College Admissions: What You Wish You Had Known At The Beginning?
Top 10 timeless ‘wish I knew earlier’ feedback from parents of recent graduating class. (compiled as is from a social media post…hence includes typos).
Not all schools give merit scholarships and to seek out schools that do. Also, with merit, it could cost less to send your kid to a private college than a public one.
The “dream” school did not end up being her first choice and to expect the unexpected
I wish I had known that in addition to the common app essay, each school would have their own essays on top of the common app essay. (This isn’t even counting the supplemental applications).
That good grades, ECs and good test scores aren’t enough. it is called institutional priorities
Start applications way earlier than you think. And if the net price calculates a price, believe it.
Also to go visit schools early in junior year that are close by to just get an idea of what to look for when you go to schools of interest out of town.
That each school emphasizes different priorities and you can use the Common Data Set to figure out what you need to work on for your target schools. And I would have liked to know that at the beginning of Junior year when we started the process of narrowing down schools.
To read Jeff Sellingo’s book Who Gets In and Why. To understand who gives Merit Aid
Spread your net wide and think outside the box. Look at colleges you may not have heard of. Especially private schools as they can give more scholarships that may make it cheaper than your state school.
We put off looking at the state schools until last but in hindsight those should have been first.
