<p>I'll add: The Gatekeepers, Jacques Steinberg; Admission Matters-Marion R. Franck; Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions, Sally Rubenstone</p>
<p>and I'll second: Letting Go and Paying for College Without Going Broke</p>
<p>Not a book, but another tool I found helpful was the Hedberg college map</p>
<p>Both my son and I found it useful for visually seeing where a college was located and for finding colleges we weren't familiar with in certain geographic areas he was interested in. He used it to rule out colleges in major cities but someone else could use it the opposite way. It answers the oft asked question "what colleges are near the beach" and other concerns such as "is it driving distance or does it require a plane ticket".</p>
<p>For sheer comic relief (especially if you have a son) - Accept My Kid, Please!</p>
<p>After a while, you really need to laugh.</p>
<p>If that's the one I bought at Barnes and Noble that is a great map. I loved that map. It really helped overall trip planning when you were traveling by truck (or auto for you slickers ;)). Really does a great job relating what's nearby a college you plan to visit. For example, when we went to visit Hamilton (flying in to Syracuse), Colgate and Skidmore were gimmees . Zip - for a Texan used to long distances - Middlebury was quite doable. I don't think we would have automatically known that.</p>
<p>Does anyone have that link to endowments per student? I tried but couldn't come up with it; it may have been a post within a thread.</p>
<p>Endowments per student relates in an oblique way to financial aid, I think but don't know. All students, and especially low income or URM students, might find a healthy response to their finaid needs from well-endowed schools with large sticker prices. </p>
<p>I don't know that this actually correlates, but we (as middle class family) took heart from the idea that if you apply to an LAC (all they wanted, not unis) with a great endowment, you have more chance for finaid than if you go where the endowment is weak. Even as I write this,I hesitate, since it worked for us but we never analyzed stats on this correlation; therefore, I don't know if that philosophy works for many students. If someone thinks so, then that link is worth recommending here. It's scary for low and middle income kids to read sticker prices north of $40K, yet they might be eligible with great (not just good) finaid. so your program would want them to keep exploring those schools and not give up.</p>
<p>The Early Admissions Game by Christopher Avery, et al.
This is a crucial piece of the admissions process to understand.</p>
<p>Questions and Admissions: Reflections on 100,000 Admissions Decisions at Stanford by Jean Fetter
Interesting reflection on her stint (now over) as the Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Stanford.</p>
<p>Admissions Confidential: An Insider's Account of the Elite College Selection Process by Rachel Toor
Reviews her three years in the Duke Admissions Office and describes the Duke process from her point of view.</p>
<p>A is for Admission: The Insider's Guide for Getting Into the Ivy League and Other Top Colleges by Michele Hernandez
Interesting discussion of her stint reading application in the Dartmouth Admissions Office. For me, this was the book that best expained the Academic Index number.</p>
<p>Wow! You guys are awesome! Carolyn - I will PM you, however it may not be today. My school - and yes this is also my S's school - is very diverse, both ethnically and economically. About 60 of every 100 students beginning grade 9 actually graduate, and about 29 of those 60 go onto college (including 2 year, trade school, etc.) we are also title I. At the same time, we are the only school in our area to offer IB and have a few (about 20 - 25) students per year looking at "high-end" colleges and unis.
Soooo - all this means that you're right, we need a number of different types of resources. These books of lists are great sounding, Carolyn.</p>
<p>Also - I'm coordinating FAFSA training in Marshallese, Russian, and Spanish - has anyone ever done anything like that before? Any hints?
Last year we learned TONS about helping students who don't have a SS#, but it's going to take alot of relationship building to get those parents into our office.
Keep the suggestions coming!</p>
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it's going to take alot of relationship building to get those parents into our office.
