Tag Archives: College Selection
What’s a Parent To Do?
In short: Not Much! I know that answer disappoints multitudes of parents of college bound high school students. The intentions of parents vary from just wanting the best for their kiddo to the “helicopter” parent to those living vicariously through their child. The bottom-line is your child needs to OWN the college selection, application and admission process. Getting to Know You Colleges are wanting to get to know THE STUDENT. It will be the student, not the parent, heading to school and the college needs to be the best fit for the student. Therefore interaction directly with the college needs to … Continue reading
Cutting the Cost of College Visits
This week I was interviewed by FOX Business for an article they did for their online news with tips on tips for doing the college visits affordably. It’s a challenge for all families. Many find they need to budget not only for the college visits, but for ACT and SAT testing as well as applications. It all adds up! You can read the article on the FOX Business website by clicking here. For tips on how to make the most of your visit when you are actually on campus, read our previous post.
Knowing This, I Would Have Enjoyed the Ride
Our guest blogger this month is Maria Marballi, Ohio State freshman and former LEAP student. One year ago, I was asking myself what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I had to pick a college, and in order to pick a college; I had to select an area of study of which to narrow down the selection of vastly distinctive universities that lay in front of me: all with different positives and negatives, strengths and weaknesses. This meant a few things: anxiety, peer pressure and angst. Senior year was a collaboration of learning how to … Continue reading
The College Visit Done Right
Juniors on the initial college search and seniors making final decisions are hitting the road for college visits. College visits cost time and money, so putting some time into planning your visit is key to making the most of a 3-day weekend like Presidents’ Day or spring break for college visits. Do Your Homework Likely, you are limited on the number of schools you can visit, so take the time to make wise choices of where you’ll go. Next, thoroughly research the school before you go. Using data on College Navigator will give you important information such as retention and graduation … Continue reading
Impressing College Admissions Officers
The admission’s officer assigned to your “territory” is ultimately the first person to review your college application. The days, months, years leading to that moment should not be taken lightly. Determining who this individual is usually only requires a visit to that college’s admissions page. Look for “staff” or “contact”;” to locate your rep. The smaller the school and more selective, the more likely they are to care how much attention you pay to them in the years leading to your application. You are “Demonstrating Interest” – see our previous post on the importance of demonstrated interest by clicking here. In Person … Continue reading
Why Pay Sticker Price for College?
This past summer I had to finally replace my trusty mini-van after almost a decade. Frankly, I was ready to move on to something non-van! I started my research of reviews and price. We did buy new and of course, we did not pay sticker price. No one does, right? So can the same sticker price rule also apply to college? Yes! Sticker Price Sticker price for college is the total Cost of Attendance (COA). This means tuition + room/board + books + fees. Note: COA is not just tuition + room/board! Many families look at the sticker price of … Continue reading
Demonstrated Interest: Getting on the College’s Radar
A recently more important trend in college admission is Demonstrated Interest. Colleges want to increase their “yield”. Yield is the number of applicants who actually choose to attend a school where they are accepted. In recent years, while the number of applicants to colleges are up, yield is down. One way of increasing yield is tracking interest in the school on part of the student. Students who demonstrate interest are sending a strong message to the school of “I like you”. Colleges indicate they have a higher yield of students demonstrating interest. Not only that, those students demonstrating strong interest … Continue reading
