It’s July, and while it might seem like it’s a great time to catch up on Netflix, go to the pool and work at a summer job, why not get a jump start on college?
(I knoooow, convincing your high schooler might be a different story.) It’s even more important to start thinking about college now because we don’t know what college visits will look like for next year. Lots of colleges have closed up shop but many are still open for visitors. Take a quick peek at the list of schools open and closed to visitors from the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC).
I reached out to a mom friend of mine who has a rising junior and asked her what her concerns are right now. She said, “Coronavirus has changed things. What should we do right now to get ready for college? It’s a little frustrating.”
I hear ya.
Here’s a quick list of items your child can consider doing (after lounging by the pool and taking lots of sips of fizzy lemonade, of course):
Get ready for the PSAT test and ACT or SAT tests (if required)
Start doing college visits (either in-person or virtual visits)
Consider the activities on that resume — and whether there are gaps
Put together a robust schedule of classes
Start a college list
Develop relationships with admission counselors
Now, one of the most important things you can do during this time as a parent is to make the college search exciting. The last thing you want to do is scare your child off before this process even begins!
Here’s how to help your child launch the college search this summer, even though things might not be (totally) normal.
Get Ready for the PSAT, ACT or SAT Tests
You can find some great test prep resources for PSAT, SAT and ACT. Check out Amazon or your local bookstore. You can even check out the local library for these editions, though your child won’t be able to write in anything from the library, of course!
First, let’s define PSAT, ACT and SAT — it’s easy to confuse PSAT and SAT in particular.
PSAT: The PSAT’s formal name is the Preliminary SAT, also known as the PSAT/NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test). It’s a great way to practice for the SAT exam. You can only take the PSAT once per year, and many students take the test in 10th and 11th grade.
ACT: The ACT is a standardized test used for college admission administered by the nonprofit organization, ACT. The ACT test covers four separate academic sections: English, mathematics, reading and science reasoning. Your child can also add an optional writing test. The 2020-2021 ACT costs $55 without writing and $70 with writing.
SAT: The SAT is a standardized test also used for college admission. It’s administered by the nonprofit organization The College Board. The SAT test covers 20 SAT Subject Tests in five general subject areas: English, history, languages, mathematics and science with an optional essay portion. The current SAT costs $52 without writing and $68 with the essay option.
Before your child cracks open some study books, check with the colleges your high schooler plans to apply to. Find out whether the college requires the ACT or SAT. Lots of colleges have waived the SAT and ACT for this year’s incoming class — and many are doing away with standardized testing altogether.
That doesn’t mean throwing test prep out the window or sidestepping a school that still requires it. It might be important to take it, particularly if a school shows up on your child’s radar this year or next and that requires the ACT or SAT.
Make a College Spreadsheet
I developed a very simple, easy-to-use College Money Tips College Visit spreadsheet. You can use this spreadsheet to keep track of the schools your child wants to visit on the left, and as you get knee-deep into visits later on this fall, use it to record things like application deadlines and more.
I believe one of the most important parts of the spreadsheet is the Heart/Gut Test. The former college president at my alma mater coined the Heart/Gut Test to talk to families during visit days and scholarship weekends. Sometimes you just know whether a college is a good match — parents usually feel it, too. There’s a section in the spreadsheet that references how a college felt. You can use this spreadsheet yourself or share it with your student.
Get the spreadsheet below — you’ll also get my free college money tips guide!
Complete Virtual or In-Person Visits
Visiting. Hmmm… It’s a bit of a head-scratcher right now, isn’t it? I understand — virtual summer visits aren’t really ideal. But guess what? There were already several disadvantages about summer visits, anyway. Truth be told, nothing beats a college visit during the fall. Crunching through leaves, watching students hurry to classes — it’s simply the best atmosphere.
Here’s one example of why I believe summer visits aren’t the best: You typically only see staged residence hall rooms. In fact, I was the one in charge of that when I worked in admission! I’d send two or three summer student workers to three of our residence halls to stage rooms using donated items from Bed, Bath and Beyond! It was tons of fun to decorate the rooms but the staged room always seemed… fake and empty, not homey. Here are some other reasons summer visits are less than ideal:
Fewer students live on campus during the summer, so you don’t get the “real” feel of what a college is like.
Tour guides are usually the only students you can really interact with.
Normally, fewer classes are in session anyway, so you’d have limited opportunities to sit in on classes.
Many buildings remain closed to tours.
Professors and department chairs are not around to chat with during the summer.
So, my point is, if you have to do a virtual visit right now, sure, you’re at a disadvantage because you can’t see the campus in person — but summer visits were disadvantageous anyway.
Now, if you have the chance to set up a visit for your child, should you do it? Of course! And if you want to do a virtual visit, here are the perks of virtual visits right now:
You’ll get to see what every part of the campus looks like, even areas closed down during the summer, like the dining hall.
You don’t have to worry about finding a parking spot, fighting traffic and driving or flying to get there. You can watch from anywhere!
It’s less nerve-wracking. If I had a dime for every nervous parent and student that used to walk into the admission office…
You don’t have to worry about the weather. (There’s nothing worse than visiting a campus in the pouring rain or driving sleet or snow!)
Hear me say this: If you have the chance to do an in-person visit this summer, do it. We don’t know what the fall will look like, and being in person on a college visit is better than not doing a college visit at all. Sometimes you just have to take what you can get.
Call the admission office at schools your child is interested in. Ask about:
Tours
Talking with an admission counselor
Scheduling a meeting with a coach
Communicating with a professor about a major — take a look at this great college major quiz before you go!
The nice thing about being a rising junior is that your student still has time. Do what you can now and know that there’s still another year ahead to go on visits.
Learn More About College Requirements and Scholarships
It’s never too early to start searching for scholarships and helping your child learn everything you possibly can about colleges.
There’s no reason your child can’t start applying for scholarships. It’s a myth that seniors are the only ones who can submit scholarship applications. Research a scholarship that’s promising and have your child apply. Why not?
