Researching information about several colleges - advice needed!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hello everyone!</p>

<p>My name is Steve and I live in Baltimore, Maryland. My girlfriend, who currently lives in Illinois, is planning on coming here for college next year. Because she is extremely busy with other things, including school, she asked me to research the colleges in the area that would fit her needs. I, of course, said yes.</p>

<p>So, I started to compile a list of colleges based on distance from my home. I checked out the local papers, the telephone book, and a few websites with lists of colleges. I have a list of seventeen that are close by and in decent areas. I’ve crossed off a couple that are in or really close to bad neighborhoods, which was her request (and I feel better about that, anyway). </p>

<p>Now, on to the point of this post: I have not been to college in a few years, and even then, I was only there for one semester. I haven’t even considered college for myself in that same amount of time. Needless to say, I’m pretty rusty when it comes to finding out information that she would need to know about any prospective colleges. I’ve come up with some things that I asked a college faculty member over the phone yesterday from one school, but I can’t help but feel like there are things that I’m overlooking.</p>

<p>My girlfriend plans to be an English major; she wants to be an editor of some sort, to be exact. I say ‘of some sort’ because, as of yet, she isn’t sure exactly which path to pursue. I’ve based some of the questions around that fact, of course. </p>

<p>Here are the things that I’m currently planning to ask each college about:</p>

<p>Course Related:
- Do you have a program for English Majors? (Explain about editing plans)
- How strong is that course?
- How large is the average class size?
- What classes are required for </p>

<p>Campus:
- How many locations do you have?
- How large is the campus?
- How large is the student body?
- What sort of area is it in? Safety?</p>

<p>Price:
- What is the cost of yearly tuition? (Full time/part time)
- She will be coming from out of state, but living with me: does that affect costs?
- Average costs of books, etc?</p>

<p>Admissions:
- Pre-requisites? Extra-curricular activities, foreign languages, essays, etc?
- Cost to apply?
- SAT/ACT score requirements?
- Tour dates/open houses?
- Are online applications available?</p>

<p>Scholarships/Financial Aid:
- What do you offer in the way of scholarships?
- What extra can be done to help increase chances for receiving a scholarship?
- What forms are needed to apply for financial aid?
- When should they be filled out and filed?</p>

<p>I also realize that most of what I’m asking can be found out about on their websites, but I would prefer to talk to a person about them. Would it just be easier in the long run to just do the research via the web, or would talking to someone at the college provide me with some information not available elsewhere?</p>

<p>That’s everything that I’m asking about. I still think there are things that I am missing, so any help, advice, additions, changes, etc that can be provided by those with more experience would be greatly appreciated. </p>

<p>If necessary, I can also include the list of colleges that I am planning on calling/researching.</p>

<p>Thank you in advance for any help provided,
Steve</p>

2

<p>Goucher, U Maryland Baltimore County, U Maryland College Park, Johns Hopkins</p>

3

<p>Well, I strongly encourage you to spend at least a little time answering some of those questions. I know you prefer to talk to a person, but it is not a good use of your time, or theirs, if you spend the conversation asking about really basic items that you or anyone could have readily looked up. Especially at some of those bigger campuses–think of their prospect pools, and the work involved if every one of those people wanted to call to find out if there was an English major offered or not and how many students attended. It also doesn’t make you look good–even though I realize you are not the candidate for admission. Nor would I be pleased (as an admissions counselor) to know that your girlfriend had farmed out the work to you, and that everything we talked about would be passed on to her secondhand. If I’m going to spend time answering questions, I’d prefer to talk to the candidate myself.</p>

<p>I urge you to do a little more homework now, and then present the information and options to your girlfriend. Find out what SHE wants to know, given the facts presented. For example, maybe one of the schools has both an English and a communications program, and she wonders which would be better for her career aspirations. And then encourage HER to pursue those questions.</p>

4

<p>Well, that really makes sense. That’s what I’ll do then. Thanks for the advice. :)</p>

5

<p>[College</a> Search - Johns Hopkins University - Hopkins - At a Glance](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>

<p>You can look up a lot of the information at one time on the College Board site above. I linked you to the one for Johns Hopkins just as an example. You can also buy or check out of the library one of the college directories such as Fiske which has basic information for many colleges. You can also fill out an online request for information for each school and be deluged with brochures and viewbooks. </p>

<p>I was doing similar research last year for my daughter. After I made a preliminary list of schools she talked to people she knew and her school counselor and starting doing her own research. Her list of schools to apply to now looks a lot different from the initial one I did but at least it got her started. So I think your efforts will be useful in the long run. I hope it all works out for both of you.</p>

6

<p>Wow! Thank you so much for that link! That takes care of the majority of my questions! :smiley: The rest I can get from their websites. </p>

<p>Again, thank you very much!</p>

7

<p>Here are some questions for you about your girlfriend: What are her SAT scores on a 1600 and 2400 scale? What courses has she taken? What is her class rank/gpa? Does she want to live on campus? What financial constraints, desires does she have? What is her financial situation? Will she qualify for financial aid, will her parents contribute? </p>

<p>Though you can advise her, the college search is a personal thing that she is going to have to do. Only she can do the most important things which are interfacing with her school and the colleges and her parents if they are involved in the process. Basically state schools in MD are expensive for out of staters. If she has high stats, she would be in the running for merit money at them. UMD at college Park has awards pretty much based on SAT and gpa. UMBC does have awards as well. Private schools like JHU, Goucher, Loyola are charging close to the $50K mark, but she may be eligible for financial aid and merit money at those schools. But she would have to do the pursuing of those monies. Depending on her profile, any of the schools in the Balto area would be good choices for her. Some personal favorites are Towson U and UMBC for state schools. JHU is top drawer but difficult entry requirements and very expensive, and a rigorous school.</p>