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Many kids are in the final stages of applying to college. If your child is one of them, here are some essential tips to get through the last-minute stress of the college admission process.

• Don’t Panic – Your child will get into college. And for most of them, it will be a top choice – if you’ve done your college research diligently, set your sights realistically, and don’t make stupid mistakes on the application.

• Choose Schools Smartly – Make sure you child applies to a couple “safety” schools; places your child would be truly happy attending. Don’t confuse rankings with the right fit.

• Don’t Apply To Too Many Colleges – Seven to nine schools are about the right number. Two or three safeties; two or three “possibles;” and two or three “reaches.” Applying to more schools doesn’t increase your odds of getting in.

• Know the Financial Aid Policy – Schools that are “need-blind” make admission decisions completely independently of the need for financial aid. “Need-aware” schools factor in asking for money. Schools tell you their policy on their website.

• Don’t Make Stupid Mistakes – No typos, no grammatical errors, and no misspellings. Answer all the questions. And if your child is adapting essays for multiple schools, be sure to customize the essay for each particular college. There is nothing worse than telling a college with strict distribution requirements how much you value their flexibility.

• Don’t Waste the Essay – This is the opportunity to give a college a reason to admit your child. It is the place to make his “hook” clear. Remember, schools are looking for the well-rounded class; not the well-rounded kid. Give the college a reason to want your child, and an easy way to understand and remember their hook.

• Don’t “Tweak” Your Kid’s Essay – Mom or dad can proof the essay, even comment on it. But admission officers know in a heartbeat when an adult has had too much input.

• Scrub the Facebook Page – Yes, colleges do look at a kid’s Facebook page; particularly when a student is on the admission bubble. Schools want nice kids. Tell your child: if there is something on your Facebook page that might embarrass Grandma, get it off.

This article originally appeared on Forbes.
Image courtesy: nongpimmy / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Odds are, you’re going to take the SAT’s (or ACT’s.) Most “selective” colleges require them. True, more and more really good colleges – yes, selective ones! – are making the SAT’s optional. But the vast majority of schools still require them.

Three Questions are commonly asked:

First, do SAT prep courses work? The answer is yes. Practice helps; test strategies help; reduced stress levels help. Take whatever test prep course you can afford and works for you. They run from free school-based mini-courses; to online practice exams; to groups sessions; to private tutoring. Remember: many others kids will be taking test-prep courses, and they will benefit from the extra practice and advice. You shouldn’t be left behind because you didn’t take a course.

Second, how many times should you take the SAT’s? As many times as you need to get good scores. But don’t get crazy. If you don’t think you did as well as you should have on your first effort, take them a second time. If your scores go up significantly the second time, great. If they don’t, too bad; you may be a poor standardized test-taker. It is not the end of the world! In either case, taking the SAT twice is enough.

Third, what’s this thing called Score Choice; and should you use it? The College Board, which administers the SAT exam, recently introduced a new score-reporting option they call Score Choice. Basically, it allows you to pick and choose which scores from which test-times you want reported to colleges. The rub is that while it provides you with greater flexibility to showcase your highest scores to colleges, each college has its own policy about how they treat Score Choice. To make things a bit easier, the College Board has put together a an easy-to-understand tutorial, and complied a list of virtually every college’s policy towards Score choice. Here is the link for the tutorial; and once you are there, scroll down to the bottom of their page for a link to a pdf of college policies.

Click here for a list of SAT optional colleges.

Question:  Does it make a difference which standardized test my daughter takes?  All of her friends are taking the SAT’s and she is hesitating, thinking she’d do better on the ACT. - Joanne, Boston

Answer:  The biggest difference between these two long-established, and widely-used standardized tests is where they are “most popular.”  Simply for historical reasons, the SAT has been used more extensively along the East and West Coasts, while the ACT has been the preferred “test of choice” in the Midwest and the South.

Substantively, there are minor differences: the ACT includes a “science” section.  It is not hard-core chemistry or biology, but more like a reading comprehension test.  Conversely, the SAT has a required writing section while the ACT’s writing piece is optional.

