Last week I did a radio interview with Power Women Magazine about the college prep process and my Parents Countdown to College Toolkit. In it, I discussed the steps necessary to prepare for the admissions process, how to stay organized, and the 10 mistakes parents and students often make when applying to college.
Click the link below and you can listen to the interview.
Few things in life are as difficult, nerve-wracking and simply mind-blowing as helping your son or daughter navigate through the wide sea of college selection. There are so many things to consider! Admissions: Will my son or daughter get into a good school? Cost: Can I afford the tuition? Schools: Which college or university will be right for our family?
Something that many families fail to realize is that not only do the schools need to decide if the student is a right fit for the institution (based on application, test scores, etc.), but the student needs to determine if the school is right for him / her.
Websites, such as CollegeBoard.com offer plenty of good information that will help in the college selection process. You can see which schools are right for your child based on admissions requirements, areas of study and even location. College websites also offer a wealth of knowledge that will generally answer many commonly asked questions, such as cost, academic offering, test requirements for admissions and financial aid options. Many college and university websites also offer virtual tours where you can see the campus, the classrooms and common areas; some may offer a glimpse into what dorm life looks like.
Once you’ve narrowed your search based on the information available online and you have a list of schools that will be a good fit on paper, then it’s time to plan your college visit. Pictures will show what the campus looks like, but only with a visit will you know how it feels.
Most colleges and universities will offer an information session for prospective students and their parents, very often followed by a tour.
During the information session, many of the same details that you read on the school’s website will be discussed, but don’t forget that these sessions are an opportunity to dive deeper. Usually, it will be an admissions director leading the session, discussing things like program offerings, campus life and the admissions process. They may even discuss financial aid or have a representative from the school’s financial office there to answer questions.
The campus tour is where you’ll get a lot of great information not usually available online. Most campus tours are lead by current students who are well versed in everything the school has to offer. They’ll show you the highlights of the school’s campus, as well as give you an idea about academic routines and social life.
During the information session and tour, there are some key questions you should encourage your student to ask, questions like:
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Today’s guest post was written by Sarah Fudin. Sarah currently works in community relations for the University of Southern California’s Master of Arts in Teaching program, which provides aspiring teachers the opportunity to earn a Masters degree in Teaching and Masters in TESOL. Outside of work Sarah enjoys running, reading and Pinkberry frozen yogurt.
To many students and parents the college search, application, and decision process can be very overwhelming. Students work with their high school counselors, siblings, and friends to figure out which school is the right “fit” for them … all the while not truly understanding what happens on the “other side of the table” at the colleges they looking at.
For admissions representatives it is getting harder and harder to truly get to understand what motivates a student as well. With the advent of the Common App and easy to complete online applications, schools are seeing a surge in application numbers while still trying to figure out the best way to personalize the admissions process for the students that are truly interested in their school.
Enter Zinch.
Zinch.com is a social communication platform that enables students to better manage their college search, while allowing college admissions representatives to connect with students that are interested in their school. Using Zinch a student can create their first professional profile to “showcase themselves” during their college search.
Traditionally colleges have recruited students with partnerships with the College Board and ACT to segment students by their standardized test scores, get a list of student names, and send recruitment messages. This practice fuels the misconception that the most important thing schools look at is a student’s SAT or ACT score during their admissions decisions. On Zinch, students are more than a test score. Colleges on Zinch (close to 1,000 of them) reach out to students based on their interests, the type of school(s) they are most interested in, extra-curricular activities, and more … making a student with a complete profile attractive to colleges!
Zinch makes admissions social as well. College Admissions Officers have profiles that they use to respond to student questions on their school’s page, reach out to students from their geographic area, and be “on call” to answer questions a student has about their application process, financial aid, or anything else they can think of while they are looking at schools. This breaks down the barriers of a traditional “one way” college search. All of this in addition to close to $2 Billion in scholarships to apply for, study abroad and test prep opportunities to explore, and educational discounts on computers and books exclusive to Zinch members.
