College Admission Process - Spring Grove Area School District...• Telluride Association Summer...
Transcript of College Admission Process - Spring Grove Area School District...• Telluride Association Summer...
College Admission Process
A Guide for Students
And Possibly Panicked
Parents/Guardians
Where to start?
• The questionnaire for parents and kids in
Panicked Parents Guide to College Admissions
is a great starting place
• Parents and kids fill it out separately, plus
the kids complete “What are your goals?”
• Talk about it together - including how much
parents will contribute financially
• Start early in hs, and feel free to repeat, since
kids’ ideas change over time
Other Questions from Admission Matters
• What are your academic interests?
• What kind of student are you? (need to be #1?)
• How do you learn best? (large/small class)
• What activities outside of class matter the most to you?
• How important is prestige to you?
• Do you want a diverse college?
• What kind of social/cultural environment would you like best?
• Where do you want to live the next few years?
The two sides to choosing a college
Practical
• Cost/financial aid
• Distance/location
• Field of study
• Job opportunities
• Career opportunities
• Can you get in?
Personal
• “Fit”
• “feels right”
• School culture
• Comfort level
Choosing a type of college
• 2 year program
• Start at 2 year school, transfer to 4 year
• 4 year college
– Liberal arts
– Pre-professional
• University – undergrad and graduate
school
Gather possibilities
• Check with your guidance counselor and
teachers you are comfortable with
• Books such as Fiske Guide to Colleges &
Insider’s Guide to the Colleges
• College Fairs
• Online sites
Online sites
• www.collegeboard.com
Finding the Right College
• Peterson's StudentEdge college
compatibility tool
www.petersons.com/college-
search/college-compatibility-tool.aspx
• www.collegeconfidential.com
Make a list
• Start with schools that seem to fit
• Pare down by using www.collegedata.com
to find schools that are affordable and
where you fit with freshman profile
• Some schools have financial aid
calculators to estimate costs on their sites
Final list
1 or 2 long-shot /dream colleges
2 or 3 possible colleges (at least a 50% chance
of acceptance)
1 or 2 good bets/safety schools
Plan for Final List
• Visit during the school year (info session
and tour)
• Sit in on a class in your area, if allowed
• Read the campus paper
• Stay overnight fall of sr. year
• Decide which schools you want to apply to
Applying to College
Different schools ask for different things,
which may include:
• an application form, possibly with essays
• standardized tests (not required by all)
• letters of recommendation
• transcript
• financial aid info
Applying to College with the
Common Application
• Many schools accept the Common
Application, which can be filled out once
and submitted online to a number of
schools.
• Some schools also require a separate,
school specific essay.
– Use details specific to the school (learned
during a visit or online) to show why you are a
match
Early Decision
Early decision is for those who have a definite #1
– Apply to only one school in Nov.
– Find out early (Dec 15)
– Pros
• larger % admitted than thru regular decision
• pay fewer application fees (which can be up to $75 per
school)
– Cons
• Binding decision, except if financial aid offer isn’t ok
• Can’t compare financial aid offers
• If you don’t get in, regular apps due in 2 weeks
Early Action
• Can apply early to more than one school
• Find out early
• Is not binding
What tests are required?
• PSAT is used for National Merit and other
scholarships, not admissions
• PSAT is given in school in October
• Some students take the PSAT in their
sophomore year for practice
• Junior year scores are used for
scholarships
Most colleges require the SAT or ACT
SAT includes: • Critical reading
• Math
• Writing (multiple choice grammar and usage, hand-written essay in response to a prompt)
• Good to take in March or May of jr. year
• Can take again in Oct or Nov of sr. year
• Students can take early – 7th grade – take in Dec of 7th grade after prepping
SET (Students w/Exceptional Talent – score 700)
– 8th grade – Johns Hopkins CTY – programs and scholarships (J)
Prepping for the SAT I
• The Official SAT Study Guide contains 10 actual
SAT tests. Do a timed Saturday morning test,
see what you miss, study those areas
• Solution manuals can help (Tutor Ted)
• Self motivated students can prep on their own
(Kaplan cd)
• Some may need the structure of a course
• Courses at SG, local colleges, online
• A tutor can help (Sam W @ York College)
The ACT is an SAT alternative
• Math counts for 25%
• Has a science section
• Some colleges accept the ACT in lieu of
both the SAT and SAT Subject Tests.
Selective colleges require the SAT ll
• SAT II is a subject test (eg. physics, econ,
languages with listening component)
• Some colleges require 2 or 3 subject tests
• It’s good to take them right after the
subject is taken at school (even after 10th
grade, if that’s when the subject is taught)
• It’s better not to take 3 tests on one day!
• Prep books on each subject are available
Applying to a selective college Admission Matters: What students and parents
need to know about getting into college says it’s harder to get into a selective school (< 50% acceptance rate) because
• Demographically there are a larger number of high school age students
• More hs grads are going to college, and the Common App makes it easier to apply online
• Selective schools offer excellent financial aid, which causes more competition during hard financial times.
• Yale – 72% accepted in 1932, 6.7% in 2013
What do selective colleges look for?
