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I thought I'd start this thread because I couldn't find anything like it anywhere else on the forum. My apologies if I missed it.
My oldest is in 11th grade. I'm finding the school guidance office to be of very little help. We're just in the beginning stages. He's taken PSATs; we know he qualifies for National Merit Scholarship. I'm curious: Any good books, seminars, etc., on how to narrow down choice of colleges. Good info on the web or in print about sources of scholarships, grants, loans?
He needs to take the SAT and if he wants the ACT so that he has those scores ready when he starts applying. He should probably do that as soon as possible so that you could take advantage of the early application deadlines that some schools have. Also ask him if his school does a college fair, that's where I started my selection process. If he already has a few places in mind call them and find out what sort of previews they allow applicants.
I went to TCU and they had Monday at TCU where hundreds of juniors and seniors would descend upon campus and take a tour of the campus and hear speakers talk about the application and financial aid process. They also did the same thing on Saturdays. During the summer before my senior year our summer vacation was traveling to visit other colleges also. We called them ahead of time and took advantage of their tours too. I only visited schools that I was interested in applying at.
As for scholarships start looking for info on the web and at libraries. Ask relatives or neighbors about any scholarships their companies offer. I know where I live our electric company awards scholarships to customers but if you don't know about that you'll miss out.
Good luck!!
I thought of something else, he needs to start thinking what he'd like to major in. If he has an idea that will help him narrow down school choices. That could also benefit in financial aid, grants or scholarships. If he knows what he's focusing on he could specifically look for money from companies in those fields.
As you mentioned, taking the SAT and ACT's are the first step (make sure he preps and that he allows enough time if he needs to retake it to up his score).
I would start doing college visits this semester and summer. He needs to think about what he wants. How far away does he want to go? Does he want a big or small school? Big or small town? What does the college "have" to have? What doesn't he want? Once he starts with this criteria, you can narrow it down. (there are a million books about colleges/rankings, etc). Starting to visit early can also help him realize where he might want to go. BTW, I visited schools before I applied, not after.
Thanks everyone. It appears that we are taking some of the right steps: ACT and SAT dates are set. He has already given lots of thought (with my "prodding") to the type of school he would like to attend. I had him make a chart: large/small; urban/suburban/rural; area(s) of the country. And so on.
We live in MA. He wants to attend college outside of New England (experience something new). He's interested in several schools in the mid-Atlantic and then two schools on the West Coast, one of which is the school his father attended.
So I guess we've started down this path. What makes me nervous is thinking about how I'm going to unturn every stone that might lead to money: grant, aid, loan, scholarship, etc.
NChomesomeday: If you need any help, let me know. One of the good things about being a Type A high school student meant that I know quite a bit about every top 100 universities and most top 50 LACs. It's kind of become a hobby of mine to help all of my friends and now my brother's friends with college options!
If you or anyone else on here needs someone to bounce college ideas off of or to get a college student's subjective opinion of the "vibes" of different schools (socially and academically), feel free to ask me! I'm most familiar with Massachusetts and southern schools, but I applied to colleges all over the country and have visited over 40 colleges over the years, so I'm familiar with quite a few.
Have him make a list of his top 5 choices and go visit the campus of each school. Have him get a feel for each and chances are he will be able to narrow it down quite a bit by doing that. If he doesn't have a list yet, just visit a few in your area even though he doesn't want to go there, so he can get some ideas of what he likes and what he doesn't like.
The VAST majority of college students change their major at LEAST once so selecting a school solely on a major isn't the best idea.
They haven't released the National Merit finalists yet so how do you know he qualified for that?
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