Summer Reading

Looking for something to read this summer?  Do you want to know more about the college admissions process? Perhaps as a parent, you'd just like to know how to survive the upcoming months!  The director of college counseling at the Derryfield School in New Hampshire asked a few college admissions deans and some of his college counseling peers for some summer reading ideas.  One I particularly enjoyed was I'm Going to College, Not You! Surviving the College Search With Your Child by Jennifer Delahunty.  I highly recommend it!

Advice for the College Bound

If you're on your way to orientation, planning your freshman year schedule, or just shopping for dorm supplies, this is good, solid advice.  I would suggest reading the comments too.  There are some additional worthwhile suggestions.

Are you open to the possibilities?

During the last few weeks of May, I was so busy with AP exams and graduation that I missed this blog post in the New York Times.  The title of it - Let's Hope College Doesn't Go According to Plan - may be my favorite part!

Visiting colleges this summer?

If you're headed out on a college tour this summer - and we hope you are - this mother's perspective might give you a few ideas.  While I'm not sure a student tour guide can really tell you if the professors are happy or not, most of her suggestions are good ones.

I would add that it is always a good idea to spend some time walking around campus on your own. An even better idea is for you to go in one direction and your parents can go in the other.  Maybe you can just sit in the student center and just watch and listen. See if you can find the building or rooms you're interested in, like the theater or science labs. Then you can come back and compare notes with the folks.  Also, see if you can find an off-campus hangout for lunch.  Put it all together, and you'll start to figure out if it "fits" or not!

The story behind your college application...

In a way, your college application is a story...the story of you. Who you are, what you do, where you want to go.  But it can be very difficult to convey all of that in a couple of pages.  Your essay can help; so can your recommendations.  But ultimately it is up to you to tell your own story.

One of the sites I've discovered this year is YouTern, a site for young people trying to connect them to internships and careers.  What I have discovered however, is that much of their advice can be applied to the college applications as well.  Plus, as you graduate from college, their advice could be very useful! This particular article asks "does your resume tell a compelling story?" You could ask the same thing when reviewing your application to college. Does it tell a good story? Does it tell the reader anything about who you are and what you're interested in?  Your college application may be limited, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't ask the questions before you hit submit.

Will you know when you find the right college?

I have a few very vivid memories of my own daughter's college search process, including our first visit to Tufts University.  Call it a gut instinct, but only minutes into the information session, she and I both knew that this school would be a good fit for her.  Alas, she got waitlisted and ended up going elsewhere, but she was so confident in her instincts, that she transferred to Tufts for her sophomore year.  She loved every minute of her experience there (of course it didn't hurt that she was a die-hard Red Sox fan).

The problem, I think, is that you expect to get that special feeling and worry if you don't.  But it doesn't always happen that way. Perhaps you're a person who can see herself just about anywhere.  Perhaps you know you will make the most of any school, big or small.  Maybe you know you can make a home in a big city or a more rural countryside.  I say good for you!   You're flexible, adaptable, and those are great characteristics to have. 

Like this article, I think the most thorough college search combines gut feelings with more practical matters. You may walk onto a campus for the first time and be able to picture yourself there, but you also know that scholarships or financial aid plays an important role.  Emotionally you may be aware that you need plenty of green space in order to be happy, but you also know that the school has to have an engineering department.  Everyone's different, and you have to know what you're looking for in a college.

Once the initial excitement wore off on our Boston visit, we made sure Tufts met most of the objective criteria on my daughter's list, and fortunately, her gut feelings and the must-haves went hand-in-hand.  If you do find "the one," take a deep breath and make sure it also meets your more practical needs.

Student Loan Interest Rates

If you have a student loan or are thinking about getting a loan to help pay for college, you need to be aware of Washington's debate over interest rates.  If you have an opinion, contact your own senators and congresswomen/congressmen.