Zinch is free to join, and searching for schools or scholarships does not require a registration. Students only register when they are ready to apply for scholarships and reach out to specific schools.
See you on Zinch!
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Today’s guest post was submitted by Gil Rogers, Director of Marketing and Outreach for Zinch.com. Gil recently joined Zinch after nearly 5 years at the University of New Haven in West Haven, CT where he served as Associate Director of Admissions and Enrollment Technology. While at UNH Gil supervised the undergraduate admissions recruitment staff, as well as reviewed application for admission to the university.
When Gil Rogers at Zinch asked me if I would be interested in getting an advance copy of this book I jumped at the chance. First of all, I love reviewing books for parents. Secondly, I knew it was going to be quality material and I was excited to get my hot little hands on a copy.
I’ve read plenty of books on college admissions. Some are so scholarly heavy that you need a degree to figure them out. Others are so shallow you can find most of the material in your teen’s high school handouts. Zinch’s book is neither of the above. It’s geared toward the student, but is also extremely valuable from a parent’s perspective. Zinch reminds the student that while the college process often involves the entire family, the final choice must be their own. I agree with this whole heartedly. Every parent should grasp this truth.
Since this book is jam-packed with information, it would be difficult to speak about all of it. Suffice it to say that Zinch covers EVERYTHING from beginning to end. It’s an invaluable resource to have for your student (especially at the beginning of the process), because it walks them through admissions step by step.
Following are some of the highlights (and my favorite parts):
The book reads easily and provides many highlighted examples related to each chapter topic. Zinch tells the reader in the first few pages how to use the book:
If you are a parent of a college-bound teen (that means even middle school) you should pick up a copy of this book. Amazon has it on sale now for $9.86 and you can get a sneak peek inside the book as well. If you pick up a copy, let me know what you think. You can also post your comments on Twitter using the hashtag #GettingIn.
We all like to know what our chances are in life. What are my odds at winning the lottery? How likely is that my resume will be seen by the right people? What do the stats say about starting a new business in a down economy? Will the stock we purchased go up?
Recently, I’ve come across two tools that would help to give your student information about their chances related to admissions: MyChances http://www.mychances.net/ & AdmissionSplash on Facebook http://bit.ly/gkZ6NU
Mashable highlighted AdmissionSplash recently explaining how the tool works.
Here’s my question–would you want your student to use these tools? I would love to hear what you think about them. Yes or no?
How to Author and speaker, Paul Hemphill, will conduct this long-awaited webinar on how a student can get accepted to his or her first-choice college.
Here are topics he will cover:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_98GI9WQJjU
This will be available for 7 Days ONLY!
Paul Hemphill, owner and founder of PreCollege Prep, is always on my NICE list. This guy puts the KNOW into “know-it-all” when it comes to helping parents get more bang for their buck from colleges. (I especially like how he sports those candy striped tights!)
His sure proof plan to not spend a dime of your hard-earned money (that’s right!) and send your kid to college is sheer genius. If you haven’t seen his videos yet, you’ve got to check them out. His straight-forward way of getting to the heart of the subject with simple solutions and hard-hitting facts makes every one of his tips a winner in my book!
He’s so good, that his videos have been endorsed and marketed by College Parenting Magazine. You can check out some of them for FREE (yes FREE!) on his website–just look on the right hand side of the homepage.
You can follow Paul on his Facebook page for all the latest tips on how to save money on college costs. You will be amazed at the wealth of information you can gain by watching this guy!
Thanks Paul for helping parents save money on college AND protecting our retirement accounts!
This week on #CampusChat there was a guest that informed us that college is a bad investment for a large percentage of teens. Granted, I could see her point (You can read the transcript here). Many teens aren’t ready for college. I agree it is important to counsel our teens on finding out what they love and guiding them along a career path. But is college truly all about ROI? Do we encourage our kids to go to college solely based on the fact that they will give us a good return on our investment?
