Just because I appreciate a good turn of phrase does not mean I’m poised to write the next great American novel.   Nor do my frequent visits to WebMD make me qualified to dispense health advice.  As I opened my Outlook calendar this morning, I realized it is late March.  Tax time.  I better call my accountant, not my best friend who majored in economics in college.

It’s unlikely you would consider using an attorney who did not pass the bar or a contractor without a license.  So as you think about how to identify the most qualified person to help your family navigate the college admission process, allow me to give you one piece of advice:

Hire a college admissions expert. 

During this time of year, my meetings with juniors often begin with questions about next year’s coursework.  Families worry both about how much their student can handle and how colleges will view their curricular choices during the college selection process.  Jimmy can take 4 APs, but his Eagle Scout project will take up so much time after school.  He also wants to take the philosophy and world religion electives.  What should he pick?  Sarah wants to get into the State Engineering College, so should she take a lighter course load outside of math and physics to boost her GPA?

Most families understand the numeric output of the GPA.  But what really matters to colleges is what those little numbers represent—how much a student challenges herself, and the success she earns through those challenges.  So yes, colleges do care whether students take AP, IB, and honors courses. 

I have a few questions about submitting official test scores to the colleges on my son’s list. When should we be sending my son’s scores? Is there any reason why we would not take advantage of the free score report option and submit them before we actually see his scores? 

Many College Coach students ask us about the best time to send in their standardized test scores when applying to colleges. The best time to send SAT, ACT and/or SAT subject test scores is about a month before the application deadline (in the case of rolling admissions, the scores should go out about a month or so before the application is submitted). You can certainly send them earlier than that, as they will simply go into a holding place at each institution until your son submits his application.  Then his scores will be matched with the file. The ACT and the College Board, which offers the SAT and subject tests, will allow you to submit scores at any point after they are available. To mark other important dates, view our college preparation timetable for parents. 

by Kyra Tyler, former admissions officer at Brandeis University

When I meet with students and their families about the college admission process, the topic of choosing the right extracurricular activities for college admissions is one they want to discuss with a level of seriousness usually assigned to matters of national security. I can’t say I blame them given that talk of college usually begins almost immediately after a child loses all her baby teeth. One question is always raised: how many extracurricular activities should my child be doing?

Extracurricular Activities vs. Academic Work

As with many things related to college admissions, it depends. Some students can manage 20 hours of activities per week while still maintaining their academic work, while others are only able to handle eight.

College Coach recently sat down with Megan Stubbendeck, Global Elite Instructor at Revolution Prep, to get her take on the news shared in the Washington Post article, College Board to make changes to SAT. In part one of our interview, we discussed what this news means for students planning to take the SAT in the next few years and what might have prompted these changes in the first place.

Would you turn down $2,000 of free money?  No?

Sadly, in 2009, over 1.5 million families DID turn down this free money by neglecting to take advantage of the education tax breaks that they were entitled to.  As reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the lost savings in unclaimed education tax breaks in 2009 (the most recent year for which information is available) totaled $726 million representing an average loss of $466 per family.  Over the course of a 4-year education, this average yearly loss equates to a family turning down nearly $2,000!

As we sit in the heart of tax season, College Coach’s college admissions counseling team strives to help families take advantage of these important tax breaks. 

For some students, the process of gathering letters of recommendations for college can be more stressful than writing all those essays. Having trouble deciding who to choose as your recommendation writers for your college applications? College Coach expert Elizabeth Heaton weighs in on the do’s and don’ts of making the best selection in her most recent blog for USA TODAY College.

Still worried about getting recommendation letters? Don’t forget to read up on what you should do if you need a letter from your school guidance counselor and they don’t know you very well. Also, be sure to check out our top college application tips for students from Elizabeth and the rest of College Coach’s professional college consultants.

Spokespeople for the Common Application recently announced that the 2013 – 2014 version of the application would include five brand new essay prompts, which are:

• Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?
• Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea.  What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
• Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?
• Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

“Average” college students in search of scholarship dollars received a bit of good news last week when the website, College Humor, announced the start of their $5,000 “Average Student Scholarship Contest.”  While humorous in nature, the scholarship is, indeed, real — no laughing matter for students in search of ways to finance a college education.  But the scholarship is only one of many geared towards students who might not necessarily find themselves at the top of their class.  Here to weigh in on other sources of aid for the “average” student are a few of our college finance experts:

You don’t need to get straight A’s to win a college scholarship! 

So you just clicked the “submit” button on your child’s FAFSA, and maybe you’re thinking, “Phew!  Glad to be done applying for financial aid!”  Well, take a deep breath, Moms and Dads, because you may not be done with financial aid applications yet.  Many schools (about 300 of the close to 4,000 colleges in the US, almost all of them private) require an additional financial aid application called the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE.  Why the extra form?  The PROFILE allows colleges to collect more information than the FAFSA so that they can conduct a rigorous analysis some colleges believe provides a more realistic measure of a family’s ability to pay.  There are many differences between the FAFSA and the PROFILE, below are some of the most important ones for students and their families.

FAFSA Financial Aid Application vs. PROFILE Financial Aid Application