<p>Going through the roller coaster ride with your senior: school stuff, applying for tests, Common App, financial aid and the stressful thin/fat letter in the mail expectancy: what did you learn and would do differently - having gone through it.</p>
<p>The girls and I just had this conversation. Without a doubt, they would have began college visits much sooner…</p>
<p>Son would have assumed rejection from ED and gotten busy on all the other applications. Trying to complete when disappointed from rejection is not the easiest PLUS it really puts a cramp in your holidays.</p>
<p>we would have visited colleges in the summer prior to senior year and would have applied to some of the schools in their non-restricted early decisions</p>
<p>Applying ED2 is tough because you essentially HAVE to send other applications out as a back up (which can be an expensive safety net) where it would seem ED1 gives you the time to scramble for most Jan 1st deadlines if necessary.</p>
<p>Being as this is our second time through this process, we corrected all the mistakes we made previously. Biggest improvement this time around–emphasized safeties, both financial and otherwise, early on and D followed counsel to NOT fall in love with a school before it said YES.</p>
<p>It still didn’t prevent some tears on rejections, it certainly could have been worse.</p>
<p>We didn’t realize that some of the schools on D’s list did not offer merit aid, which was really important for us. We could have saved the time and cost associated with applying to those schools.</p>
<p>I know my parents and I would have looked more closely at the financial aid process. We over-estimated the amount of aid I would receive, and didn’t really investigate the fact that public universities tend to give aid (especially scholarship) preferences to in-state students. I applied to 11 schools overall, and only 2 were in-state; got into 9 and was waitlisted at 2, but $ ended up playing a bigger role than we initially thought. So I would say look at the aid options, maybe apply to a few more “safeties” and “matches” so as to increase your chances for scholarship money/honors programs, and just be open-minded until you have all options on the table.</p>
<p>Also, apply for as many outside scholarships as possible. I applied for about 40, and ended up winning enough to cover almost my entire first year at UCLA (room & board, tuition, etc).</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>PS- I also under-estimated the level of competition for merit scholarships; I was lucky enough to get one to UCLA, but a few others that I thought I would receive from other universities never materialized. For example, ironically I would receive an academic scholarship from UCLA, Oregon and Wisconsin, but not from the University of Washington, Michigan or Boston College; so never bank on the idea that receiving a certain amount of aid or merit $ from one means that you will receive a similar package at another.</p>
<p>Allow more time for each individual institution’s merit aid-competitive scholarship application processes. It was more time consuming than the admissions application process at many colleges and universities. It was more than worth it, just involved many more hours than we realized.</p>
<p>Be more considerate of individual personalities and how they react to things.</p>
<p>My son wanted to minimize the number of colleges he applied to and minimize the amount of time spent thinking and talking about the process. After he was accepted, he still didn’t want to think about college except when absolutely necessary. I tried to encourage him to do more. All this did was to worsen the relationship between us. In some way that I didn’t understand, he was having difficulty processing this change in his life and needed to do it on his own. I should have let him.</p>
<p>Ironically, as soon as he got to college, he absolutely loved it.</p>
<p>With my next D, I will make sure that her college essays are done in August (providing that the colleges have their application available). D’s schools had most of the applications up during August but put off doing essays until September. Not a good idea, that’s when she was back at school, juggling coursework and ECs. It was a constant struggle as I wanted her to apply no later than the first week of October (one school had first decision application deadline of Otober 10th, the second date was in February). She was able to apply to all of her schools by October 3rd, that’s where the helicoptering came in, and I’d hover over again if I had to. When she started receiving acceptances by the end of October (and her friends hadn’t even put together a list of schools) she knew she was ahead of the game. It was just a tough start.</p>
<p>Again, visit early and APPLY EARLY! I don’t think D would have been accepted to some schools if she waited until Thanksgiving to apply.</p>
<p>agree with Jerseyshoremom… get the essays done early. If you are taking a heavy courseload, participate in sports and/or other ec’s, it is very hard to find free time for those essays. If you can get your kids to do them in the summer it will save a lot of frustration and stress 1st semester senior year.</p>
<ol>
<li>Finish all SAT testing in Junior year if at all possible</li>
<li>Have at least one rolling admissions school where you’ll be happy to go on your list, and apply there early</li>
<li>Visit colleges in junior year (spring break is a good time, as colleges will usually have their break on a different week from your HS)</li>
