PARENTS OF HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS: Care to chat about the college search/application process? (SAT, public school)

[findingmesomeday]

We have a high school senior. And with school starting any day now, we're trying to encourage him to hit the ground running on the college search/application process. We visited schools last year. He's taken the ACT and the SAT and will take the SAT again in Oct. He's done some online research and has a general idea of some schools where he'd like to apply but there's so much more out there! What are you and your kids doing now? Our guidance department is not much help. The kids have a Naviance account but I find the collegeboard dot com website to be much more informative.

[sikes0000]

He should start applying as soon as possible. I want to say that acceptance letters would come out at the end of this year/early next year? You have got a few months yet but I wouldn't wait I can't remember the deadline but for some colleges they are coming up if he wants to start in the fall of next year.

And just make sure he doesn't get senioritis They will be reviewing his senior grades next summer.

[missionhome]

Most/All? of the private universities my son is applying to use the common application where you do one app with supplements for different schools. He already took the SAT, SAT II's, and the ACT w/ writing so he is done with the stressful portion of this process.

He is doing early admission to Stanford University because that is his number one pick and the admission rate is a bit higher for early apps. That will be due Nov. 1.

He will be applying to the University of California system and UCLA is his favorite out of those. His last high school transcript had him ranked in the top 2% of his school so we are praying he will get Eligibility in the Local Context and be guaranteed a spot at at least ONE UC school. UC apps are done during the month of Nov.

He also has a spread sheet of all the schools that require interviews. These are mainly the East Coast schools he is applying to and some of the privates in the LA area that require interviews. His only public school out of state will be an app to University of Washington in Seattle.

He also contacted the teachers he is interested in having write letters of recommendations over the summer so they have a heads up. Make sure your son gets these for schools that require them. He also goes to our District's College Center and meets with the staff there for free and they help him.

That's what my kid is doing. I hope to learn lots from this thread.

[Calvitts]

My best advice would be to apply early, early, early... That is a lesson we learned with our daughter. One school we just knew she was a shoo-in for (especially with her very high GPA) wait-listed her. In my daughter's (and our) defense, I (her Mom) was battling cancer at the time, and that battled seemed to put life on hold for all of us.

Any community service or club connections your child has in school will also aid them in their search.

Good luck!

[findingmesomeday]

I was talking to my son about the early process. There's "early action" and "early decison". One binds you to the school should they accept you and one does not. Which one is which? And which one gives you the edge over the regular application process?

[toobusytoday]

Never do early decision unless the college is absolutely the number one choice and you can afford to pay whatever offer the college comes up with. Early decision is binding. You will not be able to compare other offers. Early action generally means that you will hear early from a college. ED gives you an edge, because you are telling the college you will definately go there.

Doing applications early are most important for state schools with rolling admissions.

[akck]

The other thing you need to do is fill out the FAFSA as early as you can, end of January if possible. The sooner you let them know of your needs, the more likely you'll get full consideration. I think you can be as late as March or April, but I wouldn't wait.

You should also check to see what's required for scholarships. Some schools only require filling the regular application while other require something separate. Don't forget to check for scholarships and grants not associated with each university. Even your high school may have some local ones.

[pennquaker09]

This is my area of expertise so if anyone has any questions, I'm here to answer them. Novanative is also a private admissions counselor.

[aus10]

If I had to do it all again my first piece of advice would be to have a very frank family discussion about financial responsibility. It is so heart-breaking to see a kid get into the college of their dreams, and then not be able to attend due to financial concerns. Yes, all the website of the uni's will say they will meet "need", but that can mean a host of different things. Scholarships, Grants and LOANS.

Learn about the FAFSA and what your family's EFC will be. You can go here: https://www.collegedata.com/cs/promo...rrer=GoogleEFC to help learn. If you have a good idea about what your EFC will be, then when you are picking your schools to apply to (reach, match and safety's) you can also make sure that there are some financial safety's included in those.

[toobusytoday]

Excellent point aus10. We told our kids that they could apply anywhere but we would only pay so much and they could take out loans over that amount. Our kids are pretty tight with their own money and both accepted and attended colleges where they got good merit aid and they didn't need loans.

One of my favorite websites for college research is CollegeData: College Search, Financial Aid, College Application, College Scholarship, Student Loan, FAFSA Info, Common Application You can input stats and it will tell you the projected financial aid offer. Also good for narrowing schools down by major or gpa or state, etc.