Here is the big difference: tradition and expectation.  Colleges typically expect a student living in the Northeast (or on the West Coast) to be taking the SAT. And when they don’t, it can raise a red flag.  It might not, but it could.  And the last thing an applicant wants to do is give the admission office a reason to doubt, question, or reject her.  So, stick with what is the norm from your high school.

One final thought – if you’re from an area where both are widely used, take a practice test in both early in the process.  Unless the ACT is significantly higher, stick with the SAT.  Our tutoring experts tell us it is much more difficult to improve your ACT scores.

Two questions are typically asked:

First, do colleges give extra weight to grades earned in honors or Advanced Placement (AP) courses? The answer is usually – either by formally recalculating the student’s grade-point average, or by informally “inflating” the grades earned the more advanced classes.

Second, is it better to earn a “B” in an Honors or AP class; or an “A” in a regular class? Most admissions people answer the question with the half-cynical remark, “It is better to get an “A” in the AP course.” That doesn’t directly answer the question, but it does give a peek inside the system.

Recommendation: Get the “A” in the toughest course you can.

It’s that time of year again: publications of every description are coming out with their college rankings. Some are insightful; others are fun; a few are meaningless. The real question is how can they help you?

The granddaddy of all college rankings is the U.S. News annual rankings of “America’s Best Colleges”. It’s been around since 1983. The Princeton review has been surveying college students for years to generate Top-10 lists of characteristics that often mean more to students – such as quality of life, political activism, and sex-drugs-and rock-and-roll, (My favorite is “Dodgeball Targets.) Forbes, Newsweek, have weighed in with their versions. And of course, there is Playboy’s annual pronouncement of the best party school.

Whether they like to admit it or not, college administrators jump though hoops to improve their ranking every year.

Why? The answer is simple: money and bragging rights. Colleges which rank higher attract more applicants. That, in turn, means less pressure to control tuition increases. It is simple supply and demand. But an equally significant reason colleges make substantive changes, tweak their statistics, and sometimes lie outright in order to improve their ranking is that a higher ranking means better bragging rights. And inasmuch as most colleges and universities are not-for-profit organizations, bragging rights are the equivalent of …well, something.

Be forewarned: many thoughtful people – those without an axe to grind or a place on the list to explain or defend – think the rankings are just plain wrong. Edward Fiske, the long-time Education Editor of the New York Times and creator of the best-selling Fiske Guide to Colleges probably makes the clearest case. He says, “There are two fundamental problems with the rankings. First, they lead parents and students to ask the wrong question. Instead of asking, ‘What’s the best college?’ students and parents should be asking, ‘What’s the best college for me?’ Second, the rankings are compiled based solely on inputs; really they are just a measurement of institutional wealth. And this works against the entire public sector. Although U.S. News separates public from private colleges, you would never get the sense from their rankings that the University of Michigan or Berkeley were among the great universities of the world. And that’s a disservice.”

So should these rankings make a difference to where you go? Or at least to what schools you consider?

The honest answer is: probably. And there are two reasons for this.

First, some of the rankings – the Princeton Review’s for example – give a pretty good insight, from students’ perspective, of what a place is really like. These subjective assessment and candid comments can be useful.

Second, you will be paying a lot of money for college. No, modify that: you’re not just paying, you’re investing a lot. And, after four years you will want a return on your investment. Part of that ROI will be a function of what you put into your college experience: how hard you work, what courses you take, what experiences you take advantage of, and what friendships and connections you make. But part of it is also “brand” equity. When, after graduation, you say, “I went to X College,” does that statement elicit recognition or a blank look?

Here’s the not-so-secret “dirty little secret”: some colleges do open more doors – at least initially – than do others. If you don’t think that having a Harvard-Yale-Princeton-Stanford-or-other-“prestigious”-college degree makes a difference, you are being naïve. More doors are opened more quickly. But they don’t guarantee anyone a job. And not having a degree from one of these “top” schools certainly doesn’t reduce one’s chances of a successful, fulfilling career. But as a first step along the career path, they can provide a bit of a head start.

Brand recognition should not be the determining factor in where you choose to go to college. But we’d be fibbing if we suggested it shouldn’t – or won’t – be a factor.

One important reminder: do not get hung up on whether a particular school is number 17 versus its cross-town rival which is number 14. Don’t get into the minutia; try to keep a big-picture perspective.