Summer is a great time to learn more about colleges! High school juniors have a busy upcoming year — lots of extracurricular activities, tough classes, standardized tests and more. Help your student learn as much as possible right now.
Talk About College Money
Talking about money might not be your favorite subject. Your kiddo may not be interested in talking about it at all.
The conversation doesn’t have to last for hours! Grab a quick snippet of time to chat about:
College costs in general
How much money you think you might be able to contribute toward college costs
How much your child must contribute to college costs
An explanation of loans and how they work
How scholarships and grants help offset the cost of college and why it’s important to make them a priority
Those are just a few topics that can jumpstart your conversation. Make sure to have the whole family involved — and leave plenty of time for more conversations later on.
It’s okay to hit the pause button if your child doesn’t want to talk. You still have time to have lots of conversations!
Make it Fun, Make it Exciting
It might seem like there’s lots to do! Now’s the time to get started. Don’t forget to make it fun! Include rewards whenever possible. Go out to eat at a restaurant of your child’s choice after your child completes a really gnarly scholarship application or treat your daughter to Starbucks — and have the money talk there.
How will you get some heavy research out of the way together so the upcoming year is smooth sailing for you and your rising junior?
Joan Halawi said, “A common misconception in modern American society is that education can only happen within four walls of a classroom.”
Oh, wow. How true is that? It certainly makes the case for heavily considering a gap year.
A gap year — a year off from college to gain perspective and develop occupational skills — is a great option if your child needs an extra year of growth. Taking a gap year is popular in Europe. I remember asking, “Gap year? What’s that?” when I studied in England and heard that almost all people take one. I literally had no idea what it meant.
A gap year can be a great opportunity for your child to slow down and consider what he or she wants out of life (don’t we all need that?!). Your child may want to work (and save money for college), tap into rich experiences, grow more introspective and/or develop new skills.
Here are a couple of examples:
Katie is nervous about going off to college. She’s also always wanted to spend time composing and developing her piano skills. She really wants to continue lessons with her current teacher.
Jake, on the other hand, isn’t sure what he wants his major to be. He hasn’t applied for college yet and he’s going to take a year to “find himself” and determine what he wants his future to look like. In the meantime, he’s going to work at his dad’s accounting firm to decide whether he’s interested in taking over the business someday (though he’s really doubtful). He’s also going to hike and do some backcountry camping in Alaska next summer with a friend (his ultimate passion!).
A deferral is when a student decides to delay his or her start date by a semester or two. It’s different from a gap year, which is a full-year deferral and often involves enrichment, fellowship or other such program.
Here’s how to help your child take a gap year or deferral — successfully.
1. Help your child understand what he or she will do during gap year.
First of all, why does your child want to take a gap year? A gap year or deferral should involve accomplishing specific tasks or doing something with purpose.
There are lots of ways to use a gap year or deferral. Is there something your child wants to study on his own? Does she want to start a new venture? Get some work hours under her belt so she has more money for college? Here’s a great list of things your student can do during a gap year or deferral:
Attack a project that’s been sitting on the backburner (restore a Model T, write a book, etc.)
Write, compose, practice whatever skills your child wants to tackle
Learn new problem-solving skills
Travel
Complete an experiential learning program/hands-on learning program
Do an internship
Volunteer
Do a mission trip (or several)
Needless to say, it’s important to make it clear to your child that taking a gap year isn’t an excuse to sit around playing video games for a year.
Explore those deeper reasons for wanting to take a gap year together, because any college is going to want to hear why your child’s planning to do a gap year or plans to defer enrollment. Your child is going to need to have a very focused, careful answer.
2. Explain how a gap year might be challenging.
It’s important to convey to your child that since most other kids your child’s age aren’t taking a gap year (at least, in the U.S.) he or she might feel like a fish out of water. How will your child feel when his friends are going off to college? How will your child feel when high school friends are posting about fun times at their respective schools and he’s tinkering with science experiments in the basement or working the late shift at the grocery store?
If he’s got entrepreneurial ambitions, how will he feel if his business isn’t going as well as he thought it would? (Protecting that young confidence can be important.)
A gap year might not be the shiny offering that your child thought it was — and it’s important to share with your child that it might be difficult. Adapting to change might be a great thing to talk about prior to this major decision.
However, it could be the best thing ever. Sometimes change can be monumental!
There’s evidence that a gap year has specific reported outcomes. A gap year, and in some cases, deferred enrollment, can:
Boost a resume. Who can deny how an internship as a page at the Capitol or implementing a program for the homeless can look amazing on the ol’ resume?
Lead to increased job satisfaction. A gap year with real-world experience can clue your child into what he wants to do for the rest of his life (or even what he doesn’t want to do). Our college president always used to tell students at visit days that an internship where you learn exactly what you don’t want to do is just as valuable as an internship that you love.
Increase confidence and maturity. Learning how to get along in the world at a young age can make your child feel like he’s got the world at his feet.
Allow time for personal reflection and growth.
Help develop communication skills.
Increase a student’s desire to learn about various people and cultures.
However, the experience might not end up getting your child all of those things, and that’s okay. It might just be meh — but it might still be a good learning experience.
3. Get admitted, then defer enrollment.
Where is your student in the search process? As a rising senior, your child may be planning to take a gap year after this year.
It’s a great idea to work to get admitted to college starting now. Determine when a college’s applications are due, whether standardized tests are needed and more.
How to Communicate to Admission Offices About Gap Year or Deferred Enrollment
Your child will need to make a good case for a gap year decision. A gap year or deferred enrollment won’t hurt your child’s admission prospects at all as long as your child thinks carefully about how the experience will intentionally help him grow. Here are the steps your child will need to take:
Make sure your student applies to college before the gap year.
Get accepted at that college.
Next, your child will need to send an email or letter to the director of admission at that college to explain exactly what he or she plans to do during gap year. Check out the Gap Year Association for college and university policies concerning gap years. Double-check for the most updated policies at your child’s school.