• Transcript
– Grades
– Difficulty of classes
– Class rank
• Tests
– SAT l (or ACT)
– SAT ll or subject tests
Academic Index calculator
Ivy League colleges use a tool called the Academic Index to summarize the academic performance of applicants. The Academic Index combines numeric values based on a student's SAT I and SAT II scores plus his/her class rank or GPA. Calculators are found at:
www.collegeconfidential.com/academic_index3.htm
www.hernandezcollegeconsulting.com/resources/calculator.html
What else do selective colleges look for? • Essay - theme/why you are a good match
– Editing (English teacher, Essay edge)
• Teacher recommendations
– Ask early, give an info sheet with theme (Admission
Matters, p. 273-276)
– Colleges want to know what you’re like in class
• Extracurricular activities (start list in 9th gr)
– Depth in a few areas vs. lots of little stuff
• Hooks and non-teenage activity (NTA)
• Each college ranks the importance of different items at
www.collegedata.com
Example of an Activity List
Honors
• Lenfest Scholarship
• One-course college scholarship from
Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth
• National Merit Commended Student
• Scholastic Art and Writing Award (Gold
and Silver Keys for Writing at Regional
Level)
Extracurricular Activities
• National Honor Society President
• Recycling Club President
• Varsity swim team and tennis team
• Trumpet (school band, symphonic orchestra,
jazz ensemble, and district jazz band)
• Quiz bowl (states) and Brain Busters (captain)
• Model UN
• School representative to HOBY (Hugh O'Brian
Youth Leadership)
Church Activities
• Sunday School teacher, Vacation Bible School Crew
Leader
• Brass Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble
• Synodical Youth Leadership Camp Counselor
• National Youth Gathering Participant (New Orleans
2012)
• Crossroads (week-long social and advocacy ministries
program in NYC - 2011)
Employment
• Lifeguard and swim instructor – Spring Grove HS (2013)
• Genova's Family Restaurant - Helper and Dishwasher
(summer and fall 2012)
Volunteering
• Bread for the World Hunger Advocate, Washington DC
• Democratic Committee of Hanover (2012 Election
Canvassing)
• Football Stadium Cleanup
• Informal Tutoring
• Painted School Affected by Hurricane Katrina (2012)
Other
• MMLA (Middlebury Monterey Language Academy) - 4
week Spanish immersion at Green Mountain College, VT
(summer 2010)
Hooks A hook is a special characteristic a college deems
desirable, over and above the qualities it is generally seeking in its students.1
• Legacy – family members graduated from school
• Significant donors
• Underrepresented students
• Recruited athletes
• Socioeconomic and geographic diversity
• Special talents
Also • Non-teenage activity (NTA)
• First in family to attend college
1 Admission Matters, p. 36
Socioeconomic diversity
For families with income under $60,000:
• Many selective colleges charge nothing!
• QuestBridge is a non-profit program that links bright, motivated students with educational and scholarship opportunities at some of the nation's best colleges. (family of 4 income $60k or less)
Socioeconomic diversity
• The Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Scholars Program offers financial help and academic resources to qualified 8th grade students, and continues to provide services through their remaining pre-college years. The Program builds a pipeline for high potential students from diverse backgrounds that leads from middle school, to college, to careers and into key leadership roles.
• The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation's Young Scholars Program annually selects 50 - 75 exceptional 7th grade applicants from across the country as Young Scholars. Each receives ongoing individualized academic services designed to cover the costs of CTY and other educational programs.
Helping your child identify a passion
The most important secret to motivating a
teenager is to establish a set of goals and dreams
– and a game plan to make those goals
reachable.1
• Ask your teenager to choose 3 or more goals from
the “What Are Your Goals?” list2
• Design a plan together that includes summer
programs in their areas of interest
1What High Schools Don’t Tell You p. 5 2 “ pp. 13-14
Summer programs
What skills would they like to pick up during the summer?
Courses/programs – see What High Schools Don’t Tell You for a great listing by subject
• Middlebury Monterey Language Academy (MMLA) – 4-week language immersion (J tested out of 2 years of Spanish)
• Middlebury (after sr. year) 7-week language immersion
• Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) – based on SAT performance
– summer programs at F&M, Dickinson, and Johns Hopkins
Other Summer Programs
• Telluride Association Summer Programs (TASP) – free 6-week humanities program for 64 hs juniors (1000
applicants,107 interviews)
– stipends for travel and to replace work earnings are available
– application includes 6 essays
• Telluride Association Sophomore Seminar (TASS) – 36 sophomores focus on history and cultural experiences of
people of African descent
• Research Science Institute (RSI) for juniors at MIT – MITES for minority students
• Summer Science Program (SSP) at Ojai, CA – Astronomy, physics, calculus, and programming
Other summer options
Internships – www.VolunteerMatch.org
Jobs – try to help them get a job that is
relevant to their ultimate goals
Day trips
Vacations
Applying for Financial Aid
• FAFSA – available Jan. 1 – calculates
Estimated Family Contribution (EFC)
• Some schools require the PROFILE, which
includes home value and retirement account info
• Cost of attending – EFC = financial need
• Different schools meet different % of need (see
www.collegedata.com)
• Fin aid packages may include grants, loans, and
work-study
Financial decisions
• When comparing financial aid packages, figure
out the bottom line – What is the bill going to be?
• Are loans a part of the package? Some colleges
have a no-loan policy, replacing loans with
grants (CJ/Swarthmore, MB/Columbia)
• 2013 grads average $35,200 in total debt
($26,000 in fed. loans, plus state and private
loans and credit card debt)
• How is the financial aid package affected by
scholarships?
Final thoughts
• Private schools can cost less than public schools
due to more financial aid
• It is possible to graduate without loans (see Debt
Free U by Zac Bissonnette)
• There are great scholarships out there!
Lenfest, Local, Coke, etc.
• Don’t sacrifice your retirement savings. You can
get loans for college but not for retirement.
• Students should not take out loans more than
their estimated starting salary
Comparing Penn State and Princeton
• http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/colleg
e/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=59
• http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/colleg
e/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=111
Discussion
• Questions?
• Comments?