Category Archives: college guidance

admissions, college guidance, college planning, social networks

Connecting With Colleges on Social Media

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social media

Data from the National Association for College Admission Counseling show there is a powerful tool students can use to improve their admission chances: demonstrated interest. How can social media play a part?

Social media makes it easier than ever to connect with colleges and their representatives. You can follow them on Twitter, friend them on Facebook, connect with them on LinkedIn, and follow their Pinterest and Instagram accounts. Demonstrate genuine interest and contribute to the conversations; but don’t flood their accounts with replies and questions. In this case, less is more.

When application decision time rolls around you should have established yourself as an interested candidate. College admissions officers should be able to look at their records and see that you demonstrated interest. Some will remember your face, look back on your interview and be able to recall any conversations they had with you during the admissions process. You will trump anyone who hasn’t expressed interest and was simply a casual shopper.

Here’s how you can leverage specific social media accounts and use them to communicate with colleges:

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admissions, college guidance, college planning

Evaluating Admission Decisions

admission decisions

It’s that time of year. Students who applied ED and EA have already heard from the colleges regarding their admission decisions. Students who are applying regular decision will be sending off those applications this month and hearing early in the spring. What happens next?

Colleges will provide your student with one of four responses: offered admission, wait-listed, deferred, or not offered admission. Today, students hear as the notices are posted online. The days of waiting for the letter are over. We live in an instant gratification world. You can expect, however, for your student to be hitting that computer refresh button on the day notices are posted!

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college guidance, parenting

Why Grandparents Make The Best College Mentors

grandparents

Grandparents are a fantastic resource for college-age students. They have a wealth of knowledge that allows them to provide perspective as young people go through education and get professional careers. But the benefits go beyond this. Grandparents tend to have a greater perspective on life that allows them to put everything the student does into context. 

In this post, we take a look at some of the reasons why grandparents make great mentors and how you can use them. 

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college guidance, college planning, college prep

The College Deal-Breaker

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college

What is your student’s college deal-breaker? My daughter’s college deal-breaker had nothing to do with academics or college rankings. From the time she was small, she wanted to go to college in Boston. Coming from Texas, that was a bit of a surprise–especially since she had never visited Boston.

But when college decision time came around, Bentley College beat out SMU because of location. My son’s college deal-breaker came when a buddy of his in the Marine Corps told him a college in Texas had “hot chicks” and a party school reputation. Perhaps neither was the best criteria to base this decision, but they demonstrate this fact: emotion plays a factor in choosing a college.

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college guidance, college prep, parenting

Parenting During College Prep

college prep

I’ll admit (willingly) that I like to offer my unsolicited advice to my children. Even though they are grown, I feel the need to continue to parent. As they did when they were younger, they smile, listen, and then do things their own way. It’s a type of dance parents and kids do with one another.

The hardest part of parenting during college prep is finding a balance in your parenting. You want to encourage them, guide them and help them make the right choices. But when you push too hard, nag and set guidelines that interfere with their independence and individual choices you create a stressful and frustrating college preparation experience. This is a monumental step in your child’s life and you don’t want to taint it with fighting, frustration and family discourse.

Common sense isn’t a flower that grows in everyone’s garden.

Following are 5 tips for parents of college-bound teens (based around good old southern truisms) to keep peace in the home and reduce the stress related to the college admissions process:

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college guidance, college planning, college prep, financial aid, financial planning, parenting

Searching for The Most Generous Colleges

This article was originally written for University Parent as a part of their parent program.

generous colleges

Everyone likes a good bargain.

We rush out on Black Friday to get the best deals for Christmas — we stand in line in the freezing cold to save money! But do parents put as much effort and attention into finding a college bargain? Student debt statistics would say they don’t. Would you want your student graduating from college saddled with that debt? I imagine not!

College bargains do exist and if you have a student who intends to start college in the fall, it’s your job as a parent to point him in their direction. College is a huge consumer purchase which you can and should approach much as you would the purchase of a home or car. Do your research, compare the prices, and help your student choose a school that gives you the best bang for your buck.

