It was a year ago when my daughter and I began visiting colleges. We were visiting my family in Michigan while she was on Spring break. My daughter, Juliana, was wrapping up her Junior year in High School. At the time, we had no idea of how much work we were in for and my daughter was considering Engineering as a possible field to pursue in college.
Our first stop was Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Being from Southwest Michigan, it was in my back yard growing up. We were considering a Christian education and were welcomed by the school and enjoyed a beautiful day's visit. The following day, we visited my alma mater, Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The state school was much larger as well as the Engineering department. The amount of equipment and specialization available to the engineering students at WMU made Calvin facility and options look like a drop of water in a pail. That is when I knew that this was going to be a long process!
As I share my thoughts, I want to start by saying that there is no "one size fit's all" approach to finding the right college for your soon-to-be Senior. My daughter and I debated between a Christian school and secular school for her future college choice. For us, the decision became clear that a college that focused on Engineering with the financial resources for internships and extensive equipment would knock out most Christian schools. She has been in a Christian educational environment since she was in the 5th grade, so I feel comfortable with her Christian education and values. It was then, that we decided to focus on secular colleges and universities.
Everyone's needs vary. The options are overwhelming; Christian Colleges and Universities, Liberal Arts College (LAC's), Public State Schools, Private Universities, Research driven Universities, Trade Schools, On-line Colleges and smaller Community Colleges, just to name a few.
To begin my series, Lesson's Learned during the College Admissions Process: Starting Early.
I begin with the following advise to families,
1) Start Early. We began during the later half of Junior year. Had I really thought more about it, we would have began visiting much sooner. We could have visited during our various travels during my daughters Sophomore year and even Freshman year. Colleges will welcome you and it will give you and your child a chance to really consider what you both want from the college or university that they will select. It can be a lot of fun and if you space it out over a two or even three year period, it will be a lot less stressful when the time comes to make decisions.
2) Make it an official visit. This means don't just drive by and walk the campus. Actually sign up for a tour and stay for the day. Many colleges and universities consider "demonstrated" interest to be an important factor when admitting students. A student who has visited the campus and had time to see the programs offered and perhaps even sat in on a class or spoken to a professor or admissions officer is now no longer just a name on a piece of paper. Have your son or daughter keep in contact with the admissions officer if they are interested in eventually applying. They can ask questions and will have a contact later on when the time comes to submit their application.
3) Know EARLY what the colleges require (especially of homeschoolers) as part of their admissions application. Home schooled students are often required to take additional SAT subject exams. These require extra planning, time and money. A sophomore who completes Chemistry at the end of their high school year should probably take the SAT subject's test in Chemistry at the end of that year. A Junior will need to have their ACT or SAT exams completed by the end of Summer and may not have time to take additional subjects tests, especially if you are also taking AP exams. There is just only so much time to study and take all of these exams. So spacing them out throughout your Sophomore, EARLY Junior, LATE Junior and EARLY Senior year will be helpful in making sure your child gets all of the testing out of the way and will not stress that they didn't have time to complete everything. Additionally, if your child scores lower than expected, it will allow for more time to study and retake the exam before deadlines.
4) Visit different types of colleges and universities. Make a list of questions to ask before each visit. Take photographs (yes, they may all begin to look alike otherwise), take notes of what you liked or didn't like after each visit. Talk to Professors, Students, Admissions Officers, the Financial Aid Office. More people spend time reviewing their investment options for retirement or vacation planning then they do for their children's college decisions. This is a 4 year investment, or even longer. Planning ahead can save a lot of time, money and heart-ache.
5) Don't cross of a school just because you think it might cost too much or may be too difficult to get in. I will discuss later on the process of evaluating schools to be considered (Safety, Match and Reach Schools), we will look at how many a student should consider applying to, how to find schools that offer scholarships and good financial aid, etc. My daughter in finalizing her selection this week. The two schools she has narrowed it down to have a $45,000 and $55,000 annual price tag. No, we won't be paying that! I would have never considered either school if we had first looked at price tag. We focused more on a good fit and progressed to cost as our search narrowed.