Question: We visited several colleges over spring break.  My son hated the tour guide at one of the schools we (and his guidance counselor) thought would be a perfect fit.  Now what?

Jane K, Burlington, Vt.

Answer: Welcome to the bizarre world of college visits.   The college students who conduct the tours will have an enormous impact – whether fairly or not – on your child’s perception of a college.  You may be visiting your alma mater; or your child may be setting foot on the campus she has always dreamed of; and they can be turned off completely by the tour guide.

There is no easy remedy to this inevitable problem.  It is going to happen.  And the school that either you or your child thought was the perfect fit may be thrown into the discard pile.  Unless you’re prepared for the War of the Roses, don’t dismiss your kid’s first impression. Tour guides often convey their personal biases or agendas during the tour.

Sometimes it is intentional; often it is not.  But you’ll hear comments that are anti-athletic or anti-arts; pro-Greek life and anti-frat.   Mike — our resident counselor — always tells students beforehand to not judge a school by the tour guide.

Our recommendation is keep visiting schools.  The more places you visit – even if you are unlikely to apply to a particular place – the better frame of reference you and you son will have.  If, after seeing more colleges, you (and his guidance counselor) still think that first college is a good fit, you should probably suggest visiting it one last time.

But be forewarned: choosing a college is about 80% your son’s choice and 20% everyone else’s.

Make you opinions known.  Then remember whose college experience it is.

Yes you have more life experience.  Yes you think you know what is best for your child.  Yes, you are probably paying for it.  You have a right – indeed an obligation — to share all this with your child.  And once you do, it is important to trust your son or daughter – to act maturely and make reasonable decisions about their own future.

They will make decisions you don’t like or agree with.  That is part of growing up.  And it is your obligation to let go.

The college admissions process is stressful.  Try your best not to make more stressful than necessary.
Designate a “Cone of Silence”

College admissions can be all-consuming.  It takes a lot of time, effort, money, and focus.  You will want to know what your child is thinking about; how they reacted to various campus visits; whether they have completed the myriad pieces of the process.  You’ll want to know where their friends are applying.

It is exhausting.  For all of you.

One of the simplest ways to stay sane and reduce stress is to designate one place where college admissions can’t be discussed.  Some families choose the car; others designate a particular room in the house, or the dining table.  Choose one place and stick to the rule.  Trust us; you’ll all appreciate the cone of silence.

Start Early!!!!!

Nothing can make the process a bit easier than starting earlier.  In our recent survey of graduating seniors it was the single most-often-repeated piece of advice they had for friends.

When is early? Yesterday.  Which means get started now.

Take an SAT prep course early in junior year.

Visit colleges starting in the junior year and have all the visits finished by the end of the summer before senior year.

Write practice essays as soon as senior year starts and college counselors can review them.

Ask teachers who will be writing recommendations to do it over the summer before senior year.

Getting the process started – and finished – early will not only make the experience less stressful, it will actually improve your chances of admission.

For more great ideas about how to reduce stress go to http://www.icollegecounselor.net/Revised_iCC/reducing_stress-parents.html

1. The top colleges aren’t looking for “well rounded” kids.  They’re looking for a well-rounded class.  That means they need scholars for every academic department; athletes for each team; performers for every arts group; even some “really nice” kids to organize hall-hockey.  Think about what this means for you (or your child): how will you be “positioned”?  And how can you influence that positioning?
2. The corollary to the well-rounded-class truth is that admissions officers don’t really care about a student having a “laundry list” of extracurricular activities. They would much rather see a student who excelled at one or two activities, and who attained a leadership position.
3. Admissions officers are looking for reasons to reject applicants, not just accept them.  Virtually every college has far more qualified applicants than they can possibly accept.  Thus, while admissions officers love having a clear “handle” or positioning upon which to accept an applicant, they also “like” applications which they can easily reject.  And the easiest to reject are those with stupid mistakes: misspellings, essay questions not answered, or pieces of the application left blank or missing.

