The College Admissions Process Starts With Your College Search

Before you can get into a top college or any university, for that matter, you have to decide where you want to apply. The college admissions process is not easy and neither is deciding where to go to college. Doing a college search can be the biggest decision that you and your parents make together during the college admissions process.

There are some important factors for you and your parents to consider when doing a college search during the college admissions process. Where you apply influences where you get in, and where you go to college can have a big impact on your career and future in general. One of the most important things to consider as you start the college admissions process by doing a college search is: What is the Average Class Size?

Class size as in ratio of students to faculty, can really influence access to faculty and your experience as an undergraduate student. For the most part, private schools have smaller class sizes. My friends who went to public colleges for their undergraduate studies shared horror stories with me about having “video professors” – what?!

That’s right, they attended lectures in large auditoriums with a video recording of their professor lecturing – unbelievable. You might as well do distance learning. I personally found this outrageous, but for some anonymity is a plus. If you are just a number, though, it can be more challenging to petition to get into a competitive major OR to request a letter of recommendation, when and if, you apply to graduate programs.

As you may know, conducting a college search is only the first step in the college admissions process. To help those who are serious about getting into an Ivy League college or other top college, I outline insider information based on my experience as a recruiter and alumni interviewer for Yale University. My recommendations, tips, and insight are available at http://www.collegesearchtips.com as part of the Keys to the CASTLE program.

If you want to increase the odds of getting into a top college or your child getting into an Ivy League college, then you need to immediately go to http://www.collegeadmissionstips.com Everyday that goes by that you don’t access this information, the odds of getting in decreases. High school graduation is right around the corner, don’t you want your child to have big plans for the following fall. I hope this was helpful to you. Here’s to making your dreams, your reality. – Kamala Appel, Exec. Producer

Author: Kamala Appel
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital pipeline

Start College Admissions Planning Right Now!

One of the biggest mistakes made during the college admissions process is not starting early enough. Now that you know it’s important to start early, when do you begin? Third grade is too early; eighth grade is just about right.

Since your child’s official high school transcript begins with the first day of ninth grade, it’s a sound strategy to initiate college discussions with your child in the eighth grade and set goals before the first day of high school.

Reams of information have been published about the college application process during the junior and senior years. I’d like to introduce you to some ideas that you and your child can implement during the middle school and early high school years. View them as a foundation; start with them and build incrementally until junior year when the process needs to become more rigorous.

Let me be clear. Starting the college admissions process early is not intended to bulk up your child’s application with meaningless accomplishments. The goal is to have calm and instructive discussions about college that lead to a strategic action plan that supports and illustrates your teen’s interests and passions.

Middle School Years/Eighth Grade

If available, your child should take Algebra I in the 8th grade to ensure that he or she is on track for senior year Calculus. Strive for the highest level of math your teen can attain.
Meet with your child’s school counselor to develop a 4-year college preparatory plan. Use this plan as a baseline guide that is revised as your child learns more about his or her interests.

Freshman Year
Encourage your child to:

Develop sound study habits
Set academic and extracurricular goals
Take challenging courses

Sophomore Year
Learn the college-bound calendar. Highlights include:

October: Take the PSAT. Note that the PSAT should be retaken during Junior year to qualify for National Merit Scholarships.
April: register for SAT IIs (if applicable). Visit colleges during spring break
May: revisit academic and extracurricular goals. Plan for Junior year.

In the next issue we will introduce strategies for college-bound juniors and seniors.

P.S. Seniors should continue to study hard and not give in to senioritis. Colleges will rescind offers if grades dip significantly.

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine? No problem! But here’s what you MUST include:

Geanine Thompson is CEO and Founder of The College Guru, Inc., a college admissions counseling firm that helps parents and students leap over the rising college admissions bar. Get your FREE Special Report “The 5 Fatal Mistakes That Will Keep Your Child From Getting Into a Competitive College (…and how to avoid them!)” and FREE online winning college admissions tips at http://www.TheCollegeGuru.com

Author: Geanine Thompson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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College Admissions – How Your Current Plan Will Lead You to Mistakes That Will Cost You

I was hosting a live workshop recently and two of my attendees volunteered to share their current college admissions and financial aid plans. I was impressed that they each had one.