Submit the enrollment deposit. This amount will be different at every school.
Determine the effects deferral will have on your child’s financial aid or scholarships. Every school is different! Many schools will allow you to keep the same financial aid and scholarships but it could change year to year. Check with the admission office at your child’s school.
Have your child find out whether the institution offers some form of gap year fellowship or subsidy program. Yep, it’s possible to get funded for a gap year!
Note that the school has the right to deny your gap year. If that happens, your child has a few options:
Your child can decide to attend the college as scheduled and not take the gap year.
Your student could wait and reapply to college until after the gap year. The downside is that your child may not be able to start college for another two years, which could end up making the transition a bit more difficult. Transcripts, test scores and letters of recommendation may also be more difficult to come by.
It may make sense to apply to multiple colleges and ask about gap year policies at each one.
The process for deferring enrollment is largely the same. Just make sure you ask careful questions about deferment policies at each school where your child has applied.
4. Set targets way before (and during) gap year.
Stephen Kellogg said it best: “The moment you put a deadline on a dream, it becomes a goal.”
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if your child started to launch those dreams during gap year? Why not now?
You know a year dedicated to watching Netflix won’t help your student, so it’s time to put some specific goals in writing organized by target date. For example, let’s say your daughter wants to take a stab at freelance writing during a deferment. She may want to consult with a freelance writer and map out the year in a nutshell:
September: Talk to three freelance writers about their craft. Learn to write a good pitch and send five pitches per day.
October: Create a website and social media channels for advertising freelance skills. Pitch to marketing agencies.
November: Write successful stories based on pitch results. Continue to pitch.
… and so on. Whatever those goals may be, make sure your child writes them down and has someone who will hold her accountable to those goals. Maybe it’s you and maybe it’s better if it’s someone else.
5. Make sure certain skills aren’t lost.
Your child may be planning to be a math major in college, but what happens if she isn’t taking math classes during gap year? Those calculus skills could slip right through your kid’s fingertips. It’s a great idea to add a benchmark to keep with those skills in some way.
However, know that your student may not be able to take classes, enroll in a degree-granting program at another institution or apply to other colleges during gap year or deferment. Your child could lose his spot in the class if he does. Ask about institutional policies concerning gap year or deferment.
Is it Too Late to Ask for a Gap Year for this Fall?
The only thing you can do is ask. In some cases, the door’s still wide open!
Whether your child has ambitious dreams to transform the world or just wants to earn some money before she spends four years in a lecture hall, being out in the real world can be a transformational experience.
Heavily consider pros and cons, goals and what your student wants to achieve prior to opting for a gap year or deferment. Make sure your child will head off to college after a year. The worst thing that could happen is that your child decides never to go at all.
Here’s something I witnessed in the admission office many, many times: Parents playing an active role in the college search. It’s natural, right? We worked with families, not just students.
What happens when the student wants you to do it all? I saw a lot of this:
Parents who called me in the admission office (not their student).
Emails from parents with questions (I never heard from their kid).
Parents who filled out applications for their kids (it was sometimes obvious!)
Now, to be fair, students sometimes messaged me. The occasional student even talked to me on the phone.
One mom, Mrs. Bach, left me this voicemail: “This is Mrs. Bach, Emily’s secretary. Emily refuses to pick up the phone, so I’m calling to ask questions about your college’s music scholarship.”
It made me smile, but I also know Mrs. Bach was slowly being driven crazy by her daughter’s reluctance to handle her own college communication.
What should you do when your kid wants you to be a helicopter parent? (Maybe not even consciously?) I know you’ve probably heard this term before, but just in case: Helicopter parents before college hover and take care of every part of their child’s life. On the other hand, lawnmower parents mow down any person or obstacle that stands in the way of anyone or anything that causes their child discomfort or frustration.
Here are a few tips to set expectations, goals and work together. You may want your child to do most of the work but you may also know there are things (like the FAFSA) that may require you to lend a hand.
1. Set Clear Expectations Up Front
Make sure your child knows your comfort level with helping in advance. For example, you can tell your high schooler you’re definitely on board to assist during the college search process but you’re not going to do everything for him. Explain your reasoning and explain your limits way before the college search begins.
Remind your high schooler that completing college admission requirements, scholarships and more doesn’t mean he’s overburdened. Instead, explain that he’s gaining the mental strength he needs to get ready for college.
2. Divvy Up Responsibilities
Decide ahead of time who will handle specific parts of the college search. For example, you might decide you can handle the following:
Go to scholarship events at the college (if applicable)
Scholarship searches
Talk through financial aid awards
Obviously, you can pick and choose which tasks make the most sense for each of you. Your child may be completely fine with scheduling college visits on his own and doing robust scholarship searches.
No matter what, figure all this out ahead of time and gently hold each other accountable.
3. Set Goals Together
Setting goals together is different than splitting up responsibilities. Setting goals during the college search is a great way to make sure you’re on track. The beauty of goal-setting is that you can kick start it at any time, whether you’ve got a year left in the college search process or three. For example, let’s say your child is a junior in high school. You can map out goals over the next two years. Let’s say you’ve got twin eighth graders. Why not set some loose goals for the next four years?
Make sure your goals are specific, detailed and indicate when you’d like to accomplish them.
Let’s say one of your high schooler’s goals is to get into a prestigious university. He could even write it down: “Get into Carnegie Mellon.” But would that actually help him? Nah. A general phrase like that won’t help your child (or you!) hone in on exactly what you both need to do in order to make that happen.
Instead, research what it will take to get there. For example, let’s say you look up Carnegie Mellon’s requirements for the School of Architecture. You find out that your child must:
Apply Regular Decision before January 1 during senior year using the Common Application.
Submit a portfolio of creative work for admission to the school of architecture.
Complete an on-campus review of the portfolio submission.
What will it take to get there?
Here are some targeted goals your child could write:
Take an architecture software class at the local community college by May of sophomore year.
