For those just starting the process, I highly recommend creating an email address exclusively for the college process that parent and student both have access to.
^^@doschicos, oh, how I wish we had done that!
We did that with the email. Both of us were pretty protective with that address. Somehow we still got some spam, but a small enough amount that we could still easily see when there was real communication. And we both had that email set up on our phones.
Thanks all! These are some great ideas and will be adding some to what I am already doing. I love the idea of a separate email address for the college process that we both can access and will chat with him about my other ideas. After tours he told me he was making notes on google I think, but I would like things to be a bit more spreadsheet-like so maybe we will have a couple of methods and see what works. I do have an accordion folder for info as well but only a couple of schools gave us anything at all. I will keep it but think of it as more of an annex to what we come up with. And I am starting to understand that its totally ok for me to have my spreadsheet and for him to have what he likes. I like to have things organized and easy to see/compare. I am betting he will spend some time on it once it is set up. He does have Naviance too, which I can access (as an observer).
I think my 2022 twins will reap the benefits of this learning curve!
Our primary parameter was affordability in the form of full tuition or full tuition plus scholarships.
I made a spreadsheet and added schools that offered automatic scholarships and added a few with (long shot) competitive scholarships.
She vetoed some and added some and the short list ended up with 7 schools.
The short list could have been shorter.
We did not visit many schools on the short list. We did visit representative schools (size, type) nearby.
How to find automatic scholarships? I’ve seen a few references to this and have seen a few things online where some schools have this but other than some southern schools I am not seeing anything. I am guessing I am not looking in the right places? Any suggestions? I am hoping his ACT score (35) can help pull some money his way.
There’s a thread on CC re: automatic scholarships. I looked very quickly, and did not find it. It’s here somewhere!
Our application list was generated end of junior year and over the summer before senior year of HS.
The scholarship info in our spreadsheet was based on the previous year’s college class & “out-of-date”.
Nevertheless, this info was still helpful because many of the schools offered the same or similar scholarships for the next incoming class.
It’s always recommended to check the school’s web site for the most recent scholarship information and watch those deadlines!
Some schools had their info posted as early as July and others not until September.
Automatic scholarships? Go to college website, then zero in on things like: scholarships, first-year scholarships, freshman scholarships, out-of-state applicants, merit scholarships etc.
You will find things like this:
Over a 2 year period, we visited about 30 schools with both our kids. S1 was interested in grad school for linguistics, S2 for undergrad engineering. We took plenty of notes, photos, video and kept running impressions on the visits, and there was a lot of overlap between schools. We visited a mix of scholarship (typically lower ranked) and full pay schools (typically higher ranked). During the visits some were eliminated immediately because of stress levels (e.g. MIT), lame presentations (e.g. Columbia), or unsafe environment (e.g. Cal). Some visits were very memorable and surprising (e.g. Alabama, where we had a hour each with the president and dean of engineering, plus the BBQ was incredible).
After the applications and acceptances, we looked at the net costs and made a selection decision. S2 didn’t get his first choice because of costs, but we didn’t force him into the all scholarship option either. We chose the happy medium that we could all live with (Michigan, with the prepaid tuition program).
We did not do this, but I suggest that you do take notes on each college you visit and write them up into an email. Helpful when answering the question of why you like a certain college.
If you are visiting a lot of schools, details can get lost that make for good commentary. AOs love applicants that show good demonstrated interest
Thank you all!!!
Before one can list what schools they’ll like or a system, I believe there is a better first step.
In your drivable area, pick a medium size private school, a well known small school, the state flagship or equivalent. One in the city, one in burbs and more rural. Double up on these attributes if you can and prefer.
Once you have a general sense of large medium or small. And location. Then use all of the ideas mentioned to hone in on likely candidates.
But before visiting anywhere make sure that it’s at least a reach and not an impossible. Imho. Also please take the time to diligently and honestly run the npc cost calculators for each. No reason to love either an unattainable or unaffordable school.
For visits, we had a standard set of questions for each school. Printed out and I took notes during the visit. The list did evolve, we figured out more things to ask as we visited. You can take photos to help keep track, too. This proved helpful later when my kid was doing “Why College X” essays.
I also made copies of the relevant Fiske Guide pages, and had my kid read them in the car on the way to the visit, just as a refresher in the school.
We tried to do more on the visit than just the tour. Eat in the cafeteria, sit in on a class, visit buildings we hadn’t seen in the tour (like I had one kid interested in art, so we’d hunt down that building).
We also had an Excel spreadsheet to track test score ranges, notes on majors and ECs, and key dates and application requirements. It ended up with lots of tabs (tracking esssy questions for the schools she actually applied to, COA after scholarships/aid, etc).