Best advice you got from a private college admissions counselor?
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Anonymous
| We knew which schools were better for our DD than the counselor, who wanted to only try the small schools she had relationships with already. |
Anonymous
| Take her on college visits. You can learn a lot that way. |
Anonymous
Make sure to register and visit officially so there's a record of your visit. This is important to some (not all) colleges. |
Anonymous
+1. Pitt acceptance received on Sept 10, rolling admission. We could pay full freight if we had to, no debt for my kid. It’s not my kids first choice, but he likes the school, likes Pittsburgh, likes the urban/suburban campus and it’s very good in his area of interest. It is now the worst case scenario, and that takes a ton of pressure off of us. I hope he ends up at a smaller LAC with merit aid or WM. But if it’s Pitt, he’ll be okay with it and we’ll be okay with it. Huge weight off our shoulders as we work through the other college apps. A good safety— financial and academic— everyone can love with is key. Finding one with rolling admission is golden. |
Anonymous
It’s muxh more important to small LACs that are trying to “build a class” than big state Us. In classes of thousands of kids, a handful Turing them down doesn’t hurt yield. In a class of 400 kids, every kid who turns them down is a ding on yield numbers. Make sure any small colleges believe you are genuinely interested and would take an admission offer seriously. |
Anonymous
BTW— some colleges go as far as to track emails. If your kid gets an email from a small school they might apply to, have them open it and click a couple links. Have them say hello if the admissions Rep comes to their HS. Attend a local info session. Have your kid do a local interview if they are offered. You don’t have to travel to MN to express interest in Mac. But they should express interest. Again— small LACs, not big Us. |
Anonymous
Congrats! |
Anonymous
| High school is a time to explore interests and try new things. It’s ok if they fail or don’t like some activities. Once they find what they like, they should pursue fully. Activities can be in school or outside of school, even part time jobs. Knowing what they like helps them find schools that are a good fit. If they go to a college that is a good fit, they are likely to do well. |
Anonymous
How obnoxious can the people on this site get!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The poster said he or she could not afford a private counselor. Take a break from your bubble sometimes entitled jerk. |
Anonymous
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I don't believe in gaming/rigging activities to FAKE the type of applicant they are looking for.
Let your child be herself, and describe that in its best light. The schools and she will find some mutual agreement/fit. That really is the goal, not landing the most impressive bumper sticker. |
Anonymous
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First generation college is considered an asset.
Rather than activities that she's not interested in, encourage her to get a part-time job. Many strong schools consider that a considerable plus. |
Anonymous
I can tell you from first-hand experience OP this is one strategy that private college counselors use. Apply early to a rolling admission school where your kid is at or near the top of the pool so you get an early admission. It provides a much-needed psychological boost so your kid knows that they are going somewhere. Pitt is nothing to sneeze at though - I love that school even though my oldest didn't choose to attend. It is hard to give just one piece of advice, but here are some things I learned that helped our process. Other tips Pick a school to apply to Early Admission, which is non-binding. Work on essays the summer after junior year. This naturally means that the list of schools should basically be complete by junior year. My oldest applied to 10 schools and many of those schools had multiple supplemental essays. Use all content from essays written for applications for outside scholarships; my oldest got about 15K in scholarships Fill out the FAFSA early If you are working without a counselor be sure you read every detail about each the admission process and requirements for each school your kid is applying to. For example, Emory has multiple deadlines but one thing to note is that if you want merit aid you need to have your application by November. I wouldn't have known that unless the counselor told us. Another requirement for some schools is the number of years of foreign language, just be sure to read the websites carefully. In addition to College Confidential, follow the Facebook Group Paying For College, lots of good information there without all of the angst of College Confidential. I did find College Confidential really useful though and yes I did still follow College Confidential even though we had a paid counselor. I wanted to be informed. Spreadsheets are your friend and there are generous souls out there willing to share their application tracking spreadsheets - I've seen this on College Confidential and Paying for College. Hope this helps. |
Anonymous
DP. I hope you used up the daily dose of all your foolishness in that one advice. |
Anonymous
Agree to with the idea fit matters more than ranking. But want to say that our paid advisor told us to go for National Honor Society and put it down. Simply because all of the other kids will have it too - pretty much a norm and it doesn't hurt to put it down. If you kid is a straight A student she should apply for that recognition. Also if your kid is taking AP courses, there are "awards" given by College Board depending on their final AP score - same advice, put it down if she gets one, everyone else does. In terms of activities she should be doing things that she loves. Key will be getting that passion across in her essays. I think students mess up by doing too much. 2-3 activities that a student has done for 2+ years plus at least 1 activity where they have a leadership role. More important is they should be able to easily write and talk about these activities and why they matter to them and what they learned about themselves in pursuing them. If she's into it, get her a journal to record her thoughts and personal feelings/ideas - helps with developing essays. Please know that admissions officers often "fall in love" with the students when they read their applications. Coming across as authentic, intellectually curious and just interesting goes a long way. Good luck. |
Anonymous
+1 yes many colleges have people hired whose sole job it is to make 1st Gen college students assimilate and feel welcome. It's a very hot thing right now so your DC will be at an advantage. Yes a job is great--summer. You may have to help her find one/set one up, as it can be tricky if her summer schedule is erratic. For instance, our DD was going away for one week in June and another week in July, which ruled out a few jobs. See if there is someone you know locally, a local business person...my DD has an eye condition and goes to an optometrist every week for eye therapy, so she ended up working there for the summer, and they allowed for her couple weeks of not being there. I really had to help set it up because my kid can be timid. I wouldn't have to set up her next job now that she's got the hang of it. But I'm trying to say, don't be afraid to help; it's not helicoptering and getting a first job can be daunting. |