by Melissa Brock | Sep 13, 2020 | Ask the admission office |
You’re crazy-busy. You’re barely keeping up with your work and home load. Your brain fog bests you on your best day. You simply don’t have time to go on college visits and (admit it!) you’re a teensy bit excited that virtual tours are in.
You can wear your hideous dog-chewed slippers to the meeting and nobody cares about your messy bun piled on top of your head.
The benefits of doing an online tour:
- You don’t have to climb into the car.
- No hotel rooms for you.
- You don’t have to board the dog or your other kids.
- Your partner doesn’t have to take off work (and you don’t have to ask your boss for time off — again).
But hold up. You don’t get off that easy. You don’t get to smack your laptop top down and yell, “Done! That’s college tour number 84 — in my puffy socks! Yahoooo!!!!!”
Because I’m going to challenge you to go a few steps further — including putting on makeup for a Zoom meeting.
Because you can’t — absolutely cannot! — manhandle a virtual tour to make it the same as an in-person experience.
Sure, you want to know how to schedule a college visit that checks all the boxes, but what else can you do on a virtual tour that mimics a college visit? Well, a personal college visit usually includes:
- Campus tour
- Interview with an admission counselor
- Conversation with a financial aid professional
- Meeting with a coach (if applicable)
- Chatting with a professor or a presentation on your major
- Appointments with other individuals on campus
Ready to bend these activities toward a virtual visit? Put on your puffy slippers, put your laptop in front of your child — and let’s dive in.
Check out the College’s Website
Obvious, right? All colleges’ websites should maintain a complete policy update for how the college conducts visits. The college may:
- Do virtual-only visits
- Allow on-campus visits
- Permit on-campus visits with specific protocols in place (masks, hand sanitizer, etc.)
Furthermore, the website explains how you can take a virtual visit.
For example, see Bethel University’s website. It’s a slick design and lets you click on the videos — and it includes all the elements of what would happen during a regular campus visit.
Take a Tour
Ideally, a virtual tour will show a real tour guide giving an actual tour of the campus. As you know, you’ll encounter a few downsides of a virtual tour:
- You can’t grill the tour guide.
- They show the very best a campus has to offer. (Do you think they’ll show you a dungeon-like residence hall?) Nope!
- It’s tough to get perspective. You can’t see the giant ceilings in the chapel or hear the echoey reverb in a huge lecture hall.
- You won’t feel the chill in the air or the leaves crunch underfoot.
- Most virtual tours exclude throngs of students. Virtual tours clear all people out so the tour guide (and the tour guide alone!) is center stage. You won’t see many students scurry to class.
- In short, nothing replaces an on-campus visit.
The cure to these problems is obviously to take an in-person campus tour to get a feel for the classrooms, dorms, dining halls and other hot spots on campus.
The next-best thing is to get on the phone with a student, and most admission offices can make that happen. Just ask — prepare a list of questions beforehand.
Contact Your Child’s Admission Counselor
Take the visit one step further. Don’t just listen to the admission counselor video spiel online. You want to get to know your child’s admission counselor — more specifically, you want your child to get to know his own admission counselor.
Why?
Your child’s admission counselor gives out trade secrets. The dirt. Everything you want to know about the college.
Isn’t the admission counselor’s job to get you to attend an institution?
Sure. But that doesn’t mean that if you ask really pointed questions that they won’t be honest with you. They should.
You won’t get insider tips from virtual college tours. That’s why it’s vital to pick up the phone or have a Zoom chat as part of your tour.
It’s okay if your virtual tour doesn’t coincide with your counselor talk. You and your child may take the virtual tour on Monday, then talk with an admission counselor on Thursday. It gives you a chance to think of great questions you have after watching the tour.
Talk with Financial Aid
This is another conversation you want to schedule. Your situation is unique. Don’t let a generic video from a “Hurray! Go Tigers!” virtual visit be your only guide to financial aid from a particular school.
You deserve better than that!
Again, if financial aid is part of the online tour, watch it. Then call the college or university to explore how the financial aid process works for your particular situation. You can get a lot accomplished during one financial aid phone call. You get to ask questions that pertain directly to your situation, such as:
- I’m nearing retirement. What will my child’s financial aid award look like then?
- We have $5,000 in an UTMA for our child. How will that affect his aid award?
- Could you put together a financial aid early estimate for my child? We’d like to see in advance what the award letter will look like.
- [Insert your questions here.]
Get on Zoom, on Google Hangouts, on the phone. Make sure your child listens in (no matter how bored he is). Do you know how many kids were on the verge of slumber when they listened to my financial aid spiel in the admission office? (I shoulda made it more interesting.)
Anyway, give yourself permission to poke a little more than most people will. Don’t settle for the online video!
