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?
There’s a theory among teens, and many parents, when applying to college: “The more colleges you apply to, the better your chances.” In theory, it makes sense, but there are other things to consider besides hedging your bets with numbers.
Continue reading Less is More When Applying to College
As the parent of a college-bound teen, you want to know what college administrators think about admissions practices. Knowledge is power and you can use it as your student begins to apply to colleges. If you know what the colleges are focusing on and what administrators consider important, your student will have useful information as they apply.
Continue reading College Administrators Weigh In on AdmissionsIt’s that time of year again and your college-bound teen is headed back to school. Every year presents opportunities to get a leg up on the college process. If you and your teen plan strategically before school starts, you’ll have some goals and be able to hit the ground running.
Here is a quick list of back to school tips, broken down by each grade level. The activities are to be done just as soon as your teen gets back to school:
Continue reading Back to School Tips for High School Parents
As a parent, you most certainly think about your child’s future and so often college prep is a part of that future. You may see them as an engineer, a teacher, or a doctor. You may picture them at your alma mater, or being the first in your family to attend college. Maybe you just hope they find a passion and pursue it. Whatever you hope, you want what is best for your child and to support them in achieving their goals.
College prep is a team effort. While the student leads the team and is ultimately the one who makes the final decision, parents can participate. This is an overwhelming process to handle alone and parents can ease some of the tremendous stress and burden.
Continue reading 10 Ways Parents Can Help With College Prep
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.
Following are five steps to take once your student enters high school to prepare for their senior year and the college admissions process. These steps will help you and your student have less stress and be less likely to panic due to lack of preparation when that all-important college application time comes along.
Continue reading 5 Steps to Prepare for the College Admissions Process
It’s exhausting searching and scouring the internet for the right information when it comes to helping your student prepare for college. But what if you could use ONLY ONE RESOURCE and find everything you ever wanted to know about college prep? Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Here it is. I’ve done the research, examined the links and their resources, and compiled a list of 100+ college prep resources for you. (If you know of others, please leave them in the comments and I will add them to the list!)
Continue reading 100+ College Prep Resources
I’ll admit (willingly) that I like to offer my unsolicited advice to my children, often in the form of southern truisms (I grew up in the south and was raised by a family of southerners). 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 the college admissions process for a parent 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.
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:
Continue reading Southern Truisms for the College Admissions Process