Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a W school?
If she's in public, can they afford a private college counselor?

She is in public and I think a college counselor is totally out of reach, as are SAT prep courses.

I think PP was suggesting that she sit down with her school's college counselor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give them a copy of Andy Ferguson's: "Crazy U: One Dad's experience with the College Admissions Process" (or something close to that).

This is a great book. I had ordered some other things from Amazon and got the book used for $2.00.

Don't give them this book! I loved it and I think it's hilarious. But it's all about the super-competitive world of college admissions, where private college counselors and SAT prep are just the beginning, and people are hiring essay writers and bragging to each other next to the sub-zero freezer. The book is tongue-in-cheek about all these things, but the net effect could be to make your neighbors' kid feel inadequate because Ferguson is right, a lot of this stuff really does go on, and it could be intimidating to a first-timer.

I disagree. It is hilarious where it should be. And Andy does poke fun where he should. But he also explains why planning needs to start sophomore year and just how ridiculous the whole rating system has become, which is why colleges do insane things just to get your kid to apply so they can reject them (to increase selectivity stats on the reviews). It's not the system we went through 10, 20, 30 years ago and they need to understand that. And they might as well get over the sticker shock too becauses there's no point in looking at some of the liberal arts colleges that are $65K a year if the family can't afford it. Starting to think "in state" is the smartest thing to do even if it requires a move.

I disagree with this advice. Families at this income level are likely to qualify for a great deal of financial aid, which means she might be able to consider many different schools. (Unless living at home is a necessity of course.) The best course of action is to figure out how much the family can pay and then run the net price calculators on the websites of several different colleges to get a sense for what kind of aid this student might get. Try several of the top ranked schools that meet 100% of financial need, then try several schools that are further down the rankings that don't necessarily meet financial need but might offer merit aid to a top student. Reaches should ONLY be schools that meet 100% of need. Safeties should be schools that she can safely assume she will be in the top 25% of students and that are known for generous assistance to well-qualified students. Compare her SAT scores to the middle 50% range of scores for the schools on a website such as ipeds. For example, just to take a local school as an example, if she is looking at American University, her SAT CR score should be above 690. This increases her chances of being among the top applicants and of receiving an offer of merit aid.

http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=american+university&s=all&id=131159#admsns

I think a student like this could really benefit from a mentor. I would get some names of good college advisors in your area and call around and see if someone would be willing to take her on pro bono.

This website is a great resource, and the book is terrific as well:

http://www.thecollegesolution.com/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Give them a copy of Andy Ferguson's: "Crazy U: One Dad's experience with the College Admissions Process" (or something close to that).

This is a great book. I had ordered some other things from Amazon and got the book used for $2.00.

Don't give them this book! I loved it and I think it's hilarious. But it's all about the super-competitive world of college admissions, where private college counselors and SAT prep are just the beginning, and people are hiring essay writers and bragging to each other next to the sub-zero freezer. The book is tongue-in-cheek about all these things, but the net effect could be to make your neighbors' kid feel inadequate because Ferguson is right, a lot of this stuff really does go on, and it could be intimidating to a first-timer.

I disagree. It is hilarious where it should be. And Andy does poke fun where he should. But he also explains why planning needs to start sophomore year and just how ridiculous the whole rating system has become, which is why colleges do insane things just to get your kid to apply so they can reject them (to increase selectivity stats on the reviews). It's not the system we went through 10, 20, 30 years ago and they need to understand that. And they might as well get over the sticker shock too becauses there's no point in looking at some of the liberal arts colleges that are $65K a year if the family can't afford it. Starting to think "in state" is the smartest thing to do even if it requires a move.

Anonymous wrote:CollegeConfidential.com is a great resource.

http://www.firstgenerationstudent.com/

A group of colleges/universities looking to expand economic diversity was recently featured in a NYT story. I'm not finding it but will post it if I do.

How motivated is your neighbor? There's so much great information online ...

+1 on College Confidential. Just take the super-competitive vibe on some of the threads with a grain of salt, because the site tends to attract super-competitive kids and parents. Also, avoid the Chance Me threads like the plague.

(The Chance Me threads go something like this: somebody who may or may not be a real person says, "I have perfect SATs and a 4.0 unweighted GPA and I cured cancer, what are my chances of getting Competitive U?" And then somebody who is probably as uninformed as you are replies, "Well your stats look OK, but to have a chance you really need some leadership, like maybe founding a not-for-profit." That kind of thing. Crazy-making.)