For more insights about how the admissions process really works, go to

http://www.icollegecounselor.net/Revised_iCC/How_to_get_in.html

Is the summer a smart time to visit colleges? After all, with faculty and students away from campus, can one get a true picture of campus life? Are you more likely to get a “picture perfect” image of the school when the only “real” people you’ll encounter are the admission office rep and the tour guide? Is it better to wait until fall to make a campus visit when there are many more sources of information available?

Go! We’d argue that you can make an informed – and thus valuable — visit at either time of the year. But you just have to conduct a “smarter” visit during the summer. In fact, there are some very important reasons why you should make summer visits. The most basic reason is that during the fall of senior year, students are incredibly busy. There are more obligations: a heavy academic load, commitments to extracurricular activities, preparation (or even studying for!) standardized tests. And some high schools restrict the amount of time students can take off for college visits. Plus there is the significant burden of the college applications themselves.

So, if possible, visit colleges during the summer.

First Impressions

The summer is a great time for first impressions. And those first impressions work both ways! Kids can start narrowing down their college list; and colleges can get a personal first impression of a prospective applicant.

Visiting a college during the summer enables a student to get a feel for a campus and its location. That “feel” – indeed that first impression – is critically important in the decision process. It may not be the most reasoned or logical way to make college choices, but we would be disingenuous if we didn’t recognize its importance. It is particularly useful for the student confused – or just unsure – about some of the seemingly most basic choices: big versus small; urban vs. rural vs suburban; East Coast vs. Middle America vs. West Coast. The summer visit can help sort out those concerns.

Recently, we made a summer visit to a well-know, highly respected college in upstate New York. The campus was gorgeous. But the rising-senior we were with was completely turned-off by the tiny rural town where the school was located. He didn’t even want to get out of the car, and the college was immediately off the list. A city kid, he just couldn’t see himself in that environment for the next four years.

But first impressions work both ways As important as the student’s first impression of the college, we also mean the impression the student makes on the college admission staff. The summer visit allows that student to demonstrate interest in a school. That is something that is truly valued today by many college admissions professionals.. And in the slower summer months, admission officers are more likely to be on campus. (Admission officers are typically on the road during the fall, traveling to high schools.) As a result, interviews are more often offered (and available) during the summer. And you’ll find a friendlier, more relaxed staff.

Here are a few rules of the summer game:

PLAN AHEAD. Check a college’s website carefully for available times of group information sessions, campus tours and anything else that is offered. Most offices are closed on the weekend, and some may close early on Friday. If interviews are offered, schedule them well in advance of your visit. (Don’t simply show up on campus and hope to get an interview!) And allow sufficient time between visits if you are trying to see two schools in a day. Showing up late for an interview — or interrupting a group session with a late entrance — certainly does not make a good first impression.

MAKE SURE THEY KNOW YOU WERE THERE. This is critical. Register in advance at the admission office; and fill out any required forms that let the admission office know you were on campus.

ASK A SMART QUESTION. You might prepare a question or two to ask during the group information session — that are of value to the whole group! Remember that many admission officers are often fresh out of college, recent graduates of the school, who love talking about their own experiences at the school. Questions that draw on that enthusiasm may cause an officer to make a note of your interest. And don’t be afraid to introduce yourself after the session. You might be surprised to learn that the presenter knows your high school. She might even be the person who will read your admission file. And, if not, if you’ve made appositive impression, they may pass on to the person who will read your file that you were there and that they enjoyed meeting you.

TOUR GUIDES. There are great tour guides and there are awful tour guides. We would hope colleges only employ good guides – and they usually do. But there is a fair chance that your tour guide will have interests that are different from yours. Often, for example, an aspiring college athlete might draw a fine-arts major as their guide — or vice versa. And instead of seeing the athletic facilities, the tour focuses on the theater. Similarly, the potential engineering major who gets the English major as a tour guide — and who has never set foot in a science lab — may not provide an accurate assessment of the program’s strengths.

A disappointing tour at a school you initially liked – or thought you would like — may warrant a return-visit in the fall. And on that subsequent trip, you’ll want to be more explicit about your visit needs.

We recently enjoyed a school visit where four tour guides presented their academic and extracurricular interests – before the individual tours took off from the admissions office. Visitors were encouraged to tour with the student who best matched their own interests. This is a terrific approach, and we hope more colleges take advantage of it. But if it is offered, don’t be shy; go with the tour guide whose interests match your own.