Talk to an architect in my community who can advise me on how to put together an architecture portfolio and assist with a project by June of sophomore year.
Design several small buildings using this software during junior year.
Design my aunt’s new home that she’s planning to build during junior year.
Create a portfolio that showcases design creativity and technical expertise in several types of architecture software like Grasshopper or Rhino3D fall of senior year.
Did you notice goal No. 1 on the list? It’s a goal that allows your child to take immediate action. Taking an immediate step toward a major goal makes it more real and builds momentum toward the ultimate goal.
Here’s a way you can apply it in another way. Let’s say your child has always wanted to travel to Europe with a friend, spouse orother family member. What’s one immediate step she could take to make it happen?
Call a travel agent today and discuss your future plans.
Request a brochure from a travel company.
Set a date within 24 hours. Why not?
See how doing those three things can make something seem so real for your child?
Your child can set small, realistic, specific and attainable goals that lead to the big goal in the end — getting into Carnegie Mellon. Or achieving a specific scholarship — or whatever that goal may be!
4. Write Down Those Goals!
Encourage your child to write down his or her goals. There’s such power in writing down goals! Put them in a place where you’ll both see them every day, whether they’re on a Post-it Note stuck to the bathroom mirror or a printed-out list on the refrigerator (as long as your child doesn’t see them as a constant nagging reminder!).
Trello, a free service, is a great way to handle scholarship applications or college applications. It could include categories like this:
Scholarships to apply for/ Applications to complete
In progress
Draft complete
In editing
Ready to submit
Submitted
Trello is a great way to keep track of progress and all family members can use it to aid the college search.
5. Acknowledge Steps Taken
Once you and your child have set those goals, it’s time to tackle them. Now, what happens if your child finds that his or her goals are difficult to achieve?
Break them down into smaller, more manageable chunks. This might take a little more planning but it’s always better to make sure goals are achievable. Otherwise, it would be really easy to give up on them. Be flexible with due dates if it’s an option.
Every time your child achieves one of his or her goals or mini-goals, celebrate! Acknowledging achievements goes a very, very long way during the college search.
6. Pivot When Goals Aren’t Met
What happens if a goal slips right past your child because he just didn’t feel like doing the work or is unable to complete it in the allotted time?
For example, what if your child doesn’t want to do the work to get into Carnegie Mellon’s architecture program?
It might be time to go back to the drawing board and figure out whether that’s really your child’s best path. Maybe committing to an architecture major at 18 isn’t the best option! Get to the root of the problem — have some serious conversations with your child and decide what you’ll do next.
So what do you do?
You move forward with the next plan. Maybe the next goal is to apply to Carnegie Mellon using the Common Application after August 15. Maybe the new goal is to get into Arcadia University, closer to home! Break down those goals, write down the new goals and move forward.
Nip Helicoptering (or Lawnmowering) in the Bud
Your child may be used to your heavy helping hand (remember that science fair project? Yikes!) but now’s the time for your child to start learning how to move independently. Recognizing that deserves a huge round of applause.
One more quick tip: It might not help to air frustrations during this time. You want to be as positive as possible during the college search and you want to be your child’s partner during the process. Remember, your goals may not be the same as your child’s goals. It can be tough to wrap your head around (and tough to accept!) alternative decisions.
I loved move-in day at our college. As admission counselors, we’d walk around the campus with our list of students. We’d find them in their assigned residence halls and welcome them as they lugged their futons and TVs from the car. We shook hands with their grinning dads and teary moms and even wore shirts that read, “Put Box Here” so families would, indeed, put boxes in our arms.
It was so exciting and always felt like a real celebration.
I can’t help but imagine the booooorrrrring move-in day this year. What’s it going to be like? Masks instead of “Put Box Here” tees? No more cookies and lemonade? Sanitized residence hall keys? (Well, actually, yes, I hope all of those things happen.)
Fall semester normally happens around Labor Day, and for many schools, that’s still the case. Of course, this year presents some stickier situations. You may have painstakingly helped your child make a college decision pre-COVID-19. Now, are you sure it was the right one?
One mom of a soon-to-be first-year student said to me, “My daughter heard from her university that they will have staggered eating times in the dining hall and they’re looking into possibly staggering the days of the week that kids attend face-to-face classes. I’m not sure whether the school itself is making the right decisions. I’m tempted to have my daughter sit out for this whole year, but I’m not sure that’s the best approach, either.”
Here are some truths:
Nobody really knows how this virus will behave over the coming months.
You may not know what to do.
It’s really easy to feel uncertain when you read expert opinions that explicitly state that it’s a mistake to go back to college in the fall. (There are some out there!)
Two-thirds of colleges are planning to welcome back students in person, while only seven percent are planning to hold classes only online, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, which is tracking the plans of lots of institutions.
Let’s say the school your child is planning to attend intends to open per usual. Should your child go? Luckily, there’s more than one option. You may have strong opinions (and so might your student!) which may require lots of family discussions.
Option #1: Your Child Can Attend College as Originally Planned
Your child can certainly attend the school he originally chose as a high school senior, but life on campus will be very different. He might not even realize how drastic the changes might be. Here are some changes you can discuss with your soon-to-be first year (though all of this might be hard to visualize):
Temperatures will be checked daily.
Students may have to sign a housing contract and anyone who signs may not get a room.
Your child may be required to wear a face mask indoors except in residence hall rooms or bathrooms.
Your student will be required to physically distance from everyone.
Anyone who doesn’t comply with the rules may face ejection from campus.
Gatherings and extracurricular activities will be banned or limited.
Dining hall food options will be only for grab-and-go items and there will be no bunched groups in any cafeterias. You may see staggered meal times.
Social distancing will be imposed between professors and students.
Students will only be allowed to enter and exit in certain doorways.
Commons areas will be closed.
Not everyone may go back to campus. Some campuses have discussed only having freshmen and seniors back on campus.
In an effort to prepare, some schools have even mailed special coronavirus kits to students, complete with face masks, thermometers and more.