One of my favorite movies is Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. In it, Mr. Blandings tells his lawyer that “some purchases you make with your heart and not your head.” As I said, I love the movie, but this is bad advice. When it comes to your college “purchase,” use your head first and then listen to your heart.

I understand that it can be challenging to get students to look at the college choice from this point of view. When my daughter was applying, all her choices were east coast private schools with huge price tags. As a parent, I wanted her to have her dream but, also as her parent, I wanted her to graduate without being burdened with debt. Her heart told her to go to the college that offered the least amount of merit aid. Her head, after a long “money talk” and re-evaluation of her second choice, led her to a school that allowed her to graduate with a small amount of student loan debt. She’s grateful every day that I guided her in that direction.

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college guidance, parenting

Planning for the Unexpected During College

college

Most parents these days would expect their child to go to school, college, and possibly study at a university as well. In most cases, college or even high school is enough to go out, get a job, and find something that they really want to do. After all, they have plenty of time to go to college or university afterwards if they really wanted to.

But as parents, we tend to focus a lot on planning for the future. We like to think about what our children might want from life and we try to make arrangements so that they have all the support and assistance that they’d need. But even then, things might not go as planned. Unexpected circumstances might occur, and there are some unfortunate situations that might strike before your child can even finish high school.

So in this, we’re going to talk about planning for the unexpected. Plans that last for several months or even years can go terribly wrong, which is why it’s important to be prepared for unforeseen circumstances.

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college guidance, college majors

How to Choose the Right Degree

degree

Education is obviously one of the most useful things you can have on your side if you want to pursue a career you will love. But if you are in the position of knowing you want a degree, but not quite knowing which specific degree, that can be a tough place to find yourself in. If you are keen to try and find the best degree for you, there are a few things you should bear in mind. In this post, we are going to take a look at these, and discover exactly how you can choose the right degree for yourself.

Following What You Enjoy

One of the most important things is that you are doing something because you actively, genuinely enjoy it. If you don’t really enjoy it, then what’s the point of doing it? Those who pursue a degree just because they believe it will earn them more money in the long run, and not because they want to do it, often end up regretting that decision. Instead, make sure that you are following your heart, as cliche as that may sound. You will be better off on the whole, and much more likely to find something that is perfect for you.

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college guidance, college planning, parenting

Helping Your Student Study Effectively

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study

We can forget how much of an impact we have on our children. When it comes to getting ready for college, we may think that our job is very simple: to ensure that our children study. But if we provide the wrong environment or we don’t enforce it the right way, this will have a more devastating impact on their academics than we realized. To make sure our children are studying effectively, we’ve got to make sure the environment is effective so their frame of mind is ready for study. How can you make the environment and the mindset work together?

Minimizing External Stresses

We all have an inherent need to procrastinate on occasion. If you have spent a long time trying to get your children to study and were met with resistance every step of the way, it’s hardly a surprise that when they need to knuckle down and study, they will look for any reason to avoid it. Even something that is not their responsibility can be the perfect excuse. It’s about making sure that they have a conducive study area, but this means that you need to realize the impact of a perfect study area.

By creating an environment that is not too hot, not too cold, not too bright, and not too noisy is crucial. This means making sure everything is working as it should. For example, something as noisy as the air conditioning can be a distraction and if it’s not working properly, the environment will be completely uncomfortable, and there are plenty of 24 hour AC service providers that can help people. It’s about getting all those little things correct. 

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12 Articles, 12 Facts, college guidance

12 Actions to Avoid Being A College Dropout

college dropout

Statistics show there is a significant amount of students who enter college and do not attain a degree. The overall college dropout rate in the U.S. is 40% for undergraduates. Of those who drop out, 28% of them drop out before they become sophomores. 

Your college-bound student should prepare for obstacles and you can help. Share this article with them and encourage them to take it to heart.

What can be done to assure that you don’t become one of those dropout statistics?

1. Research colleges and majors before applying.

It’s just plain smart to do the research and know why and where you want to go to college. Refine your list of choices to include the colleges that offer the academic program that suits your interests and the college setting and faculty that you feel most comfortable with and could see yourself flourishing in that environment.

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