Listen to Students Online
As part of the virtual tour, many colleges include videos of students talking about themselves, their majors and extracurricular activities. Listen to these online videos. Then remember it’s all a marketing ploy.
I know that’s a cynical attitude, but remember that colleges usually pick their most accomplished, affable students to video. This isn’t always a great representation of the student body.
Do you know someone who already goes to the school your child’s considering? Encourage your child to set up a coffee or Zoom meeting with the student. It’s the best way to get the most candid analysis — students will likely blurt out the pros and cons without prompting. Listen for information like:
- “Get a load of this. Our college did X, X and X right after COVID-19.”
- “Our cafeteria food is awesome. You’ll love Stromboli Day.”
- “Here’s what I’d change about College X.”
- “I love this about College X and that’s why you should go here.”
Remind your child that information from one person is just that — one person’s experience. If it’s possible for your child to talk to more than one person at the college, that’s great! The more feedback from a large number of students your high schooler can get, the better.
Just because one student’s having an awesome or crummy experience doesn’t mean it’s the same for everyone else.
Listen to Coaches Online
Coaches might also put up videos online of the “Go Tigers!” variety. Again, make it a point to talk with coaches individually. Most likely, you and your student won’t have to worry too much because coaches will want to talk to you if they’re interested.
Check out the coach section questions to ask on a college tour for a great list of questions.
Other Ways to Learn More
You want to get as snoopy as possible when you’re looking at colleges, so here are some other ways to do it.
Follow Colleges’ Social Channels
Follow schools your child’s interested on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube to get brief updates on activities on campus. Try to find social channels not connected to the admission or marketing offices!
Get a Subscription to…
The student newspaper! The student newspaper is full of delicious nuggets of truth because it’s written and published by students — and no topic (no matter how juicy) gets left behind. Get notifications when the newest events and issues happen and learn opinions written by your child’s potential peers.
Online Maps Exist for a Reason
Do some colleges offer a cool aerial view of a campus? They sure do. Tap into the bird’s-eye view of college maps to get a sense of colleges’ layout. Try mapping the distance between common places, like the library and the dining hall. See whether your child can walk to restaurants, theaters and coffee shops close by.
Check out the College’s Online Events Calendar
Colleges often host an array of events, from musical artists and comedians to free movies and game nights. Seeing a calendar of events can give you a better understanding of the fun activities available to students.
Research the Surrounding Town
Have you ever heard of a phenomenon called the “campus bubble?” I referred to it sometimes when talking to students who lived in our town. It means when students become insulated from the town and never leave campus because everything they need is there. The town kind of vanishes and the campus is the town. Does that make sense?
Still, your child might have to venture to Target every once in a while. So, what’s the town or city like? Do some online research and learn about the benefits outside The Bubble.
Check Out Student Profiles
During the virtual visit, you’ll probably see student videos like Bethel’s. Poke around more, however. You might find more student testimonials on the website or through social media channels. Can your child relate to that student? Does he get excited by the student’s research project, internship or other opportunities? Does he want to have the same major?
Ask the admission office whether your child can talk to that exact student profiled.
You Can Still Do a Lot, but Remember…
Yes — kick your feet up, coffee cup in hand, messy bun proudly displayed while you take a campus tour.
“Ooh” and “Ahh” over beautiful residence halls, cool science labs and more.
Just remember, nothing replaces a true college tour. If your child thinks he can choose a college based on virtual college tours, remind him that:
- People make a great college experience, not beautiful buildings.
- Campuses show all their best stuff in a video. The junior/senior apartments might be beautiful (they’ll show these on video) but the freshman residence hall could be a pit.
- It’s important to talk to as many people as possible — get comfy with Zoom!
And when (and if) you feel comfortable, go on an in-person visit. Please. I’ll even send you the mask and hand sanitizer myself.
by Melissa Brock | Sep 7, 2020 | Ask the admission office, Build relationships |
It’s essay season!
Itching to get your hands on your student’s application essay or personal statement essay? Just once?
Don’t do it.
Your child’s essay may be deeply personal. Unless your child offers you a share in the review, remain as hands-off during this process as possible.
What you can do: Go over the “rules” beforehand. You don’t want to be the parent who says, “Oh, by the way, don’t repeat any other part of the application, like your awards, grades or test scores. You’ve already reported those” — after your child wades through the essay.)
You’ll hear, “Mooo-om! That’s the whole third paragraph!”
Instead, intervene at the beginning if you want to help with the college essay — read this first!
1. What’s unique?
You know your child better than anyone else. You know what makes him tick (oooh, get rid of clichés!)
He shouldn’t write about what he thinks will impress a scholarship committee or admission committee.
In other words, your child shouldn’t write about world hunger if it’s not his thing. Let’s say his thing is caring for animals. Does he get up at dawn every day to birth calves with the veterinarian next door?
He should write about cow placentas if his life is all about cow placentas! Admission committees want to hear about unique interests.
