The admissions landscape has changed so much over the past decades that most parents who are now starting in the college application process would find it rather foreign. The following book, in my opinion, is a good introduction to the whole gamut of the application process: “College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step,” by Robin Mamlet and Christine Vandevelde. Keep in mind, though, that things do continuously change in the admissions landscape, so being vigilant about what’s current is of utmost importance. CC is a great place to join for that reason alone.
Unless your kids are prospective athletes for college recruitment, you aren’t going to see any colleges being interested in your kids enough to reach out, other than some junk mail. You’d have to do all the work, in other words. Many parents hire a college consultant if they don’t want to deal with the daunting task that includes the issues of how to finance the cost of college attendance. I was a stay-home dad, so I did all the work.
One thing that I consider most important in the admissions journey is knowing where your child’s academic and extracurricular activities and interests stand, as well as propensities, preferences, etc. that all amount to “fit.” The task of the parent is to be a “match-maker” between the child and the college (AND your ability to finance the child’s education).
It is very important to discuss what your financial limits are with your child before the application process gets started, so that there’s no potential conflicts, disappointments, misunderstandings and disillusionment down the road. It’s a terrible situation to be in for the child to learn that he/she has been admitted to the dream college only to realize that the parents can’t (or won’t) afford the cost.
In the college selection process, it’s all about the filtering process given the criteria of the aforementioned “fit” factor. One of the most important criteria for us, for example, was the undergrad-focused college environment, so we searched for those colleges based on teacher-to-student ratio, undergrad vs. grad student population, pedagogical philosophy, endowment per student, TA vs. faculty taught, etc. We then narrowed down to those colleges that were good matches, too, based on my child’s GPA, SAT/ACT scores.
Since my child was also a musician who was very interested in continuing to pursue music in college, that also became one of the criteria in the filtering process, i.e., colleges with orchestra and other ensemble, concert venue, performance faculty and other programs and resources.
Other criteria were geographic location, crime, campus political environment, dormitories, clubs, social scenes, etc.
After the filtering process, it’s critical to come up with a list of reach, match and safety colleges. What we’d have considered “safety” a couple of decades ago may no longer be “safety,” however. Likewise with “match,” so consider them very carefully.
Visit as many colleges on the list as you can since getting that “feel” is also very important and can play a critical role in one’s decision making. Should any representatives from these colleges happen to visit your area, be sure to attend the presentations and ask questions. Be fully aware, too, that you may end up a CC-addict like so many parents have, including myself. Pretty soon, we’ll be talking about our grandkids’ college admissions processes.
