Getting Organized

This is the first in a series of blog posts in which Jan Combs, college finance consultant and mother of a high school senior, will walk us through her son’s college application process. Along the way, Jan will share tips and tricks to help your family manage, and even enjoy, this nerve-wracking journey for you and your child.

Ian Fisher guest hosted this week’s episode of “Getting In: A College Coach Conversation”. This week’s uniquely-styled episode focused on just one topic—college access—bringing in three diverse guests to present three different perspectives.

It’s almost summer, but rather than heading to the beach, host Elizabeth Heaton was back at the microphone at Getting In: A College Coach Conversation. In this week’s episode, Beth gave listeners a closer look at Connecticut College, helped them to understand the pros and cons of using retirement savings toward college, and answered a number of listener questions.

A recent report published by leading colleges and universities is calling for concrete changes to the college admissions process. Here, two of our expert educational consultants discuss their opinions and ideas about the report.

Ian Fisher: Last month, I wrote an opinion piece for our blog on Turning the Tide, a report compiled by the Harvard Graduate School of Education and endorsed by college admissions professionals nationwide. In the month or so since that report has been released, I’ve seen a mix of skepticism, usually from admissions professionals and school counselors, and optimism, usually from those on the outside of the field looking in. At the heart of this tension is a big question: is this something new? And will it change how colleges approach admissions? I’m interested in getting your (Elyse Krantz’s) take on those two questions, but I’m also interested in continuing the conversation for our readers.

On last week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, guest host Ian Fisher shared some insight on the college process from the perspective of a large, public university, helped listeners better understand the process of financial aid verification, and shed some light on how colleges evaluate the high school that your child attends.

College Admissions, Georgia Style

Wondering about how large, public universities make their admissions decisions? Kelly Bird, Senior Assistant Director of Admission at the University of Georgia, joined the show to explain how UGA evaluated the 23,000 applications they received this year.

Last week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation was a special and exceptionally useful opportunity to get advice straight from those who know the college search process best: two first-year college students!

The Student Perspective

In each of the first two segments, Beth’s guests shared their unique college search stories. Lexi began her very thoughtful search by tagging along on college visits with her older brother, then researching and applying to a variety of schools through Regular Decision, finally making her college decision right before May 1. C.J. also researched a variety of schools, just as Lexi did, but he applied and was accepted to his first choice through Early Decision. Both had marvelous (and unscripted!) insights to share – you won’t want to miss it.

Editor’s Note: This is an opinion piece from one of our educators. We will be following up this piece with a more detailed and nuanced breakdown of the report discussed here, Turning the Tide.

On January 20, the Harvard Graduate School of Education released a new report on the state of college admissions that was endorsed by senior admissions staff and deans from schools all over the country, including those from Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Brown. Titled Turning the Tide, the report outlines specific challenges to college admissions offices, encouraging them to find ways to relieve the pressure of the college admissions arms race and support better, more conscientious students nationwide. While the core values of the report are clear, well-articulated, and of critical importance, as a former admissions professional and College Coach educator, it’s hard for me to see the ways that this report will create meaningful change for college-bound high school students nationwide.

Happy New Year! We’re just seven days into 2016 and we hope that means many of your resolutions are still alive. Whether you’re going to the gym more, eating healthier, or resolving not to look at your phone while you drive (good one!), January 1 is a great time to think about what you want to improve in your life. For high school juniors and their families, the application work looming in the fall threatens to interrupt all kinds of progress. We’ve got some resolutions for students (and parents!) to help keep you on the right path over the next twelve months.

Students

1)  I resolve to do well in AP US History not just because it will look good in college admissions, but because it’s a fascinating class.
This is great advice no matter the class, and no matter the activity. If you throw yourself into your work, you’ll be much more satisfied than if you feel like you’re going through the motions.

Students all around the country are returning to their high schools this fall, and seniors are heading back with the special thrill and anxiety that comes with college applications. Those who have made the most of their time this summer will be pretty close to finishing their college list and will have a serviceable draft (maybe even a finished draft!) of their college essays. But even if you’ve taken care of a huge part of your college apps on your end, you’ll need to enlist the help of your high school guidance counselor to ensure everything is finished by the appropriate deadlines. A little extra thoughtfulness will go a long way towards making your application even stronger, and improving your chances of getting into your top choices. Here are some steps you should take to make the most of your high school counselor.

1. Establish a timeline that works for your high school guidance office

Your Guide for High School Tips and Preparing for College

When I was in high school, we used to argue about when you become a senior. Does it happen the second you walk off campus on the last day of your junior year? Or do you have to wait in summer limbo, becoming a senior only when you return for classes the fall? Now that I’m an admissions counselor, I can say definitively that your senior year starts in the summer. And why? Because you have so much you need to do to prepare yourself for the coming fall: coaxing nascent essay drafts into riveting final copies; shaving your college list down from twenty to the final seven to twelve to which you’ll apply;  organizing yourself for your final year of high school and the transition to college.