current senior class on how to apply to college. Many of them have not begun to look at the process, and so this is intended to be kind of a beginner's guide to applying.</p>

<p>As I said, it will be a powerpoint that I give. The following is what I've come up with as a rough outline. Before I go making the final powerpoint, I wondered if you in the CC forums might look through and see if there's something I should add/subtract. Obviously, the powerpoint won't be so wordy, and rather have main points while most of the wordiness is me talking.</p>

<p>On behalf of the 600+ seniors at my former HS, and me, thank you so much for your help!</p>

<p>
[quote]

How to Apply to College</p>

<p>What this is not:</p>

<p>-Tricks to work the process, to guarantee you admission anywhere, things that try to “work” the system. There are lots of books on the subject, if you want them.</p>

<p>What this is:</p>

<p>-Helpful hints, general guidelines</p>

<pre><code>-Applying for beginners, first-timers.
</code></pre>

<p>Find some colleges</p>

<pre><code>-Narrow it down, 3-6 is a good ballpark figure
</code></pre>

<p>-Find out what you want in a school. Big? Small? Math and Sciences? Liberal Arts? Both? Sports? Urban? Rural? </p>

<p>-Collegeboard.com (for students) Home > Find a College > College Search > Matchmaker
College</a> MatchMaker - Type of School</p>

<p>Choose your colleges:</p>

<pre><code>-DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

-The college website: your one-stop shop.
Osu.edu
muohio.edu
Wright.edu
</code></pre>

<p>Things to look for: Future Students, contact, FAQs, contact, Majors/Academics, contact info… Did I mention contact info? Any question you have, the colleges will LOVE to answer. E-mails are easy, be polite and concise, and they’ll usually get back to you in a day or two.</p>

<p>Some general tips for choosing application colleges:</p>

<p>-3-6 is a great range for most students. Why waste your time and money on 10 applications? Why put all of your hopes and efforts into only 1 application?</p>

<p>-Rule of thumb: 1-2 “reach”, 1-3 “match”, 1-2 “safety”</p>

<p>-Reach = I don’t know if I’ll get in. Match = I should get in. Safety = I’m in.</p>

<p>-My college applications: 2 Reach (MIT, Olin) 3 Match (Rose, Purdue, U. Illinois), 2 Safety (Wright State, OSU)</p>

<p>NOTE: OSU is getting less and less “safety” every year.</p>

<p>NOTE: Just because something is a “reach” doesn’t mean it’s “better” than a safety. Case in point: Schools that accepted me: all but Olin. School I selected: OSU. More on that later.</p>

<p>Alright, you’ve chosen. Now what?</p>

<p>-Make sure you fulfill all requirements for that college. (Foreign Language? Subject SATS? Etc.)</p>

<p>-Plan! Schedule!</p>

<p>-KNOW your deadlines. Different schools, different admissions deadlines, different SCHOLARSHIP deadlines. A lot to keep track of (another good reason not to apply to too many)
Planning your Applying</p>

<p>-Find the time. I was NHS, French, Foreign Films, Marching Band, this, that, the other… So I scheduled my applications (including essays and recommendations!) to be just a couple per month. I organized the colleges by deadlines, prioritized, and then applied.</p>

<p>-EXAMPLE schedule</p>

<p>-Stick to your schedule! Helps getting it done, getting essays written, staying sane, and…</p>

<p>Letters of Recommendation</p>

<p>-Some colleges require Letters of Recommendation.</p>

<p>-Get them in early! Teachers don’t like to be rushed, and they’re busy too! Counselor, also.</p>

<p>-Provide them with info about you, what you need, an envelope is also a nice touch</p>

<p>-Periodically check in with them; don’t hound them, but everyone likes the occasional reminder</p>

<p>Apply!</p>

<p>-Finally! Yey! Fill out those applications!</p>

<p>-STOP- READ DIRECTIONS. I cannot stress this enough. READ. THE. DIRECTIONS.</p>

<p>-Many colleges enjoy online applications. They’re easy, safe, convenient, so go for it! If prefer mail, that’s fine too, print out the application and fill out the paperwork.</p>

<p>BHS Counseling Office</p>

<p>-The college will want transcripts and maybe a counselor recommendation. Counselor will walk you through that process.</p>

<p>-It’s OK to not send your stuff in all at once! For example, do the electronic application, submit it, then transcripts/recommendations/extra application stuff may be mailed in later. But it ALL must be in before the college’s deadline!</p>

<p>-For your convenience, school will mail out ALL the paper stuff you have; recommendations, paper applications, whatever. Just put it all in the envelope and the Guidance Office will make sure it all gets sent out together.</p>

<p>You’ve applied! Congrats!</p>

<p>-Now sit back and relax, right? Ah, if only…</p>

<p>Scholarships. Aka how to not make your parents poor.</p>

<p>-There are scholarships all around you, waiting to be found.</p>

<p>-It IS hard to get them though, so…</p>

<p>-Apply to as many as possible! The more, the merrier.</p>

<p>-Make a schedule, stick to it.</p>

<p>-As the year goes, always be on the prowl for more... fastweb.com, local scholarships, counseling office website, your college, local philanthropic foundations, corporate companies, your employer, your parents’ employer…</p>

<p>OPEN UP FOR QUESTIONS FROM AUDIENCE</p>

<p>One Final, All-Important, Super-Critical Thing:</p>

<p>-Breathe. Don’t stress yourself to death. It will all be ok. You will be alright, you’ve got family and friends and faculty who are all here to help you succeed.</p>

<p>-You’ll find your college. It may even be the one you least expect. But when it fits, it’ll fit.</p>