It has stuck with me because they illustrated the common mistakes students and parents are making that ultimately cost students their opportunity for admission or cause them to pay more for their college degree than is absolutely necessary.

Here’s what happened:

It was the beginning of the workshop and I asked the audience if anyone had a strategic plan for the college admissions and financial aid process and if so, what was that plan.

Two brave people raised their hands, one a student and one the mother of a student. Both of their plans sounded eerily similar.

“Wonderful. What is your plan?” I asked the mom first.

“Well,” she replied confidently, “we’re currently looking at different colleges trying to decide which ones we’ll apply to. Then, we’ll apply. My son plans on interviewing, as well.”

The minute she started outlining her plan, I recognized the mistakes she was making already.

“Okay, you’re looking at colleges. What is it that your son wants to be, career-wise?”

“He’s undecided.”

“How do you know the schools you’re currently looking at will be the best place for him once he decides what he wants to do?”

Silence.

The student with a plan, on the other hand, had zeroed in on a career goal. But, she admitted that money was a huge consideration for her. She, too, was looking at colleges.

“Do you know your Expected Family Contribution? What the schools will expect you to pay?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know if the colleges you’re considering actually have money to help you pay the bill?”

Again, silence.

Both were making the mistake of looking at colleges as the first step of their plan — and they were completely WRONG!

They were confusing the steps in the process for an actual plan. A plan guides your actions when taking the steps of choosing colleges, creating your application strategy, and so on. The steps of the college admissions process are not a plan of action. They are simply the things you must do to complete the task.

If you’re serious about winning at the college game, you need to create a master plan that will guide your actions. Your plan will ensure you have a purpose behind the steps you must take to complete the college admissions and financial aid process.

Your first steps to creating a plan should be:
1. Set Some Goals: College is not the end game. It is a stepping stone that helps you get to a larger goal – such as a particular job or career. If you don’t have some idea of what your goals are, how do you know if a particular college is going to be the place to help you achieve them?

2. Know Your EFC: Your expected family contribution (EFC) is the minimum amount of money the schools and the federal government will expect you to pay. If you don’t know what you’ll be expected to pay, how on earth can you be selecting colleges?

3. Know the Rules: Like any other game, Admissions and Financial Aid operate under their own sets of rules. If you don’t know the rules, how do you expect to win?

Stop right now and evaluate your current college plan. Do you actually have one or are you mistaking the STEPS you need to take for the plan itself? If so, you need to fix that and FAST!

Failing to do so will cause you to make costly mistakes when it comes to choosing colleges. Choosing the wrong college can cost you or your student:

• Loss of Self-esteem if you don’t get in OR you get in but it’s not the place for you.
• Loss of Time: Transferring or changing majors cost you more time AND more money.
• Loss of Money if you end up paying more than is absolutely necessary for the college degree.

Seniors, you’re almost out of time to get your college plan together.
Juniors, it’s time you start creating your plan.

Don’t wait, because lack of a plan or the wrong plan will cost you – cost you opportunities for admission and opportunities for financial aid to help pay the bill!

Jeanmarie Keller, is an Admissions and Financial Aid Strategist who has advised hundreds of students and their families on how to get NOTICED, get IN and get MONEY to help pay the college bill. She publishes the weekly email newsletter, ‘The College Oracle’. If you’re ready to jump-start your college search, get money to help pay the bill, and have more fun while planning your future success, get your FREE tips now at http://www.kellercollegeservices.com

Author: Jeanmarie Keller
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

College Admissions – Why Students Need a Good College Admissions Strategy

Getting into college these days is more than just “fill out the application” and wait for word from the college. Years ago, that may have been the case, but it isn’t any longer. More students are going to college than ever before and that means more competition. AND, those same students are more active than ever before — great grades, lots of activities and community service are normal and expected.

