This is going to be long....apologies in advance. This is what I learned in 2016. We launched our firstborn in 2017 to college! So far so good. We are now back in the process with our second born.
The College
Process…So Far…Or
What I Wish
Someone Had Told Me!
(Advice from a
mom who is going through it!)
Disclaimer:
I don’t know it all, or nearly half of it. This is just advice I have gathered
or learned.
Sophomore
Year:
Start going to college fairs! Get an idea of colleges you want to visit. Start
doing research at home.
My
son knew he wanted to major in engineering, so we looked at schools that were
only ABET accredited. He also knew he
wanted to run, so we looked at schools that had cross country and track. That
was his criteria.
After
visiting college fairs, we knew we needed to narrow down our list and figure
out where we wanted to visit. Start
planning this the beginning/middle of Junior Year!
We
looked at all schools that were ABET accredited. My son then eliminated all schools that did
not have cross country and track. We then narrowed it down to all schools that
bordered our state. My son selected
several schools he wanted to visit.
Junior
Year:
For our family, visits took much coordination and planning. We started visits
in February of my son’s junior year. This worked out very well for us. We just
happened to do the school that was the furthest away first. This turned out to be a great experience as
my son quickly realized he wanted to stay closer to home. Look at the school calendar. When is it a
Friday that you could miss? Or a half day? Or a Friday with no school?
Take
the SAT! Take the ACT! The reason to
take both is that if you do better on one, it may increase your merit
scholarship! Plan ahead for SATS & ACTS! With athletics it could interfere
with testing days. (My son could not
schedule a second SAT test until Jan. of his senior year due to athletics and
the wisdom teeth surgery, which tends to happen to a lot of juniors/seniors! So
plan ahead!)
How
to plan a visit:
Visit
the admissions page. Contact their office. Some schools will offer a particular
day for students (ie. An engineering day or a day for a particular sport.) Have
your student contact the coach. Ask to meet. Ask admissions if you can sit in
on a class, ask what else they can offer. Sometimes you need to ask for
something specific. Campus tour usually seems to be the obvious thing offered.
Ask what else you can do! Don't hesitate to ask. Also, plan ahead. You can’t expect to meet with a professor if you call
on Monday for a Friday visit. Some colleges have you schedule a visit via their
website. Schedule it, and then call to see what else to offer.
For
our first visit
(we were clueless) my son attended a weekend for track athletes. He was able to tour the campus, visit with
the coaches, hear a presentation about the college and financial aid, sit in on
a class, see a college track meet and spend the night in the dorm with the
track team. The next day he was able to
compete in a track meet the college hosted for high schoolers. This was a unique opportunity. We did not meet with the engineering
department at this school.
For
the second college visit (all visits are to different colleges): We were able
to have a visit on a weekday that was not scheduled for a group. This was an individual visit, which worked
out nice. He was able to: sit in on class, have a campus tour, learn about
financial aid, meet with the coach, have lunch with some of the track team,
meet with an engineering professor, sit down with the admissions counselor and
spend the night in the dorm with the track team.
For
the third visit: It was a large school. They had individual visits but
it was a very busy day. (Holidays or days when many students are off school
means that many students are doing college visits) We were placed in a group
for a campus tour. The presentation by the college was very full due to the
many students visiting. We did sit down
with a coach as well.
Fourth
Visit:
My son was able to sit down with the coach, eat lunch with the team, sit in on
a class, campus tour, sit down and talk with the admissions counselor and visit
individually with someone from the engineering department. He opted not to spend the night because the
college was closer to home and he needed to get back for track practice. (Which
is why these visits take planning when your student is involved with athletics!)
Fifth
Visit:
We had a meeting with the coach, did a campus tour, sat in on a group
presentation with admissions and had a lengthy discussion with an engineering
professor. At this college he was not allowed to spend the night in the dorm until
he had applied. We also somehow missed
meeting his admissions counselor (she was specific to our geographic
location). This was mainly because he
contacted the coach and I called the admissions office and the secretary
arranged the visit with the engineering professor.
Sixth
visit:
(By now, Mom is getting tired of this!) He was able to sit down with the coach
(The coach invited some of the team to his office for the visit), campus tour,
meeting with engineering professor, and interview with admissions counselor.
(Note: some schools require an admissions interview. If you school is located
far away, plan ahead for this if you are even thinking about applying – or plan
a second visit.) We were unable to do more during the day due to sports
practice.
Things
to ask admissions for:
1. Campus Tour
2. Sit in on class
3. Meet with
someone from the department you are looking to major in
4. Eat in the
dining hall (usually you get a free meal)
5. Spend the night
in dorm
6. Find out about
financial aid
7. Meet with the
coach (or team)
8. Visit the
college bookstore (sometimes admissions will give you coupons)
9. Meet with
admissions
10. Do
an interview with admissions if needed.
Take
notes as you go along! I had a tablet that I dedicated to college visits. I
wrote down information at each visit! I knew they would eventually run
together! I have referenced this several times. Note: tuition, application
deadlines (or when they start accepting applications). I also started a file/bin/box of college
information we collected.
Things
to ask:
Must
my child live on campus?
Are
dorms co-ed? Mixed living? (Yes, I’m old fashioned)
What
about campus security? Incidents?
What
jobs do your graduates have upon graduating?
What
work experience does this college offer?
(One
college has their engineering program for 4.5 years. 1 year of this is broken
up into paid internships. Other colleges
waited until junior or senior year to do internships.)
How
long has your program been ABET accredited? (Or accredited for something revenant to your child's intended major.)
What
classes should my child take now? (AP? Dual enrollment?)
How
many students are accepted into this program? (On college only took the first
75 it accepted.)
After
each visit, I had my son write down the pros and cons on each college. We eliminated some right away.
Keep
in mind that you want your child to do as much of the contacting as you can,
but with them being in school all day there are just some times that you need
to make a phone call during the day!
We
also heard the suggestion of sending a thank you note or email the admissions
counselor/coach/professor, etc. after a visit. We did a little of this, but I
was surprised how several admissions counselors said this can make a
difference.
Before
End of Junior Year: (Important!!!) Ask two or three teachers to write letters
of recommendation. They do not need to be specific to a college.
Summer
of Senior Year: Work on applications. This is important for schools that only
take a certain number of students in a program.
Understand their process for applying early. Look for scholarships! Start writing essays.
(This is something we did not know to do!)
Fall
of Senior Year: Work on more scholarships.
Finish more applications or work on ones that have later deadlines. Wait for letters of acceptance. Warning, they
may come via email instead of actual letters! Work on the FASFA. Keep in mind
that fall of senior year can be BUSY! Your child may have AP classes,
athletics, etc. Then if you add in
scholarship applications there is little time for visiting colleges. Plus if
they are taking harder classes, it is difficult to miss a day of school!
And
most important: Attend everything you can that your high school guidance office offers! If
you are not sure, CALL THEM and ask them. Most start with the 10th
grade year and offer stuff each year thereafter. If you missed something, contact them and ask
what you missed. Find out dates of
upcoming events!