<li>Make sure the essays have time to “mature”, and are not written an hour before the deadline.</li>
</ol>
<p>^^ nngmm basically summarizes all of the important stuff, but I would add this:</p>
<ol>
<li>Apply to scholarships every waking minute. It pays off.</li>
</ol>
<p>I have been the parent of a graduating senior five times now. And have been on this board since almost its start!</p>
<p>I cannot emphasize enough the usefulness and productivity gained by utilizing this board and I mean all of the boards. The sticky’s in the financial aid forum should be read over and over. That way there would be few surprises when financial aid packets are out. Same is true with merit, outside scholies, the FASA, the CSS profile and preparing for out of pocket expenses.</p>
<p>Of course asking a gazillion questions won’t hurt either! Some of us have been here for 7+ years, now I really feel old!!</p>
<p>So if there are parents new to the boards, new to the search and new this thread please really squeak everything you can out of it. The long-time and knowledgeable posters on the financial aid forum are a boon of information. Same is true for many that post regularly to individual colleges.</p>
<p>Of course there is always the private message feature to those knowledgeable posters if one is hesitant to discuss on the threads. </p>
<p>The merit aid threads are also extremely valuable as is the search feature. But far more important is the actual experiences of others that have gone through this recently. So don’t be shy about asking questions and definitely asking others for help.</p>
<p>Kinda how we want our soon-to-be college students to access their profs for office hours, over and over and over…</p>
<p>Again this board has been supportive to myself and my children’s undergrad and grad process for MANY years now. And knock on wood, a successful process in a scope that I had never anticipated. I hope I can give back a fraction of what we have gained!</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>marian: “Be more considerate of individual personalities and how they react to things.
My son wanted to minimize the number of colleges he applied to and minimize the amount of time spent thinking and talking about the process.”</p>
<p>This describes my son too. My son did not even let me read his essays. I personally think colleges put too much stress on essays.</p>
<p>On the reverse of some of the suggestions already written - </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Don’t visit a school or even apply just because they are offering a full ride if your student has absolutely no interest in attending - it is a waste of time.</p></li>
<li><p>DO apply for all merit scholarships, even if you are doing so at a top school. D was busy with h.s., etc. and we just assumed she wouldn’t get one. When the stats came out on CC of students who HAD received them, made me think we had been wrong in not having her apply. You never know - so apply, apply for scholarships.</p></li>
<li><p>Stay out of the decision making process as much as possible. Parents have to be involved if $$$ is a big factor, but it is your student who has to attend the school. Try to avoid saying, “I just loved so and so school”, etc. If you have a sensitive child (as we do) they take those statements to heart.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Ellemenope, same here. It was mostly easier this time around and we did correct some of the mistakes of the last go round. With a lot of parental guidance, D made sure she found schools that felt right, spanned the spectrum of selectivity, awarded decent financial aid, and fit her other criteria. She did a lot more interviewing than the first child, in part because of the schools she’d chosen. These were truly helpful, moving some schools up on her list and taking a few off entirely.</p>
<p>The one thing we didn’t do as well was to visit early and showing continued interest at the schools she wanted. Where she did do this, she has been successful. Where she didn’t, less so. </p>
<p>I also second those who recommend getting testing done early. I think taking the SAT at the early part of the junior year is a good idea. In that way, the calendar is clearer for all the AP exams and SAT IIs (if necessary) at the end of the year. My kid could not apply ED for the school she thought she wanted because she had not completed SAT II testing until too late in her senior year. That ended up working out well for her but it is definitely something to consider.</p>
<p>Don’t be tempted to apply to ten(or 15) schools just because everybody else is. After all the research, when you and you child have narrowed it down to the ones they would truly want to go to, trust your judgement. You have the safeties, matches and reaches. Stop looking at all the mailings that will still be coming and thinking, maybe here?</p>
<p>And everything you have all said.</p>
<p>Biggest lesson learned, base app process on the individual kid. S1 was very self-sufficient, had plan, organized apps, timeline, etc. I pretty much just coordinated the travel.</p>
<p>S2, serious procrastinator. We agreed at end of jr year that he would begin app process over summer when apps first available. While he was away at music camp, I downloaded all available apps and had them on his desk when he returned. He saw that one basic essay would likely work for all, so process was not a painful as he expected. All apps in by mid Sept. Very pleasant, stress-free experience, but only because we agreed on terms in advance.</p>