Any list should include at least a couple colleges that your child will happily attend AND you can afford with little to no financial aid.

You don’t need a private college counselor. Just get some books about the process from the library and read them. Go to your school’s college info nights. Keep in mind that activities only matter for a small segment of the colleges out there (the very selective ones). There are many schools where they don’t matter at all to admissions (such as large state schools). There are a TON of colleges out there and you can get a good education at virtually all of them, so think about cost, distance, and size. Apply to a range of schools, not just highly selective ones. Apply early if there’s a definite first choice and your family can afford it—admissions are easier early decision.

For activities, they really like to see something that involves leadership or community. She could volunteer for special Olympics or something along those lines that is low cost.

The best advice we got is to plan ahead!!! Get those applications in early. Even if you’re not applying EA or ED, the admissions counselors have far fewer applications earlier in the year than near the deadline, and that may offer your application a further look. Fill out the FAFSA early, some aid is first come first serve. Fill out the Common App early so you can see exactly where your holes are while you still have time to fill them. Start narrowing down colleges in junior year so if there are certain classes, or SAT subject tests the colleges you are interested in require, you have time to do them senior year. Early bird gets the worm.

I truly think you can do it on your own, it’s just a lot of work. Counselors are a luxury that make it easier and take away the parent/child dynamic.

Anonymous wrote:She sounds like a great student. NHS is indeed a significant honor (that my kid didn't have). I agree with the poster who said "fit matters more than ranking." Getting in to Harvard may be out of the question without extracurricular activities, but many great schools will be matches for her. Just figure out what she wants to study, and start looking at good schools. I wish my kids were straight A students.

Stop seeing Harvard as the top of some hierarchy.

Plenty of other schools are better, and a better fit.

Find where your kid will thrive, here or abroad (our counsellor does offer good guidance on Canadian and UK schools, I encourage you not to ignore them)

p.s. just rereading your OP. It doesn't matter if you went to college, so much has changed. I went to college and the application process is so different that I couldn't help out unless I started a deep dive with researching. You will find more on College Confidential.

Anonymous wrote:What I am most confused about is what types of activities she should be doing. Academically she does very well, she is a straight A student, but she is not a musician and doesn't play sports and we are afraid that this will hurt her. Recently I heard that colleges don't really care about National Honor Society, which I had thought was a significant honor. I just feel so clueless and guilty about not having the knowledge needed to advise her.

We hired one and this was my first question because I didn't want to argue with DC. Counselor said DC should think about more activities, so that settled it. There are so many clubs and after school stuff, they just have to pick stuff that interests them. I heard in a college night that activities also help students answer questions on the applications. If they're not doing much, it could limit their ability to find experiences to write about. You can do it without a counselor, but how much you need to help out depends on your child. A friend of ours went on College Confidential and learned so much that I think he could be a counselor now. His wife says he spent a year on it, but his kids ended up at great schools, one with a full ride.

Op, the best way to find out is to hire one.

There’s another great book called College Match by Dr Antonoff. It’s a great substitute for a college advisor in that it has questions for the student to answer to figure out what type of school is a good fit. It also provides info re financial aid and gives structure for the application prices. It’s a short book. Definitely check it out.

After reading that book, you and your child can read fiske but I’d also check out niche.com which provides useful info re schools from the students.

There are a lot of online resources for the college admissions process. At the least they give you a timeline of how and when to work on application so you’re not rushing things at the end.
Get the fiske guide to read about the vibe at different schools. It really is all about the best fit.

Re activities, it’s about quality over quantity. Don’t go overboard doing too many. Just pick a few.

Anonymous wrote:What I am most confused about is what types of activities she should be doing. Academically she does very well, she is a straight A student, but she is not a musician and doesn't play sports and we are afraid that this will hurt her. Recently I heard that colleges don't really care about National Honor Society, which I had thought was a significant honor. I just feel so clueless and guilty about not having the knowledge needed to advise her.

Does she have any activities? And what year is she? NHS is nice, but it will be more appealing to colleges if she did something with it. For example, if she tutors students, that's great, but if she just showed up for the ceremony, it's not that appealing.

She should pick one or two activities that she's REALLY interested in, and do them to the highest degree possible. Also, I completely agree about going and getting a book from the library.

She sounds like a great student. NHS is indeed a significant honor (that my kid didn't have). I agree with the poster who said "fit matters more than ranking." Getting in to Harvard may be out of the question without extracurricular activities, but many great schools will be matches for her. Just figure out what she wants to study, and start looking at good schools. I wish my kids were straight A students.

What I am most confused about is what types of activities she should be doing. Academically she does very well, she is a straight A student, but she is not a musician and doesn't play sports and we are afraid that this will hurt her. Recently I heard that colleges don't really care about National Honor Society, which I had thought was a significant honor. I just feel so clueless and guilty about not having the knowledge needed to advise her.

Fit matters more than ranking.

I think that making is good list is important. If you school has Naviance, use it to decide your child's likelihood of being admitted. You need some safeties, targets and reaches.

Buy (or get from the library) a book like Princeton review to read about what the options are, and to guide discussions with your DD about her preferences (such as large or small school, rural or urban, Greek life or no). It is hard to provide specific advice from afar. Are you friends with any other local parents who might have experience with this process? They would probably be very happy to help you, if you explain your situation. The PTA or Guidance office might even match you up with such a family, if you don't know any. And the school's English dept should offer to read your child's draft essay, early senior year. Good luck!

I have heard that the counselors at my DD's HS arent very helpful with college admissions and we don't have the money to pay for a private counselor, so I'm hoping that someone who has used a private counselor in the past can share advice that they found particularly useful. No one in our family has attended college before, so I feel that I lack the knowledge needed to provide savvy information, that other parents are able to provide for their children.