One caveat about tour guides: occasionally you will encounter a tour guide who turns you off – even at a campus you otherwise love. (It happened to one of our kids who was completely turned off by a tour guide he described as “over-the-top theatrical. He didn’t apply there.) So remember, although the tour guide does represent the school, they are only one person in a community of hundreds and probably thousands. And there will be folks — many just like you – whom you will connect with.

WANDER OFF. Even in the summer, you might be surprised what you can learn about a school just by branching off on your own. One of our favorite stories is that of a student visiting a well-known East Coast school. He wandered into a lab there, and had, what turned into a two-hour conversation with a faculty member. Only at the end of the conversation did he learn that he had been talking to a Nobel Prize winner in physics — who still taught the introductory class there for freshmen. Suffice it to say, that college decision was sealed that day.

Wandering is also a terrific opportunity to see a few things not included on the tour. That athlete we mentioned earlier? Simply by walking up to the undergraduate manning the check-in desk at the student recreation center, he found someone to show him around the athletic facilities.

KEEP NOTES. After visiting two schools a day for three days you’ll be surprised how much they start to blur together. We suggest jotting down a few thoughts after each visit to help you remember the differences between schools and what you liked and disliked about each place. Those notes will also come in handy when you later write your Common Application supplemental essays — which ask why you are interested in a particular school.

Making Sense of Visits

Getting students and their families to see a number of schools in the summer makes my job that much easier in the fall – and that helps them. I can get a sense of what they liked and disliked about particular schools. What locations appealed to them, and what types of campuses turned them off. That makes it much easier to add to or subtract schools from their college list.

Often, students return to high school in the fall with their minds “made up” – they “know” where they want to apply early decision. In these cases I strongly encourage to make a second, “smart” visit to the campus in the fall.

That autumn visit becomes an opportunity to experience campus life at its fullest, with opportunities to attend classes, visit with members of an academic department, test the food, meet potential team members and spend a night in the dorms. (That overnight visit is not just an excuse to party. It is also an opportunity to chat into the late hours and learn what students really think about the school.) When possible, try to stay with an alum from your high school. But if it not possible, most admission offices will assist you in arranging an overnight visit.

When students do make a second campus visit in the fall, it is important to let the admission office know. They love knowing that you have returned after you also visited in the summer

Visits and the Early Decision Commitment

Many families weigh the pros and cons of applying “early decision” to one school. (we’ll address those issues in a future newsletter.) But remember, there is no turning back from that ED application. Once you submit it – and if they accept you – you are committed to attending that school! So a fall visit is very, very important for folks seriously considering the ED approach. That second visit will either reaffirm a student’s interest, or allow them to see things they hadn’t on their summer visit.

When Summer Visits Aren’t Possible

For those students unable to utilize the summer visit, the fall visits are even more critical. You won’t have the “leisurely” pace that summer visits afford you. So be sure to make those trips “smart” visits. Do your homework; plan ahead; use a critical eye; and keep notes.

A Final Word

The college search and admission process can be stressful. Try not to let it be too anxiety-provoking. Parents and kids need to communicate candidly – and listen carefully. The vast majority of kids – in consultation with their parents – wind up making smart, successful, enjoyable choices

Safe travels.

For more help on how to make the college search and admissions process more productive and less stressful, visit us at www/icollegecounselor.net.

“You provide the pictures; I’ll provide the war,” legendary newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst often reminded his reporters.

College admissions isn’t war; but it certainly feels darn close to parents and kids living through it. Maybe that’s why over the past few weeks, college admissions trends seemed to dominate the front pages of our (few remaining) newspapers. Pegged to the traditional April 1st notification date – which is becoming less and less traditional – editors seemed to be capitalizing on parents’ and students’ anxiety about college decisions.

As parents of juniors, you have probably been introduced to the first high-anxiety element of the college admissions process: the SAT’s. Perhaps you’ve had – or were recently invited to – a college night by your child’s guidance counselor. Or your kids may have relayed some tale-of-woe about a senior who was a “sure thing” at a particular college and yet was denied admission. In short, whether you’re ready or not, you are about to be immersed in the college admissions craziness.
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