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<p>Perhaps with foreign language parents, it's better to call it a Family Information Night than Parents INfo Night. Even if you have translators, the families depend more than you or I upon their kids to listen and process academic information in their new country. They might be more comfortable attending as a family unit. At worst, if the parents send their kid only, the kid will be able to hear what the parents should be hearing, to bring it back home. Not ideal, but better than nothing.</p>
<p>I learned a few tips from teaching in Canadian public schools with multiple languages in the homes. Not meaning French/English here. No--30% of Canada is neither French nor English but represents 60 other languages.</p>
<p>One thing we did was send home a cover page (and every teacher had her copy) written in 20 languages with just this sentence: "This is a very important document that requires translation." We found that they knew someone in their community who had better language skills and they'd bring very important documents to them for help. This was better than flooding them. Not every document is important. So don't "always" use that cover sheet ;)
There was no way we could translate everything every time into all those languages.</p>
<p>If you have two or three languages that predominate, you can focus on them. Also, assume that some families might know a bit in another language, at least enough to understand that one sentence. We hoped that with the sentence in 20 languages, the 60 languages represented would find one they could hang onto.</p>
<p>Biggest obstacle we found is that many countries see school as an extension of government and authority, so avoid it like the plague! It's hard to become their friend. On the other hand, they are driven to have their kids succeed in this country, so that's the "hook." It's a sweet-and-sour feeling, but good for you to make the effort!</p>
<p>I'm coordinating FAFSA training in Marshallese, Russian, and Spanish - has anyone ever done anything like that before? Any hints?
Last year we learned TONS about helping students who don't have a SS#, but it's going to take alot of relationship building to get those parents into our office.</p>
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<p>Are you in California? If so, my suggestion would be to contact the FA office of whichever UC is closest. Last year, at a school I work with which has a significant Hispanic population, the FA director from UCSD did an excellent FA presentation and had her slides translated into both spanish and english. There are also some great sites on the web where counselors can get spanish (and perhaps Russian) translations of FA information - check the FAFSA counselor site first as they do have some translations of different materials there. I can point you towards some other resources too but I'm not on my office computer right now so can't access them right now. I am pretty sure though that I don't have anything in Marshalese. :)</p>
<p>paying - you're right on so many levels. We do include the whole family - but we like to get at least one adult in somehow - especially on the financial side, as most kids can't complete all of these things without parent input.</p>
<p>Carolyn (and others) - thank you! I'm having a feeling I've had before - that the CC parent forum is a gold mine of collective helpful wisdom!</p>
<p>I won't be able to access office info. until Monday either, but I'll keep the conversation going.</p>
<p>I like Ruggs too. I use "The College Finder" often with kids. I just bought a new one and the title was something like "Colleges for the 3.0 student" . I haven't used it too much yet, but what I've seen looks good.</p>
<p>I am also a parent volunteer who helps with college counseling in a small, diverse high school. Since the main other language spoken by our families is Spanish, we provide Spanish-English translation at all parent meetings. (We have one of those set-ups where people who want headsets can get them on the way in.) </p>
<p>Also, since many of the Spanish-speaking parents at our school aren't college graduates themselves, we hold a pre-meeting in Spanish on every parent college night to explain the background concepts and vocabulary that will come up in the main meeting. This pre-meeting lasts about a half-hour, and it really helps get people oriented. It also connects Spanish-speaking families with bilingual volunteers so they have someone to call on if they need help later.</p>
<p>We try to get documents translated, but we're not yet consistent about that. The regular college bulletins get translated, but big documents don't always make it because of the amount of work involved.</p>
<p>I haven't looked at this edition, but if it's as good as the author's previous books, "What Color Is Your Parachute for Teens: Discovering Yourself, Defining Your Future" would help everyone.</p>
<p>Another vote here for Harry Bauld's "On Writing the College Application Essay".
It really helped both my kids get started on their topics--sometimes that's the toughest part.</p>
<p>We've reviewed many of the books mentioned here. I think my overall advice is not to rely on just one or two, remembering that all are offering a different slant on things. I'd suggest making sure you read one on essays, one on the general admissions process, one or two overall college snapshot books (ie Priniceton or Fiske).</p>
<p>Once you've done that, plus research websites (including this one which was extremely helpful), you will develop a more complete picture. Which , of course, may be validated by a visit to the school (or not!).</p>
<p>Great suggestions in this thread.</p>