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Decisions, Decisions
On April 1st, the world shifts for high school seniors. April Fool's Day is generally the final day by which seniors receive their college decisions. Then the tables turn as admissions officers begin their campaign to convince seniors to matriculate at their college next fall. Making the decision about where to attend college is significant. Here are a few considerations for students and families to consider.
1. Understanding the merit scholarship. If you are a strong student near the top of the applicant pool for a given college then you may receive a merit aid scholarship, which should be announced in a letter that you should receive before April 1. It is important to read the fine print and determine if the award will be given for each year that the student attends the college and if a certain grade point average must be maintained to keep the scholarship. Students and parents should contact the financial aid office if they have questions.
2. Reading the Financial Aid Award letter. At first glance, the financial aid package might look very generous. However, it is important to distinguish between grant money, which is aid that is an outright gift and does not need to be repaid, versus loans, which must eventually be repaid but may be beneficial if they offer deferred interest rates and payments until after college graduation. Work study grants are often included in the financial aid award letter. Each offer will be different and it important to compare to be certain which college is offering the best value. To learn more about the potential pitfalls of student loans, the new book, The Student Loan Scam, might be useful. A review of the book is available on the Wall Street Journal's site.
3. Take a second look. Be honest with yourself. Did you do a thorough job reviewing the college before you applied? If not, take out your college guide book and review the entry. Visit websites such as Unigo and Youniversity TV and see what current students have to say about the college. Visit the school web site and look at the requirements and the majors in which you are interested. Do you have a clear understanding of what is expected? Do the students seem like people you want to be with? Do the offerings match the criteria that you established for yourself back at the beginning of the process?
4. Visit or re-visit. Never choose a college that you have not seen, and even if you have previously visited, consider a second visit if you are not sure (assuming your family can afford to make the trip). This time round, sit in on a class and spend more time talking with students on campus. One student, Jake, transferred after one semester because he felt like an outsider at his Southern college which drew mostly from the surrounding region and had little cultural or racial diversity.
"I was so excited about the great weather and the nearby beach when I visited that I didn't take the time to notice that the students weren't much like me," recalls Jake. "I made a few friends, but I was really unhappy with the narrow views of some of the other students."
The lesson: Focus on the qualities of campus life that matter: the peer group, academic offerings and campus culture -- not just the palm trees. |
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Letting Your Fingers Do the Walking: Researching Colleges
Even as the seniors continue the agonizing wait for their college admissions letters, juniors are starting to think about the college process. Spring break and the summer before senior year are great times to visit colleges. However, before you sign up for a whirlwind, five-day, ten campus tour, it is important to start researching colleges even before you book your plane tickets and plan your itinerary. A few hours spent at home researching colleges can save you and your family lots of time and money, for this research can help you decide if a school is worth visiting and what to look for if you do visit.
Get a Good Guidebook. Although a lot of information is readily available online, a good college guidebook, such as the Fiske Guide or the Princeton Review series, includes a great deal of the important information on colleges, such as contact information, student population, and admissions statistics, in one easily accessible place. Many guides also offer unbiased opinions on the schools' top academic departments and majors. These guides make a good starting point for basic research.
Look at the School's Web Site. Many college websites have a great deal of information for prospective students. Besides listing the different options that are available for learning more about the school, such as visits to your area by admissions representatives, the college website can also give you an idea of what majors the school offers and what activities and clubs, such as sports and performing arts, are available. If you have a specific major in mind, you should look at the department website to see what the department requires for the major and if the school's department is a good match for your interests and aspirations.
Get an Insider's Perspective. Let's face it: many of the student quotes and videos on the official school sites are meant to accentuate the positive and portray the schools in the best possible light. While this may be helpful in getting a general idea of what a college offers, these opinions are certainly focused on the positive. Luckily, sites like Unigo and Youniversity TV offer an insider's look at colleges by allowing current college students and alums to post pictures, reviews, and videos about their colleges on the website. Unigo also includes the posters' demographic information, such as gender, race, and political leaning, which give the reviews more context than what is usually written in guidebooks.
Also, don't hesitate to ask friends and relatives who attend (or have attended) the school about their experiences. By hearing a variety of opinions and perspectives on a school, you will get a better sense of the school's community and if that school might be worth visiting or exploring further.
See If Schools Make the Grade. It can be very overwhelming if you start looking at numerous schools and many of the details and opinions you read might start to blend together. To help you keep your facts straight, take notes as you research the schools and list your reactions, both positive and negative, to the school. After you have finished your research, give each school a grade to see which one best suits your needs. |
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Course Selection Time -- Proceed Carefully!
Most high school students are now in the process of choosing their courses for next year. Students should choose courses that challenge them; however, they must also feel confident that they can handle the demands and do well in the course. As college advisors, we often wish we had started working with students earlier so we could have advised them differently about options such as which math course to take if they think they want to study business or engineering, or why it might not be a good idea to drop Honors English if they have their heart set on taking the popular AP Literature course (with limited enrollment) during senior year. For this reason, you may wish to arrange a consult for this spring. Check out our service specials below. |
Service Specials: Register Now!
Freshmen and sophomores -- Register now for our college planning program and receive a complimentary session this spring!
While it is too early to begin the comprehensive college planning process, it is not too early to position students to get the most out of high school. For this reason, we are offering a complimentary meeting this spring to freshman and sophomores who sign up for our full-service college planning service. Not only will you get advice about course choices, but you will also have the opportunity to contract with us at this year's professional service rates. Contact Joan Casey at Educational Advocates for more details.
Juniors -- Your college search should be underway. Contact us if you need help!
Educational Advocates offers a range of services from our best-value full service program to a less-extensive service that helps students establish criteria and provides a list of colleges that look like an ideal match. If students only need counsel about the list or only preparation for the interview, we can customize our services to your needs. Call or email us today to learn more.
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Educational Advocates
1678 Beacon Street
Brookline, MA 02445
617-734-3700
Joan Kelleher Casey, President
jcasey@educationaladvocates.com
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Newsletter editorial staff:
Joan Casey
Terri Suico |
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