Parents have so many questions about college admissions. It’s a maze and can be frustrating.
Understanding how college admissions works can help you navigate the college application journey. Knowledge is power and knowing the new trends in college admissions gives you power during the college prep process.
Here are five college admissions trends from College Data that give insight into the admissions landscape this year.
Continue reading 2024 College Admissions Trends for Parents
College application season is a stressful time for the students, but a stressful time for parents as well. It’s hard to step back after 18 years of holding their hands and let go of the reigns while they complete the application.
If you don’t let go, however, you could be hurting your student more than helping them. College admissions officers look for students who rule the process and can spot those applications where parents take control. Know this, here are 10 things parents should not do on their kid’s college application.
Continue reading 10 Things Parents Should Not Do on the College Application
Choosing a college is a significant decision that can shape your student’s future, so it’s crucial to approach it with careful consideration. Here are some key factors to keep in mind when making this important choice:
This is #1 because it comes before your student even starts their college list. It’s essential to have a clear understanding of your budget and how to manage your finances during college. Evaluate the cost of attending each college, including tuition, fees, and living expenses. Research scholarship opportunities, financial aid options, and work-study programs.
Continue reading Choosing a College
With the holidays looming ahead, everyone is looking forward to spending time with family and friends; and students are looking forward to a much needed winter break from school. But while on break, every high school senior is most likely scrambling to finalize their college applications. Traditionally, seniors who are applying regular decision are focusing on college application preparation during the break time to get everything together for submission after the holidays. And for every college-bound teen, it’s the end of a long process and the beginning of a long wait to hear from the colleges they have chosen.
Continue reading College Application Preparation-A Holiday Tradition
College preparation does NOT begin during your student’s senior year. It starts in middle school with a discussion about college and decisions related to high school course selection and gets off to a running start their first day of high school. While you might be astonished and astounded by this statement, the truth is if you take it to heart, your student will enter senior year prepared and at the top of the college applicant pool.
These steps will help you and your student have less stress and be less likely to panic due to a lack of preparation when that all-important college application time comes along.
Continue reading Preparing for the College Admissions Process
Most high school seniors use the Common Application to apply to colleges. Since over 1000 schools now use this application, students can apply to multiple schools with one application. That doesn’t mean your student should “phone it in”, however. Taking the Common App seriously is the first step in completing an application that will help you stand out and receive an offer of admission.
Here are ten tips that will help your student ace the Common App this year:
Continue reading 10 Tips to Help with the Common Application
With the school year in full swing, college-bound juniors are working on their college list. Narrowing down the college preferences can be difficult, especially when your student is indecisive or feels overwhelmed about the college process. These young students need guidance, even if they don’t think so or are hesitant to ask for help.
When my daughter started making her college list in her junior year she didn’t know where to begin. She had a few must haves on her list: sororities, a small college, and one with a focus on fashion merchandising. Beyond that, she knew she wanted to apply to a few colleges in Boston, especially the one on her dream list: Boston University. But in the beginning, it seemed like a monumental task.
Following are five steps we followed to begin and ultimately create her final college list:
Continue reading How I Helped My Daughter With Her College List
Have you ever wondered why there couldn’t be a “one-stop shop” for applying to college? By the time you’ve hopped all around the college sphere looking for the best information, it can be exhausting. Read this blog. Check out this website. Explore these options. It’s almost more than one parent can handle and it can make you throw up your hands in frustration.
Continue reading Appily: A One-Stop College Shop
The Common Application is used by over 500 colleges. It was created to save colleges and students time when submitting their college applications, hence called the Common App. The basic information you complete in the application will be used by every college you apply to: test scores, personal information, and extracurricular activity lists. You don’t have to resubmit that information to each individual college.
The Common App was set up in 1975 to simplify the application process, but the very name of the application suggests that there is no opportunity for students to stand out in this common app process. But there are opportunities for students to stand out, or look uncommon when using the Common App.
Continue reading 5 Ways to Look Uncommon on the Common App
The NACAC (National Association for College Admissions Counseling) surveyed their member four-year colleges and you might be interested to know what they found.
The responses indicated that the most important factors in admission decisions were grades and high school courses. According to their recent survey, 77 percent of colleges listed the student’s grades in college prep courses (AP and Honors) as considerably important. High school grades in all courses were considered important by 74 percent of colleges, and the strength of the high school curriculum by 64 percent of colleges surveyed.
Interestingly, the essay had considerable importance by only 19 percent of colleges, with demonstrated interest ranking important by 16 percent of colleges.
Continue reading What Do Colleges Look for in an Applicant?