Can your child think of something unique — besides football, soccer or school subjects? (Overused topics.)
Maybe your daughter’s an Origami wizard. Maybe your son overcame OCD.
Get your child thinking about his own passions — and how to craft these ideas in his own voice.
2. Writing can’t suck.
Obviously. It’s got to be interesting. Check out this intro:
Let’s acquaint. Born in New York City, I grew up filthy on the streets. Snowflakes landed on my dà pán jī and my sleeping bag in synchronicity. Mrs. Ming at Hou Yi fed me six times a day and I learned to swear in Chinese.
Just kidding. I grew up in Greenwich — privileged, yes, but check this out. I’m typing this essay with my toes. That’s right — no arms!
Wow, doesn’t that get your attention?
Compare this to the first two sentences of my own autobiography (I wrote it in fourth grade):
I was born on a cold, windy day in November. I was a greenish color and I cried when I was born.
ZZZZZzzz.
High schoolers sometimes can’t kick the passive voice because it’s easier.
Plus, bad English teachers + maxing out word count = raging passive voice.
How do you make sure your kid writes unlike he speaks? We all speak passively, and not everyone writes well. Remember those old summer vacation essays?
“We were on our summer vacation and Cape Cod was the only place I wanted to be.”
Yikes.
Get rid of clichés in your own speech and remind your high schooler. By the way, your child should strike anything redundant (extra words — yuck!) and ambiguous (give concrete details!).
3. Get someone else on board ahead of time.
Ask to critique his work and your kid looks at you, buggy-eyed, like you suggested staring at elephant poop. “Mom, you’re an insurance agent, not an English professor. Please sit this one out.”
Sound familiar?
Get a third party involved wayyyy in advance, preferably someone who knows really good writing. Ask your copywriter friend, your child’s English teacher — someone other than you or your partner.
(Even if you know your writing skills sparkle!)
4. Encourage your essayist to take it slow.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. (No clichés, remember?)
The Common App requires a 650-word essay, so encourage your child to make them count — slowly. Let’s say your child must meet a November 1 deadline for School X.
Ask him to start the essay now. Why not write 100 words over the course of six weeks? (Beats writing it all two days beforehand.) Pencil it out, like this:
- Write 100 words: Week of September 13
- Another 100 words: Week of September 20
- Crank out another 100 words: Week of September 27
- Get it! Another 100 words: Week of October 4 (Already up to 400!)
…and so on. There’s nothing worse than last-minute panic. You know that from personal experience, right?
Help your child map out the entire next six weeks — and make sure he or she ends up with more than 250 words. It’s tough to impress an admission committee in only 250 words.
Your child may fill out other applications instead of the Common App. Schools often offer a “suggested limit” — don’t go over that. Try to use the Common App’s 650-word limit if no suggested limit exists.
5. Add in buffer time.
Add in time for creative stewing. For Netflix spirals. For reading a book chapter, typing a sentence, reading another chapter and writing another sentence.
It’s impossible for most people to sit down and write in one sitting. (Right now, I’m watching T.V., reading and working on three other freelance articles at a time.) I can’t commit to one thing at a time — your kid can’t, either. The point is, within those 100-word weeks, add in lots of buffer time.
Don’t forget to have your high schooler put the essay down quite a few times — think cold eyes and lots of revisions!
7. Answer the prompt!
It’s easy for admission officers to throw out essays that don’t specifically answer the prompts provided. Maybe the prompt asks about your child’s achievements and he answers with a lengthy blow-by-blow of his latest breakup.
Not relevant. Furthermore, make sure he relates it to his future performance in college.
Read the prompt, then set it aside for a day or two. You don’t want your child to misread the prompt!
8. Resist the urge to take over.
You can’t write the essay for your child. Not even a small sentence here and there. If you do, you might give yourself away! Many old-timers slip in two spaces after every period or exclamation mark. Nobody does that anymore. (And if you do it, stop.)
Designate yourself “Cheerleader Mom” and reach out to your already-appointed proofreader instead. Your copywriter friend offers a subjectivity that you don’t have. The copywriter friend you know doesn’t have the same “My kid’s a genius!” bent or ample criticisms. (And if he does criticize, he’ll use a diplomatic approach — “How ‘bout we say this instead?”)
Help, but Stay Hands Off
Just like nobody warned you how hard it would be to watch your child fall down as a one-year-old, nobody warned you how tough it would be to keep your mitts off that admission essay.
Trust that outside advisor to walk your child through it — and if you need to, hire help!
One last tip: Encourage your child to read great essays. Your child can glean a lot from samples, as long as he doesn’t copy them verbatim.
by Melissa Brock | Sep 6, 2020 | Ask the admission office |
Pulling your hair out because your child won’t get going with college applications? Or maybe it’s tricky to get the application deadlines organized, the essays written, understanding the types of college applications…
Okay, you know what? Let’s not overwhelm you more.