For those that will open, when is fall semester in college this year? Your child may not start till October or later as colleges and universities work to prioritize the health and safety of students, staff, faculty and their communities.
Option #2: Your Child Can Opt for Online Classes
If the school your child plans to attend is open and teaching online, your student can choose to stay home and take online classes.
Note that while colleges and universities should be commended for a quick shift to online learning this past spring, the majority of that transition happened quickly. In addition, most students had already been on campus for a half of a semester and those students were familiar with the professor and how each class was being taught.
In other words, online learning may not be a great start to a first-year experience. It’ll be more difficult for students to tap into writing, tutoring, career counseling and other resources instrumental to student success. This can be a major hurdle for vulnerable students.
Furthermore, studies have shown that students who attend video lectures on the internet end up with a lower average test score, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. One particular study showed that Hispanic students, male students and students with low ACT scores and GPAs didn’t fare as well.
Option #3: Your Student Can Choose a Different, Less Expensive College and Do Online Classes There
The benefit to this is, of course, is that it’s cheaper! (A great reason to celebrate, right?!)
The danger of this option (in my opinion) is that your student might never go back to the school he or she originally chose. This may be unfortunate if your family carefully chose the original school.
The less expensive school may have wonderful programs and have every bit as wonderful of resources as the original school. However, make sure the following are available:
A high four-year graduation rate
High retention rate after freshman year (in other words, do students go back after freshman year?)
High internship and job placement rate
Transferable AP and college credits (particularly if your child wants to transfer back to the original college) — you’ve got to do deep research here!
Quality of online instruction may need to be evaluated
More elite (read: more expensive) colleges aren’t always better. I always chuckle when I come across this older study, from 1999:
Alan Krueger and Stacy Berg Dale compared students who entered Ivy League and similar schools in 1976 with students who entered less prestigious colleges the same year. Krueger and Dale studied what happened to students who were accepted at an Ivy or a similar institution, but chose instead to attend a moderately selective school.
Here’s the kicker: These students had the same income 20 years later as the elite college grads. Krueger and Dale found that for students bright enough to win admission to a top school, later income “varied little, no matter which type of college they attended.”
The student was responsible for the success — not the school.
I think that’s a great reminder in this context.
Option #4: Your Student Can Take a Gap Year
I’ve never actually been a huge fan of taking a gap year between high school and college. I always considered a gap year to be a great way to lose focus and never go to college. Several of my work-study seniors would take a gap year between college and graduate school and that’s a different story. I loved it when they did that because they already had their degrees.
This year, my opinion changed. If there was any other time to take a gap year, this is it.
By the way, what’s the techy definition of a gap year? In short, it’s a semester or year of experiential learning, typically taken after high school, usually prior to postsecondary education, to deepen professional and personal awareness.
Aaaand, what’s the No. 1 thing you usually associate a gap year with? Yep, travel. Gap years usually mean backpacking Europe, mission trips to South America and more. That probably won’t happen this year. So, here’s what your child’s gap year could look like this year:
Learn a new language. (Admittedly, you could argue that you can do that in college.) If your child wants to tackle it, he can check out courses on Udemy or Coursera.
Become more familiar with a subject your child has always wanted to know more about. Now’s the time to become self-directed.
Cultivate soft skills! Oh, my goodness, soft skills are so important. Cross-cultural communication, problem-solving, adaptability! Why not build and nurture soft skills during a gap year? Emotional intelligence looks splendid on a resume — why not work on it?
Launch those entrepreneurial endeavors. Why not encourage starting a business? If you’ve noticed that your child is entrepreneurial by nature (remember how he sold or traded his snacks at summer camp and came home with a really great baseball glove?) you might encourage those entrepreneurial skills. There’s no question that COVID-19 has been terrible, but it’s also provided more opportunities than ever for entrepreneurs. Now’s the time to figure out what people are missing and need.
Chill out from academics for a while. This can be a good thing if your child’s not going to do well with online learning. Remember, it can be more difficult if you child can’t tap into a writing center, tutor (or flesh-and-blood instructors!) and other resources instrumental to student success.
A gap year can give your child the opportunity to learn about opportunities. Why not learn at an early age that life is so goooood?
Making the Decision
So, knowing all this, what should your child do? How can you help your student decide?
It’s really going to be important to have lots of discussions. You may have one idea about how this fall will go in your head and your child might have a completely different idea. “Mom, I signed up to go to this college — why don’t you want me to go? I’ll wear my mask!”
On the other hand, your child might say, “I don’t want to go to school there. It’s not going to look the same at all as our visit.” In that case, your child will be totally right — but you still might want him to go to college because you’re not sure if he’ll have the same motivation a year from now.
What to Do if You Clash Over a Final Approach
Contact the college if you, your child and your family are having a hard time making a final decision about what to do. The college wants to know what your concerns are and wants to do whatever it can to help you.
It’s okay to get help beyond that. Talk to your spouse or partner, parents, friends, a mental health counselor. Remember one of the truths I listed at the top? Here it is again: You may not know what to do — and that’s okay.
Start a lengthy conversation with your child and listen. Listen, listen, listen. Remember, whatever decision you make doesn’t have to be permanent. Your child can still go to the college he originally planned to attend, even if it’s just a little later on.
It’s almost senior year! What an exciting time to get started on the college search!
I’m getting questions from families about whether it’s too late to launch a full-scale college search right as a rising senior. (Grrrr… COVID-19!) (By the way, I used to use the term “rising senior” all the time when I was in admission… so much so that one kid stopped me to ask, “What is a rising senior?” and I had to laugh.)
Anyway, repeat after me: It’s definitely not too late. Trust me, I used to counsel second-semester seniors who still weren’t sure where they wanted to go to school!
For example, meet Grace. She decided during the tail end of her senior year that the school she’d originally chosen wasn’t the right one for her. Terri, her admission counselor at our college, texted and emailed her often, dazzled Grace and her parents during the college visit and connected her with about a dozen people who worked at the college.