<p>Some resources:</p>

<p>-Contact info: Counseling Office, my e-mail address</p>

<p>-Great websites: talk.collegeconfidential.com, princetonreview.com, college websites, collegeboard.com, fastweb.com,

[/quote]
</p>

2

<p>Overall it's good.
What needs to be added is more information about finances.
Very important for students to pin down their parents to how much their parents are willing to pay each year for the students' college.</p>

<p>Based on that, safety must be a school the student would like to go to, knows they'll be accepted to, and definitely can afford.</p>

<p>Scholarship info: Students need to know that while many schools give need-based aid, the schools, not the student, determine what one's financial need is. More than likely, one will get less than one family would like. Many colleges also gap aid, giving students less aid than their EFC.</p>

<p>Also provide info about loans, and let them know that if they get solicited to pay money to find out what scholarships they qualify for, they shouldn't do that. It's a waste of money. The GC office and the web sites of colleges they're applying to are their best sources of scholarship info. </p>

<p>Tell them too about the importance of parents filing taxes in Jan. so that they can fill out financial aid forms in time.</p>

<p>I also suggest that you make a one-page overview of main points and resources, and ask your school to make copies for all of the students at the assembly.</p>

<p>Remember, too, to add this to your resume and to your college apps, as what you're doing is very impressive. :)</p>

3

<p>My only quibble is with the idea that 1-3 reaches is enough, although perhaps it is for most students. I would want to add a caveat that if you're looking at highly selective colleges you may need to consider more reaches.</p>

4

<p>I think that's a great presentation - very informative. However, I think it should change to something like 4-7 schools. I mean, last year's class was very competitive, and this year's class is supposed to be the most competitive in history. There were outstanding students last year who did not get into top schools (I know one boy who applied to mostly all the ivy leagues and some pretty top schools as back ups, and only got into one school that was a safety and not a top choice). I think you should stress the competitiveness in the beginning, and how kids should apply to reasonable schools. By this I mean they should look at schools with statistics that match theirs, if looking at a match school, and stats that are slightly below theirs if looking at a safety. For a reach, it should not be unreasonably high. Everywhere kids hear this year to be the most competitive and will be apprehensive, and if you mention that you will give them pointers to apply to the right colleges, they will see success. Sorry if you were already going to say that :). I think that's a great outline!</p>

5

<p>Looks great! I think the part on match should emphasize that even though their stats make a school look like a match, if the school has a low admits rate than it's a reach.</p>

6

<p>There is a book I like to recommend called "Admission Matters". They have the 1st chapter posted for free online (<a href="http://tinyurl.com/dg9nd%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://tinyurl.com/dg9nd&lt;/a&gt;) and I suggest you read thru it; I think you can find some ideas that you can incorporate into your talk.</p>

<p>What I don't see listed in your talk, and to me a very important point talking to HS seniors, is to get across the idea that they CAN get into colleges. I know kids that are discouraged by the headlines about how competitive it has become, and you see plenty of posts here on this site echoing the same theme -- the "Can I even get into college?" posts. Yet as the excerpt above points out
[quote]
Most people are surprised to learn that with relatively few exceptions, four-year colleges in the United States still accept most, if not all, of their applicants. each year many fully accredited four-year colleges have vacancies well into the summer for their freshman class that begins in the fall. Despite all the social and demographic changes we have just considered, there are still ample spots for prospective freshmen in four-year colleges.

[/quote]
</p>

7

<p>3-6? you serious?</p>

8

<p>You might want to address the issue of those looking at performing arts careers. It's an area that many gc's know nothing about, and a number of the standard criteria for those applying to conservatory, conservatory level programs have reduced or no meaning in terms of admissions. </p>

<p>Many of the top programs are auditioned based, and are driven by level of talent. Grades and SAT scores, EC's have limited bearing, and are very institution specific as to how they are considered.</p>

<p>Local resources (even in areas with great music programs are lacking). If nothing else, please mention to the parents and kids to rely on recommendations from performing arts faculty, private instructors than blindly following gc advice. There are many excellent resources on the web, including state music teachers associations, national professional associations, instrument specific/performance type forums, and CC's own excellent music major forum. It's not a dig against gc's, but it's a small area and the gc's just don't have the background or resources to have even a basic knowledge of the ins and outs of performing arts admissions.</p>

<p>BassDad's excellent post here <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-family-s-experience.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/258796-so-you-want-music-major-one-family-s-experience.html&lt;/a> is an excellent overview worth purusing, either in preparation for your presentation for info, or as a potential link to a "where do I begin" question.</p>

<p>Trust me, as the non-musical parent of a recently degreed and actively performing professional, there are more of us out there that ha(d)ve no clue.</p>

9

<p>Thank you all for the input!</p>

<p>It looks like general consensus is that kids should be applying to a lot more colleges than I originally thought neccessary... Would 3-7 sound like a better range? I thought I applied to too many, personally, and I hit 7. If you have an idea of what college you want, and you've got a solid number of matches and safeties, and a few reaches, I think more than 7 seems excessive.</p>

<p>The financial aid stuff is a great suggestion, I'll definitely touch on that a little more. That is absolutely correct that you should consider cost a bit while applying, and that there's a lot of financial aid stuff the colleges will need on deadline as well.</p>

<p>Violadad, sadly I know next to nothing about the arts-oriented admissions process, but it is definitely worth touching upon. I think I'll mention that it's very different, very intense, and at least be able to direct them to the school's music teachers for further advice (I know my Band director has all kinds of stories about what it's like to get into a competitive performance arts school).</p>

<p>Like I said, great feedback, thank you very much!</p>