When I first became an admission counselor, I had zero awareness that other schools even had admission deadlines.
Why?
Because we used rolling admission and we could accept college applications at any time.
Are you aware of the fact that colleges have application deadlines?
Ha! Just kidding — I know you know.
Here’s how to take the flummox out of college applications. Flummox: What a great word!
Maybe your kiddo can add it to his application essay!
Step 1: Review your child’s short list.
Is the list still the list? It could have changed since your daughter’s junior year. COVID-19 hit and everything changed. Your child may no longer want to go to a school far from home. She may be less than interested in the school down the road, which has all online classes — and nothing else.
The point is, where she was last year could be completely different from now. She also could have added six more to the list since then.
Step 2: Have a family conversation.
Now’s the time to talk about what makes sense for your child’s needs — together. Maybe your child has severe allergies and you think that wearing a mask everywhere will make it harder to breathe.
Maybe you feel that your child had a horrible junior year and those college prospects don’t look nearly as good as they could have.
Step 3: Understand the various admission types.
Different schools = different admission types.
Let’s do a quick overview of admission types to help guide you through.
Regular Admission
Your child can apply to a bunch of schools with the regular application submission deadline. The deadline itself varies between institutions.
Regular admission deadlines typically fall in early January and admission offers are sent out in late March or early April. Your student has until May 1 to either accept or decline the admission offers. Colleges that offer regular admission usually incorporate an early college admission option (detailed below).
Rolling Admission
Colleges release admission decisions regularly — sometimes daily — instead of sending them all out on one target date with rolling admission.
An admission committee reviews your child’s application as soon as all required information is in, rather than setting an application deadline and reviewing applications in a group. Colleges that use a rolling admission policy usually notify applicants of admission decisions quickly.
Rolling admissions decisions are non-binding, which means that your child will not be required to attend that school. Your child will not need to decide whether to enroll until May 1, or National Candidate Reply Day.
Open Admission
Open admission means a college accepts any high school graduate, regardless of academic performance, until all spaces in the incoming class are filled. Community colleges often admit students through open admission.
Early Action (EA)
Early action gives your child the option to submit an application before the regular deadline. These plans are not binding, which means that your child is not required to attend that particular college. Some colleges have an early action option called EA II — a later application deadline.
Early Decision (ED)
Early decision means your child submits an application to his or her first-choice college before the regular deadline. Early decision plans are binding. This means your child must enroll in the college if admitted and accept the financial aid award offered — immediately. Some colleges have an early decision option called ED II — a later application deadline than a school’s regular ED plan.
Single-Choice Early Action or Restrictive Early Action
Single-choice early action, also known as restrictive early action or restricted early action, is another non-binding option. Your child is not required to attend if accepted. However, your your child may not apply to any other school during the early action period. It’s a combo of both early action and early decision. In other words, it’s less restrictive than early decision but more restrictive than early action.
Step 4: Make a list of college deadlines.
Wouldn’t it be nice if all college application deadlines fell on the same date every year?
Yes.
Get my spreadsheet, the College Money Tips Visit Spreadsheet, by signing up here. It’s totally free!
The spreadsheet includes everything you want to keep track of — including application deadlines. Save it as your own and fill it out however you’d like to use it. It’s a great way to get you college search in gear.
And, for heaven’s sake, you can keep track of all those application deadlines!
Step 5: Understand the various types of college applications.
In addition to admission types, you also contend with different application types.
It’s okay, though. Each college makes it very clear on its website which type of application it uses. (Make sure to mark it down the College Money Tips Visit Spreadsheet!)
Common Application
You can apply to nearly 900 colleges and universities using the Common Application (aka Common App), including public and private colleges and universities. In all 50 U.S. states and 20 countries!
Application steps:
- Gather materials, such as transcripts and test scores.
- Create an account.
- Add colleges your student plans to apply to.
- Get recommendations or other official forms from counselors, teachers and others.
- Plan the essay and write it.
- Submit your application.
Coalition Application
The Coalition aimed to improve the college application process. MyCoalition, is designed to engage students, particularly under-represented students, in the college application process You use a digital storage locker, interactive Collaboration Space and the application is accepted at all member schools.
Application steps:
- Start application.
- Choose your applicant type.
- Follow all the links to the various application parts to complete the college’s application. These steps vary depending on the college.
Universal Application
Some schools use the Universal Application — but many schools also accept the Common and Coalition Applications. Figure out which schools on your child’s list coincide with a specific application type and concentrate on that one.
Application steps:
- Click “Start New.”
- First years complete the First Year Admissions Application. Transfer Applicants complete the Transfer Admissions Application.
- Fill out the Personal Statement or essay portion if necessary.
- Fill out supplemental forms.