Grace could see herself succeeding and thriving and signed right up. She made the best decision ever and is now the marketing director at a regional hospital.
The goal is to make the right decision the first time. If your child wants to transfer, here’s what happens in an exhausting swoop:
You have to help your child figure out where to transfer.
You’ll need to go on visits together all over again.
You’ll have to cross-check which credits transfer.
The stress! It’ll involve double the amount of yoga you usually pay for.
Trust me, it’s a headache — and I always think of the student who transferred six times. (I’m not even kidding.)
This guide will help you get your child prepared for college starting today. Here are the steps I recommend taking.
1. Talk with your student.
Have as many conversations about college as your teen will allow. It’s a great idea to get on the same page as soon as possible. You might find:
Together, you’re in total agreement about where your child wants to go to school.
I’m constantly reminded of my dentist’s experience with her son. She wanted him to look at schools far away.
He ended up looking at one college in town and a university about an hour away. (I haven’t had a chance to talk to her to find out where he went.)
Make sure it’s a family discussion! You want to launch the college search with a well-intentioned plan. When you don’t have a plan, it’s easy to start bouncing around like a pinball. It might not take too long before you start feeling disorganized with the college search.
2. Come up with a plan.
What’s the plan? You might not have any idea, and that’s okay. But how much better do you feel when you have a plan? I know I do.
In fact, I have an intense personal interest in goal setting. I really like to have specific goals for pretty much everything, whether they’re daily goals, weekly goals or even goals 10 years from now. Here are some great visit goals you and your child may want to put in place:
Come up with a short list of schools to visit by July 15.
Contact admission counselors at each of these schools with your child by July 30.
Visit those schools in person by October 30 (pending visit restrictions due to COVID-19, of course).
Other things you might want to map out: Application goals. Scholarship goals. Can you think of others?
3. Sign up for the ACT or SAT. (Or maybe not!)
Breaking news! The ACT or SAT might not be a requirement for the class of 2021, thanks to COVID-19. Many admission experts believe that SAT and ACT scores predict academic success less often than high school academic performance. In addition, ACT and SAT scores typically skew favorably toward families with higher income and create opportunity gaps for African American and Latino students.
What does this mean? It means that admission offices could forever change admission entrance requirements. This is big news!
It’s officially possible to get into half of all Ivy League institutions, high-ranked liberal arts colleges, almost all universities in Virginia and all universities in California without an ACT or SAT score. Harvard University recently disclosed that it won’t require test scores from the class of 2021.
The June ACT test was cancelled, the SAT’s next offered test date is August 29, and it remains to be seen whether that test occurs. Check FairTest to find out which colleges require the test, whether it’s optional or flexible for all or many applicants who recently graduated or will graduate from U.S. high schools.
You could also contact admission offices at the schools your child’s interested in to learn more.
4. Start planning for college visits.
How many college visits should you plan for?
Simple! As many schools as your child is interested in. I’ve known students who visit up to 15 schools and others who visit one. My recommendation is to visit one small, one medium and one large school to get a comprehensive overview of all of your choices.
By the way, the goals I listed above will work great! Just adjust the dates as needed:
Come up with a short list of schools to visit by July 15.
Contact admission counselors at each of these schools by July 30.
Visit those schools in person by October 30, pending visit restrictions due to COVID-19, of course.
One question I get a lot is whether your child should visit a school before or after he applies, and the answer is that it doesn’t really matter. An application doesn’t commit your child to a school unless your child has applied to a college early decision. Early decision (ED) plans are binding. Your student must attend the college if he is accepted as an ED applicant. (The application deadline is usually around November, though schools may have changed their policies due to COVID-19. Make sure you check!)
5. Have the money talk.
College seemed a long way off when your child was a toddler, didn’t it? If the years have flown by with not a lot of savings under your belt, that’s okay. You can still build a financial plan that meets your future needs.
I talked with the very talented Ksenia Yudina, founder and CEO of UNest. She recommends taking a good look at your current expenses and spending with your child. “It’s likely changed through the pandemic. Establish a realistic dollar amount that you can set aside each month,” she says. (Yes! You can still save even if college is just a year away. Every penny counts.)
Yudina suggests getting your other family members involved, too. “Don’t keep your family financial goals and aspirations a secret,” says Yudina. “Share them with grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends and have them contribute to your child’s savings plan. Dollars invested in your plan will go way further than gifts like clothes!”
She also says to teach your kids the value of money. “We’ve all heard it: ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees.’ It may be a cliche, but it is a good starting point in building a solid set of values in your kids. Getting the balance right can be challenging. Go overboard and your kids could become obsessed with money. Being too lax can lead to kids that don’t appreciate the sacrifices you have made, and that don’t know how to budget or spend money wisely,” Yudina adds.
It’s a good time to talk about loans — how you feel about them and what they can do for your child’s future.
By the way, if you and your child will need to borrow, there’s good news for student loan borrowers. Federal Direct student loans may continue to dip for student borrowers. The Federal Parent PLUS loan and private student loans may continue to lower.
6. Communicate with your child’s school counselor.
Are classes ready to go for this fall? (You know, despite that uh… abrupt end to junior year?) Make sure you and your child touch base with your teen’s school counselor. You can share which schools your child’s looking at to make sure your child’s classes are right on track. Here’s a general guide — but check with the colleges on your child’s short list:
English
It’s highly recommended to take four years of English classes, so encourage your high schooler not to skimp on that last year of literature! Any class where your child will study writing and literature is a bonus because just about every career will require your child to write well. English classes also encourage reading, analysis and communication skills.