It’s not that I don’t agree that college, for some, is a bad decision (Should everyone go to college?). Not because it’s a bad investment, but because they aren’t suited for it and would be happier pursuing other options. Should you go into massive debt for a liberal arts degree that leaves you unemployable? Absolutely not (Being realistic about college debt). But, could you get a liberal arts degree and in the process discover your passion? Absolutely.
If you ask both of my children if they thought college was about ROI, they would have different answers. My daughter would say that college for her was so much more than getting that degree and finding a job. She would say that it gave her life experiences. She would say that she found lifelong friends in college. She would say that her study abroad experience was invaluable. She would tell you that she learned about the business world doing internships related to her major. It was at college that she learned independence, budgeting, developed a strong work ethic, got an education, and basically grew up. And she would say that you can’t put a dollar amount on those four years.
My son, on the other hand, had a very different experience. He was not a good student in high school and didn’t show much interest in college, opting for a 4-year term of service in the Marines. After the Marines, he decided to go to college. For him, it was more about pushing himself to attain the degree and proving to himself that he was capable of that level of education. He attended community college for two years and transferred to a 4-year college to finish his degree among the top graduates in his major. And while he did incur some debt acquiring that degree, he would never say it was a waste of time and money or a poor return on investment even though he’s not working in a career related to his liberal arts major.
I’ve known smart kids who knew their career paths at an early age and got to college and failed. I’ve known average students without a clue of what they wanted to be, attend college, find their passion and excel. College opens up your mind, introduces you to experiences and submerges you in academia. Should you be wise about which college you choose and how much you pay for that education and life experience? Of course you should!
I admit. I’m a proponent of college. Perhaps it’s because I never had the opportunity to go. Perhaps it’s because my parents never encouraged me to go. Perhaps it’s because both my kids found value in two different educational paths. For me it’s so much more than ROI. Maybe I’m burying my head in the sand. But I still believe that a college education is something that has great value beyond its cost.
And that, my loyal readers, is one parent’s opinion!
We have talked to many parents, and have heard the same problem expressed repeatedly. A father of four whose eldest daughter had just finished her freshman year in high school explained, “I don’t know what I don’t know.”
For some, this sentiment came from an appreciation that the application process has evolved drastically, becoming more competitive and comprehensive. Others had not gone to college themselves and had no intimate experience to draw upon. Still others had gone to public universities with different criteria for acceptance and were unsure if their advice would be as applicable and helpful to more selective institutions.
IvyAlly was built around the idea that no one has the insight, experience, or recollection of how to get accepted into elite universities than those students who have just crossed the chasm and are now attending the school of their dreams.
We are a community of over 40 current Ivy League students looking to help others in the admissions process. More importantly, we are 40 individuals that demonstrate how diverse and unique the path to acceptance can be.
Our mission is to level the playing field in the college admissions process. Before, high school students had to rely on their own networks to receive advice. Worse, professional services priced many families out costing hundreds to thousands of dollars. We want to change this reality by providing affordable resources.
We have created our resources by talking to current college students and asking them what they wished they had as resources during the college application process. We have also met with high school students for advice and feedback. For example, we will be launching a new series titled 500 Words. Each week, one of our Mentors will upload one of their admissions essays and film a short segment, about 5 minutes long, talking about their individual writing process, how they chose the topic, and what they like and dislike about the essay. For more information about all of our resources, check out our site: www.ivyally.com.
Feel free to contact me at stephanserrano@ivyally.com with any questions regarding the college application and selection process.
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On August 1st, the NEW and IMPROVED online version of the Common Application goes live! Here’s a sneak peak for you and your college-bound teen:
If you’re on Twitter and would like to get some more information, you can attend a chat TODAY at 3PM PST for “Everything Common App”. Just use the #collegejoin twitter chat hashtag and follow along. If you can’t make it, you can always review the tweets at a later time.
The Common Application is used by 391 member institutions. The benefits? You can fill out ONE application and submit it to any participating college. The same is true of the School Report, Midyear Report, Final Report and Teacher Evaluation forms. This saves your college-bound teen time and that translates into more time available for the other important college admissions tasks.