- Complete recommendation and report forms required by the colleges. Each college may require different Part 3 forms and some may not require any at all.
- First-year applicants can request the Instructor Recommendation, School Report, Midyear Report, and the Final Report as well as the Early Decision Agreement or First Marking Period Report when applicable.
Colleges’ Own Application
Many colleges don’t bother with the Common Application, Coalition Application or Universal Application. You must fill out their own application! Some colleges accept a shared application like the Common Application or their own application.
For example, the institution where I worked (a private college) requires its own application. We didn’t accept the Common, Coalition or Universal Application.
If you compared them all, you might see similarities and differences between all application types.
Step 6: Time block.
Help your student set aside specific amounts of time to fill out the application. Let’s say your student must complete the application by November 1 for Early Decision.
Sit down with your child and time block out specific evenings and weekends (working around soccer and piano lessons!) to work on the essay and other application sections. It might look like this:
- College X application: September 15
- Common Application recommendation requests: September 18
- Common Application essay: September 21 to 30
- And so on!
Encourage your high school to tackle small sections at a time. It’ll keep your child from getting overwhelmed.
Small steps! It’s all it takes.
Step 7: Get help — but schedule ahead!
Your child’s English teacher might be a whiz at crafting essays. Have him reach out to her for help with plenty of time to spare before the deadline. His teacher might be helping 60 other kids with their essays, too!
That brings up another point: Make sure your child asks for recommendation letters in plenty of time. Weeks, if not months, in advance! You want to make sure your child’s recommendation doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
Get Organized
The reality: You don’t know how long it’ll take your child to complete the application. It might take days, it might take weeks!
But you and your student want to get this part of the college search just perfect. Take plenty of time to get it right. Your child won’t regret crafting the perfect essay, waiting on a stunning recommendation letter and more.
Just build in plenty of time to do it!
by Melissa Brock | Aug 30, 2020 | College Money Tips, Financial aid and scholarships |
September is College Savings Month! Saving for college can seem like one of those long, arduous tasks that never ends… like figuring out what to make for dinner for the rest of your life, perpetual laundry, etc.
I know there are a couple of fears out there when it comes to saving for college. They’re super real, and it would be silly not to address them.
Some common fears stop us from saving for college. Let’s address these so you can jump right in and start saving.
1. The Fear of Believing You Won’t Save Enough
Are you worried that you’ll never be able to save enough? Do your eyes get wider and wider every year as college costs rise? Worries about not being able to save enough may be enough to stop you before you even get going.
Here’s the deal. You may not be able to save enough money to pay for every penny of your child’s college education — I get how it can get you down before you even start.
However, here are some quick reminders:
- Your child may qualify for merit-based scholarships.
- You can take advantage of a tuition installment plan. (Don’t forget how much purchasing power your monthly income has!)
- The sticker price is just a starting point. I don’t know a single student who paid the full sticker price to attend our institution when I worked in admission.
- Price transparency may continue over time. A handful of schools have started to reduce their costs using something called a tuition reset. It attempts to offer more transparency in the college cost landscape. Check out an article I wrote about tuition resets for the “Journal of College Admission” and what they mean.
- Colleges may be getting more creative in the pandemic’s wake. For example, check out Unity College’s new Distance Education and Hybrid Learning plan, where students can choose to take only one or two courses per term to be full-time and can choose online, in-person or a combination of both.
- Federal financial aid is usually easy to get.
Bottom line, try to save as much as you can, even if it’s just a little bit.
2. The Fear of Getting it Wrong
It’s hard to start something new. It’s even tougher when you think you might get it all wrong. So what do we sometimes do? That’s right — never even start.
How do you get over the fear of doing something big in your life?
That’s right — you just take a deep breath and do it.
For the longest time, I was afraid of planting a garden. I wasn’t sure how to do it, despite the fact that I grew up helping my parents pick green beans. My parents always planted a vegetable garden (they still do!) — full of delicious zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, sweet corn and more. You know, though, when you’re a kid, you don’t really pay attention to allll the details — how to plant the seeds, when to plant them, how to make the rows and more. Plus, I was worried about whether or not I’d have time to keep up with the weeds.
But one spring, I said, “Enough is enough. We’re going to have a garden!” My husband and I took the plunge, tried it, and we’ve had a garden for two years now. No more excuses!
Did we fail? Yeah — our tomatoes didn’t grow the first year. I think we ended up with only six pea pods. But we got better the next year! Our tomatoes are flourishing right now and we have more than we could ever eat. We’ve had to give oodles away to the neighbors!
Even if you don’t get quite started the way you want on your college savings plan, you can pivot. The point is, get started and go from there.
Fortunately, many college savings plans (like 529s) you can enter your risk tolerance, child’s age and your investment gets more conservative naturally. In most cases, it’s impossible to mess it up!