Math
Same for four years of math! Your child might find that she’s more successful in college if she takes four (not just three) years of math. It’s easy to forget certain concepts and a bit of momentum if your child doesn’t carry on through year four. Math classes should include at least four of the following six classes (in order):
Pre-algebra
Algebra
Geometry
Algebra II or trigonometry
Precalculus
Calculus
Science
It’s okay to squeak by with three years of laboratory science classes but a fourth year is still a bonus. Make sure your child’s taken the following:
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Social Studies
Most colleges require two years of social studies, like world history and U.S. history. Other social science options include:
Government
Sociology
Geography
Psychology
Foreign Language
Lots of colleges require a minimum of two years of language study while in high school, and it doesn’t matter which foreign language your child chooses to study.
Arts
A small number of colleges require one year of visual or performing arts prior to admission.
Next, take a look at your child’s credentials with the school counselor and learn the colleges’ admission rates, median GPAs and SAT and ACT scores.
Does your child have a reach school on his list? A college should be considered a reach for your kiddo if his test scores and GPA are below (or at the lower end of) what a college typically accepts.
Does his GPA align with that of accepted students at colleges? Bingo! You’ve identified a target school!
Finally, a safety school is one that accepts a high percentage of applicants. Your child’s GPA and test scores go above and beyond the qualifications for a safety school.
You may want to start a handy spreadsheet to identify these schools and continue to add to the list. The college and career counselor at your child’s school might be able and interested to help you add to the list. When colleges visit your child’s high school, many of them take time to sit down with the school counselor and help them understand what that school offers.
Here’s a quick checklist of conversation topics you can bring up with your child’s school counselor:
High school schedule for senior year
AP or college credit classes
Colleges on your child’s radar and any others that the counselor would recommend
College admission questions
College application timeline questions
Scholarship and financial aid options — particularly local scholarships
7. Get your teen excited about scholarships!
Don’t forget to ask about local scholarships when you talk with the school counselor. School counselors are the first people many local businesses alert when they decide to create a scholarship. For example, let’s say a local dentist creates a scholarship for students who plan to go into dentistry. The dentist usually calls up the school and the call gets transferred to the school counselor.
The College Board also offers a scholarship search tool you and your teen can look at together.
Finally, don’t forget to check into the numerous scholarships available at just about every college in the United States. You’ll want to ask detailed questions about scholarships and how to get them when you do your visits. You don’t have to wait until visits, though. You can do lots of research now. Call or email the admission office and ask about scholarships so you know what to expect.
It’s never, ever too early to start applying for scholarships. Summer before senior year is a great time to make that happen.
8. Create your FSA ID.
What’s an FSA ID? It’s a username and password you must create if you want to file the FAFSA. It gives you access to Federal Student Aid’s online systems and can serve as your legal signature.
Now, you can’t officially file the FAFSA until October 1, but you can still create your FSA ID. Put “filing the FAFSA” on the calendar! You’ll also need to gather up the following:
Social Security numbers for you, your student’s other parent and your student
Alien Registration numbers (if you’re not U.S. citizens)
Your federal income tax returns, W-2s, and other records of money you earn, ,though you may be able to transfer your federal tax return information into your FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool. This makes pulling in information from your FAFSA really simple.
Bank statements and records of investments (if applicable)
Records of untaxed income (if applicable)
9. Start reaching out to people.
Reach out to an admission counselor, financial aid officer, coach — even if visits aren’t officially happening right now. Call admission offices and ask whether you and your son or daughter will be able to visit with these people using tech options. Make a list of questions you and your high school junior would like to ask, including:
What are the majors and minors the college offers?
What are the results we can expect after majoring in X? What’s the employment rate/graduate school acceptance rate?
How are semesters divided up? Do you have a May term or traditional semesters?
What are the opportunities within athletic programs?
What are your social and extracurricular opportunities?
How does my child get plugged into internship opportunities?
What’s the total cost of attendance? How much financial aid do students at your school typically receive?
What’s campus life like (including meal plans and housing)?
What are your admission requirements?
Can you explain the application process (including whether that will change due to COVID-19)? When are your application deadlines?
These questions are just the tip of the iceberg! I could literally think of hundreds. It’s so important to start building relationships during the college search. Learn more about why building relationships must happen during the college search.
10. Have your high schooler update that resume.
This is a great exercise because it may be necessary for college applications and it also helps your child build his elevator speech for college interviews.
Many colleges encourage your high schooler to interview with an admission representative or alumnus during the application process, either on campus or in the area in which you live. The interview is an important part of the application process for some schools and certain colleges and universities even have a very specific timeline for them. This may have changed during COVID-19, so add that list of questions for the admission office: “Where, when and how will admission interviews take place?”
You may want to help your child proof his resume before he ships it off to schools.
11. Start those applications!
This is the slowest summer on record and now that everything’s cancelled (no baseball games, no summer camp counseling duties!) your child might find some quiet time to sit down with several applications.
Check with each college your student is interested in and find out about each college’s application deadlines.
Target applications at schools your child’s reasonably sure he’s interested in. Remember, in most cases, applying to a college doesn’t mean your high schooler must commit to a school. Think of college applications kind of like sending a resume to jobs. Apply if there’s a serious interest!
Tackle One Task at a Time
Feeling overwhelmed by what’s on your rising senior’s plate? It’s okay. It’s okay to feel like you’re behind because you weren’t able to get to go on college visits this past spring. Your child may even be feeling down in the dumps because he missed out on junior year track — and therefore couldn’t boost his times for college coaches.
Just remember that everyone’s in the same boat. Take a look at the list of goals you put into place during Step 2 and put some time into crossing off each item on the checklist. Also, don’t think you have to take on all these steps in the order I’ve listed them. Your child might want to tackle all of his applications first — and that’s great!
That was my friend Sarah’s response to the very kind financial aid lady who walked her through her exit counseling before she graduated from college.
Sarah paid for her entire state university education by herself. When Sarah was younger, a financial planner told her parents, “College will be too expensive when she’s ready to go off to college. I wouldn’t even bother trying to save for it.”
So they didn’t. The expectation was set: She’d be responsible for every dime, with the exception of an occasional tank of gas to get her back to school.