That’s often the most difficult part for parents to understand. Just because your child has great grades and good SAT scores, doesn’t necessarily mean he or she is Ivy League material or a shoo-in at every college. So, when strong grades, solid SAT scores and tons of activities are the norm, your problem still remains: how to stand out from the crowd.

The solution is to have a compelling message to deliver to the schools and a plan to communicate it consistently to the right people. It’s going to help you stand apart from the rest of the crowd! And, the key to a good college admissions strategy is your message.

College admissions folks love anything that can help them identify your strengths and communicate them quickly and easily. Your message should make you more “memorable” to the college admissions representative who reads your application. If you have really zeroed in on the right message, it will likely be supported by others — such as your teachers who will be writing your recommendations!

Done well, your message and the strategy you use to deliver it can be powerful tools to get you noticed and in at a particular college, as it did for one of my students, Anita.

Anita’s dad asked me to work with his daughter because she wanted to get in to a highly selective school that had a top-notch reputation in the medical sciences. Exactly the kind of place that fit in with her career goals of following in her physician-father’s footsteps. Anita was a strong candidate for for the school, but she and her dad didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

Anita and I worked together to develop her message to the schools so she would stand out as much as possible from the thousands of others in the admissions office. Together, we developed her strategy to reinforce her two unique qualities — her love of and desire to study math and science plus her extraordinary accomplishments in classical Indian dance.

Her message boiled down to how she was equally at home on the stage and in front of a Bunsen burner. It was concise and, most of all, it was memorable.

She was able to incorporate this message into every part of the college admissions process — as part of her main essay; she was able to integrate it into her interviews. The clarity and consistency of her message made a great impression, as evidenced by comments made by the admissions officer after she was accepted!

Having a comprehensive plan and a strong admissions strategy kept Anita in control of the admissions process rather than letting the admissions process control her. Isn’t that more appealing than “throwing together your applications’ and “hoping for the best”? So, get started taking control…

Your Get NOTICED, Get IN, Get MONEY Assignment:

1. Create your message.

2. Identify who you will communicate your message to.

3. Start communicating that message — consistency is the key!

Jeanmarie Keller, is a college admissions and financial aid expert and creator of the Get NOTICED, Get IN, Get MONEY System, the proven step-by- step program that shows you exactly how to get NOTICED in the college admissions office, get IN at the colleges right for you, and get MONEY to help pay the college bill. To claim your F.R.E.E. audio CD: “Finding Cash For College” and receive weekly admissions and financial aid tips and strategies, go to http://www.JeanKeller.com

Author: Jeanmarie Keller
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College Admissions Offices – Who, How, and What

College admissions offices are mysterious entities. Most high school students have no idea how they work, who they are, and yet these offices hold the key to getting into Harvard.

Below, I’ll demystify college admissions offices and describe a few inside secrets about them.

1) They are not a bunch of old, white-haired people with tweed jackets sitting in a room smoking cigars while reading your Common Application. In fact, most college admissions offices are comprised of relatively young college graduates who went through the admissions process themselves not too long ago

2) College admissions committees do not throw a dart on the wall to determine who gets into Stanford, who goes on the waitlist, and who is rejected. The deliberation process is long, arduous, and can seem arbitrary, but is actually fairly technical and numbers-based

3) Each school has a different deliberation process. Most colleges have regional review cycles (the case for most Ivy League schools) – which means that there are specific people assigned to regions of the U.S. and foreign countries to review all applications coming from that region. This helps application readers build location-specific knowledge

4) Borderline candidate decisions are usually made by committee – which means that on certain days, you may get into Yale, but on others, you’ll be waitlisted. This may worry you – but instead of focusing on things out of your control, focus on what you CAN control – your essays, your teacher recommendations, your extracurricular activities. If you have a strong enough application – and I provide a lot of last-minute college application tips on my blog – you will maximize your chances of going to your dream school

Hope that helps!

Hopeless To Harvard is a former Admissions Officer’s account of how to get into Harvard, Princeton, and any other Ivy League schools. Click here to learn about the Ivy League admissions, and break into the school of your dreams! Discover how to get into Princeton now.

Author: John Dorian Chang
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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