3. The Fear of Thinking You’re Behind
Has your best friend been saving for college for 18 years — before her child was even born? And you haven’t been able to save that much all?
Your child is more likely to go to college if you’ve saved just a little bit. Even with savings of less than $500, a child is 25% more likely to enroll in college and 64% more likely to graduate compared to a student with no savings, according to a study from the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL).
4. Thinking You Don’t Have Enough on Hand to Save
Worried about not having extra cash to plump up a college savings account? What if, instead of agonizing over this, think of it as the fun part. How creative can you get?
Can you manipulate your budget?
Sit down and divide your expenses into “needs” and “wants.” “Needs” should only include those necessary items, like rent, utilities, groceries and school supplies.
Anything else that isn’t an essential expense should be put into your “want” category. “Wants” include coffee runs, entertainment and nice clothes that aren’t required for a job.
Can you make more money?
What if you made some spare cash every month and vowed to dedicate this to college savings? Do you have a specific talent or skillset?
What is the best thing that you can charge $10 for? Do that, then do it 10 more times! Can you make crochet hats? Can you sell your PR skills? Make birthday cakes? Babysit? Serve as a sales consultant? Figure out what it is that you can do so well that someone else will pay you money to do it.
My friend Angela makes these gorgeous signs for her company, Touch of Twine Design. They are so beautiful. They’re white with a beautiful script font — and can say anything. Her customers order inspirational quotes, poem snippets, Bible verses — whatever they want. The money she makes goes into a college account for her two boys.
Another couple I know scavenged pallets on the side of the road, at work at a manufacturing facility and more to make furniture, sold it online and made a lot of money.
The sky’s the limit. What talent can you offer the world?
5. Not Knowing How to Save
It’s a case of too many options, isn’t it? You can invest in regular savings accounts, CDs, 529 plans, UTMA/UGMAs, Roth IRAs, custodial accounts, and on and on.
Can you invest in stocks for college? Sure! Just like you can invest in regular mutual funds, bonds and more investing options we’ve listed.
Is this your only option? Of course not!
Stocks
A stock is an investment in a specific company. You buy one share of a company’s earnings and assets when you buy a stock. Companies sell shares of stock in their businesses to raise cash. You can sell stocks when they increase in value and this method can also result in high returns.
Bonds
You lend money to a company or government when you buy a bond. Your bond purchase allows the bond issuer to borrow your money and pay you back with interest.
Bonds offer lower returns but do come with the risk that the bond issuer could default on its payments. (However, bonds are typically very safe investments.) Government bonds are the safest investment because they’re backed by the “full faith and credit” of the U.S. government.
Mutual Funds
Mutual funds are bundles of stocks, bonds and other investments. You can purchase a large number of these types of investments in one transaction. You pay a professional manager to invest your money. It’s typically more expensive to buy mutual funds than stocks or bonds because you pay a middleman to manage that money.
Index Funds
An index fund is a type of mutual fund — but there’s a difference. An index fund passively tracks an index. This means you don’t pay a money manager to pick and choose investments for you. For example, all S&P 500 index funds follow the performance of the S&P 500 by holding company stock within that index.
Exchange-Traded Funds
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are also a type of index fund because they also track an index. Like index funds, they are not actively managed and less expensive than mutual funds.
The difference between index funds and ETFs is that ETFs trade on an exchange like a stock — you can buy or sell throughout the trading day as the price fluctuates. Mutual funds and index funds, on the other hand, are priced once at the end of each trading day.
Certificates of Deposit (CDs)
When you buy a certificate of deposit (CD), you give your financial institution money for a specific time period. When that time period is over, you get the amount you originally invested, plus a prespecified amount of interest. The longer the loan period, the higher your interest rate. Note that you’ll have to pay penalties if you take your money out sooner.
How do you invest in any one of these types of investments?
- Go to an insured financial institution like a bank or credit union for a CD or government bond.
- You can go to a financial advisor for a mutual fund.
- You can find mutual funds, index funds or ETFs through a discount broker like Robinhood or a large broker like Vanguard.
Just remember, investing in a 529 plan offers more tax benefits for approved educational expenses — but a 529 plan isn’t your only option.
6. Fear of Future College Costs
Ahhhh… This is a tough one. Use a college calculator like the College Board’s College Cost Calculator to determine how much it may cost to send your child to college for four years. I plugged in some numbers and it informed me that in 11 years, it’ll cost me over $311,000 to send my child to college.
I understand the the numbers look scary. However, I still come back to this:
- Merit-based scholarships take care of a chunk of the costs.
- A tuition installment plan can help with month-to-month costs.
- The sticker price is just a starting point and in no way says that you’ll pay the full price.
- You can use creativity to save. (What’s that talent, again?)
Take Advantage of College Savings Month!