She took out student loans for everything — housing, meals, tuition. Sarah was in debt to the tune of $80,000 by the time she graduated with her sociology degree.
So, get this. Sarah’s much-younger sister visited my office when I was working in admission. Her sister wanted to forgo the big state school experience and go to a private college — she happened to choose the college where I worked.
As they worked through the financial aid portion of the decision, her parents said, “I wish we’d thought to ask about an installment plan when Sarah was in school.” Things might have been different for Sarah — they admitted that they’d simply been paralyzed by the final out-of-pocket costs and turned to student loans “because that’s how people afford college.”
It’s really, really easy to lean on student loans if you don’t know other alternatives exist. A tuition installment plan can make college affordable. Here’s what you need to know and why they’re awesome.
What’s an Installment Plan?
An installment plan, commonly called a monthly payment plan or tuition installment plan (we called it a 10-month payment plan at the college I worked for) lets you or your student break up the total costs. This means that you can attack the remaining balance and pay it over a typical nine- to 12-month period.
For example, let’s say your out-of-pocket costs (the remainder after taking scholarships, grants and federal student loans into consideration) total $10,000. This remaining balance can be spread over 10 months — a $1,000 monthly payment.
Makes a $10,000 out-of-pocket remainder seem much more palatable, right?
Some colleges and universities execute their own tuition installment plans but most use outside providers like the ECSI Tuition Payment Plan (TPP), for example.
Most colleges’ installment plans cover only the direct costs billed by and paid to the college, which includes:
Tuition
Fees
Room and board (only applicable if your child lives on campus)
Books, supplies, equipment and transportation to and from school are not covered.
Most colleges or outside providers will accept either a credit or debit card or a savings or checking account at a bank.
Here are some obvious benefits — and some not-so-obvious benefits — on why installment plans are a gift and a great option for many parents.
1. An installment plan might eliminate the need to take on debt.
It’s easy to shut down when you see a large tuition bill. I remember families focusing so much on that final number. “Whaaaa… $10,000?! There’s no way I can pay $10,000 for one year of school!”
And that may very well have been the case. But what happens when you break it down into smaller chunks? We were always asked to help families imagine the possibilities with us.
“Is it possible to work with $10,000 (or whatever the out-of-pocket amount is) if it’s chopped up?” We’d encourage them to be as creative as possible — cancel some subscriptions, pay off the car or get a side gig to help out.
Imagine the ways you could break it down into manageable chunks! You might just eliminate the need to take on any debt at all.
2. You can borrow and pay on an installment plan.
Still stymied by the idea of paying the full amount on installment? Car payments, mortgage payments, private school tuition, groceries, dog grooming — gah! The costs add up fast.
It always seems like there’s an extra one-time expense every month at our house. (Last summer, it went like this, in this order: Car repairs! Landscaping! A broken air conditioner!) I know how coming up with any extra money can seem like trying to boil the ocean.
If the pinch is too much but you know you want to contribute to your child’s college tuition, you can take out a loan such as a Parent Plus Loan (check out my article on how to apply for a Parent Plus Loan in 6 easy steps) or private loans. This could be in addition to opting for an installment plan.
For example, let’s say you look at your monthly budget and figure out that you can’t quite swing the $1,000 that the installment plan would require but you can manage, say, $400 per month instead. Take the rest out in loans.
There’s no shame in combining tactics. Think outside the box!
3. You and your child can tackle college payments together.
It may be time to tag-team. Your student may have a job at the local grocery store or waits tables at Applebee’s. You both know you can work together to make the monthly payments. Why not? It can be a “you-pay-half and I’ll-pay-half” scenario.
Now, most installment plans will not let your student sign up alone. However, you can connect your student’s bank account to the service for an automatic transfer every month. (Just make sure your child remembers to keep the account fully stocked before that payment rolls around!)
Paying together is a great approach and a way for both of you to shoulder the responsibility for your child’s education. If your kiddo doesn’t think he can quiiiiteswing a full half, try to work together to figure out an amount that’s fair.
4. You can count on it like clockwork.
Making a monthly tuition installment can become as routine as paying a credit card bill every month or making your mortgage payment. Dare I say that there’s something uh… comforting… about paying a bill that you know will arrive each month?
Remember that the first payment might be most expensive due to fees.
5. Fees are cheaper than student loans.
True, the service fee could add up to three percent to your bill, but an installment plan is still less expensive than diving headfirst into student loans. Tuition installment plans have a small upfront enrollment fee (approximately $100 to $150) and do not charge interest.
That’s still lower than the majority of student loan interest rates. For example, a Parent Plus Loan disbursed on or after July 1, 2019, and before July 1, 2020 carries a 7.08 percent interest rate. This is a fixed interest rate.
Makes a monthly payment plan look mighty nice, huh?
One of the most effective ways to save money is to automatically whisk it from your bank account each month — before you get a hankering to spend it.
Same with an installment plan. It’ll automatically be zipped from your bank account each month. You might not even notice it — much.
The point is, it’s easier than worrying about paying money back later.
Choose an Installment Plan to Break Down Costs
Now, I know the total I chose to use — $10,000 — throughout this blog post may seem way too small. Many families will face much larger out-of-pocket costs. However, the monthly payment plan option still shrinks the cost to a more manageable amount, no matter how you slice it.
Remember my friend Sarah’s story at the beginning? (She’s extremely successful these days, by the way, and student-loan free! She paid off her student loans in a flash, about five years after she graduated from college. She’s amazing.)
One thing that stood out to me about her college journey was that she and her parents didn’t build a relationship with anyone during the college admission process — they did everything online. They didn’t even realize the possibility of a payment plan existed until her little sister went off to college. (See why it’s so important to build those relationships?)
Today, my friend is a huge advocate for talking things through as a family and trying to be creative when reducing costs. She wishes she and her parents would have read through how to handle a disappointing financial aid award before she went off to college, or at least thought through implications of every single option available.
A tuition installment plan can make college affordable — and can even help you feel so much better about the cost of college.