If you’re ready to save for college, now’s the time! You have so many options at your fingertips, so take advantage of it.
Don’t forget to get the start-of-school checklist for the college search!
by Melissa Brock | Aug 27, 2020 | Ask the admission office, Financial aid and scholarships |
Move over, Yale and Harvard.
Not everyone needs to (or should) shop for a top-name school. You can still find lots of high-quality colleges and universities among the elites.
Gems glisten everywhere. Don’t discount the liberal arts college down the street because it may be able to offer a connection that you can’t find anywhere else.
A Stanford study says “fit” is more important than rankings. I really do believe too many students and families rely on college rankings published by well-known organizations to define quality. The higher the ranking doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for your child. The study found that the “metrics used in these rankings are weighted arbitrarily and are not accurate indicators of a college’s quality or positive outcomes for students.”
Do I even need to write any more?
Quick Story
I chatted with Laurie Kopp Weingarten, president and chief educational consultant at One-Stop College Counseling, and she told me a great story.
“Several years ago I had a straight-A student with strong test scores and interesting extracurricular activities who was a bit lacking in self-confidence. She felt strongly that she should attend a college where she would be the ‘big fish in a little pond’ instead of the ‘little fish in a big pond.’ It was very important to her that she choose an institution where she would be at the top and be recognized as a superstar.
She set her sights on a public university with a 70% acceptance rate. She did apply to other colleges, including those that are much more selective, and was actually accepted into every school she applied to. However, she stuck with her plan to attend the public university.
She SOARED there. She was at the top of her class, where she won all sorts of awards. She is well-known at the school, and they’ve asked her to assume all sorts of leadership roles. She has made mini-promotional films for the school, and now, as a recent alumna, they’ve asked her back to speak multiple times.
In this case, she didn’t feel up to attending a highly selective university where the competition would be fierce. Instead, she decided to choose a school that isn’t overly competitive and where she would stand out. It paid off with lots of internships and job offers, and it built her confidence.”
Yessss! This is exactly what I’m talking about.
Best Reasons to Look for a Non-Selective or Moderately Selective College
Most people think the only reason your child would want to look for a non-selective college is because you couldn’t hack it due to poor academic achievement. Not so. There are lots of great reasons to opt for a less-selective institution.
1. Your Child May Be More Likely to Get In
Obviously, the fact that your child can get in is one of the reasons to apply to non-selective colleges.
How do you find out whether a college is selective or not? Take a look at its admission requirements. Most colleges list their admission requirements, which may look something like this:
- Graduate from an accredited high school or equivalent by the time of enrollment.
- Rank in the upper half of your high school graduating class.
- Have ACT or SAT-I scores high enough to predict probable success. Note: ACT and SAT test scores may not be required if you’re applying for admission right now. Many colleges do not want to place undue hardships on students who cannot take the ACT or SAT due to closed testing locations.
- English: Four years, including literature
- Math: Two or more years, including algebra, advanced algebra and geometry
- Social studies: Three or more years, including American and European history
- Sciences: Two or more years of lab science
- Foreign language: Two or more years
That may be the extent of a college’s requirements! You can also call an admission counselor for more information about specific college selectivity.
2. Your Child Will Still Take Rigorous Classes
Make no mistake — it’s a challenge to get through organic chemistry at just about any college or university. Lower selectivity institutions definitely offer rigorous coursework.
Just because your child’s valedictorian of her high school class or achieved a 34 ACT doesn’t mean that she won’t feel challenged at a lower selectivity institution.
- Some less selective colleges let academically talented students work with faculty on research projects as well.
- Students at lower selectivity institutions may also receive more personalized attention from staff.
- Some lower selectivity institutions smaller classroom size with hands-on teaching may be more conducive to learning than a large lecture hall format.
- You may get to know classmates and faculty closely and form lasting personal or professional relationships.
- You child may get more opportunities to work on projects, connect to internships through faculty and gain valuable job experience.
3. Your Family May Experience More Personalization During the Admission Process
Less selective schools must work a little harder for their students. That means you and your child reap the benefits. In other words, highly selective colleges and universities don’t have to work nearly as hard to recruit students — they naturally come to them. That means that less selective institutions must do the hard work of calling, emailing, texting and even engaging students on social media.
You’re more likely to get one-on-one attention from an admission counselor who must carefully work through an application list. As an admission counselor, it was my job to personalize the admission process as much as possible. I would try to learn:
- Students’ goals
- Other schools on their list
- Their favorite things (we once sent a box of Wheaties to a student because we knew it was his favorite cereal!)
- Connections they’d already made with others at the college
- About their families and friends
- Anything else I could think of!
We made the college search process a personalized experience — and that might just happen if you’re looking into a less selective institution.
4. The College Application Process is Less Strenuous
Chances are, your child won’t have to worry about a complicated application process if he or she is looking at a less selective institution. Here’s a quick overview.
Regular Admission
Regular admission means your child can apply to as many colleges as possible. An application submission deadline varies between institutions. Regular admission deadlines typically fall in early January and admission offers get sent out in late March or early April. Your student has until May 1 to either accept or decline admission offers. (Your child may not encounter this type of admission, either.)
Rolling Admission
When I was an admission counselor, our college used rolling admission. Rolling admission means a college releases admission decisions regularly instead of sending them all out on one target date.
An admission committee will only review your child’s application as soon as all required information is in. Colleges that use a rolling admission policy usually notify applicants of admission decisions quickly. (Students learned of an admission decision within two weeks at our college!)
Rolling admission decisions are non-binding. This means that your child will not be required to attend that school and will not need to make a decision until May 1, which is National Candidate Reply Day.
Open Admission
Open admission means a college accepts any high school graduate (no matter what those grades look like) until all spaces in the incoming class are filled. Two-year community colleges immediately come to mind — most community colleges have a two-year open admission policy. Note that a college with a general open admission policy may have certain admission requirements for specific programs.
Your child probably won’t encounter these types of admission at lower selectivity institutions:
- Early Action (EA), which means your student has the option to submit an application before the regular deadline. Early action plans are not binding, which means that your child is not required to attend.
- Early Decision (ED) means your child can submit an application to his or her first-choice college before the regular deadline and get an admission decision earlier than usual. Early decision plans are binding, which means your child must attend that institution.
- Single-Choice Early Action or Restrictive Early Action means your child is not required to attend if accepted. However, if using this method, your child may not apply to any other school during the early action period only.
5. Lower Costs
You’ll typically find lower selectivity institutions in areas that also include lower costs of living (not big urban areas). The savings on rent and tuition might be worth it.
Your child may be able to get an academic scholarship. Many colleges give half or full-tuition academic scholarships to students who have a very good high school GPA, ACT or SAT scores and class rank. The most selective colleges will not award your child a merit scholarship.
“We had a student who wanted to study business. Although she was accepted at multiple selective programs, she chose to study at Bentley University (45-50% acceptance rate), where they placed her into the honors program, provided her with a large scholarship, and of course, she received all the perks that came along with the honors program. She loved feeling like she was the top of the class!” says Kopp Weingarten.
Kopp Weingarten also said, “We also had a student who chose a large public university in the Midwest where she could use her AP credits to get advanced standing, basically entering as a sophomore. She graduated in three years, saved tons of money and was accepted into a top-tier Ph.D. program.”
6. College Selectivity is Not a Reliable Indicator of Learning, Job Satisfaction or Well-Being
The Stanford study found no significant relationship between a school’s selectivity and student learning, future job satisfaction or well-being. Furthermore, the study found only modest financial benefits of attending more selective colleges — and that applied to first-generation and other underserved students.
Individual student characteristics (background, major, ambition) may make more of a difference in terms of post-college outcomes than the institutions themselves.
7. Learning Engagement is Most Important
Students’ learning among a campus community may offer the key to positive outcomes after college, according to the Stanford study. For instance:
- Students participate in service learning and thrive when they apply what they learn in the classroom to real life settings.
- Students are successful when mentors at the college encourage them to pursue personal goals.
- Those who are successful after college engage in multi-semester projects.
8. Grades May Be Higher
Your child may be more likely to graduate with honors at a less selective institution.
“When students apply to medical school, the two most important aspects of their applications are their GPA and their MCATs,” says Kopp Weingarten. “We had a student who felt it might be difficult to maintain a high GPA at a highly competitive college where everyone was aiming for ‘A’ grades. He chose to attend a college where he felt he could keep his GPA high due to the lower competition at the school. Due to the fact that he was at the top of their admit pile, he received a huge scholarship and only paid about $10,000 a year for a private college. It worked out for him because he graduated with a near-perfect GPA and was accepted into medical school. He then had the money he saved to put toward paying for medical school.”
Great example.
Think Carefully About College Selectivity
The main drawback of graduating from a less selective college is brand recognition. However, there are other things to think about, such as whether your child actually ends up graduating. Plus, if your child plans to go to graduate school, nobody cares where he or she goes for an undergraduate education.
Colleges with higher selectivity are also much more likely to graduate students than those with lower selectivity. However, once your child does graduate, there’s little difference in life outcomes, as the Stanford study suggests.
“Sometimes, the most highly selective schools can open the door for a candidate (job or graduate school). But what really matters is how well the student performs at the school they are at. The school doesn’t make the student successful — it’s up to the student to do that on their own,” says Kopp Weingarten.
Tip: Check the financial solvency of institutions your child is interested in (particularly those small private colleges that were already in trouble before the pandemic). Some have already closed. Attending a lower selectivity public school is less of a risk because if those institutions close, students will still be a part of the state system.
