Stressed About College Applications?

Going through the college application process can be extremely stressful.  You may feel like it as taken over your life.  As with any stressful life situation, it is important to take a step back and gain some perspective every once in a while.
One reason you may be stressed is because you are on information overload.  You may have several deadlines floating around in your head and are unsure where to begin to meet them all.  Take a minute to get organized.  Make sure you have everything you need to get done prioritized by the appropriate deadline.
You may also still be trying to get your final list together, but websites and guide books are just blurring the information.  Make sure you take a break when you can no longer process what you are reading.  Come back to your research when you feel a little less overwhelmed.
Fear of rejection may be another cause of your college application stress.  Sure you may think that you are making the biggest decision of your life, but the thought that no one will want you scares you even more.  Reality is that you will have other major life decisions besides where to go to college and you may face rejection with those decisions too.  The important thing to do is make sure your college list corresponds with your qualifications.  Hiring an educational consultant can help to make sure you are on the right track.
You may also be stressed because you still have not found that perfect college.  The one with the right name and prestige that has everything your are looking for.  Fact of the matter is that there may not be a perfect college for you.  No matter where you apply you are going to have to make comprimises.  Again, this is where it is important to prioritize the things you are looking for in college.
One thing I always tell my students is that you have to get to the point where you feel like you have done everything you can to put your best foot forward.  After that you have to leave it up to the uncertain process to sort itself out.  Make sure you focus on what you have control over and learn to let go of things that are out of your hands.
Katherine Price
Education Consultant
 
 
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To Gap Year or Not?

Time for College Fairs - Get these tips

Parents may not like it, but some students just are not ready for college immediately after high school. You may want to travel the world, volunteer for your favorite non-profit or save up some extra cash so you have one less thing to stress out about. Whatever the reason, many students are deciding to take a gap year, or a deferred year, between high school and college. Like everything with the college selection process, becoming a “gapper” takes some careful thought and consideration.

Here are some things to look out for:

  • Does the college or university you have been admitted to (or would like to be admitted to) allow students to take a gap year? Make sure you call and find out your school’s specific gap year policy. Do they want you to be in a formal program? Do you need to tell them in writing?
  • If you plan to just stick close to home and take a few community college courses. Make sure you find out if your school will allow you to transfer those courses in. Some schools will limit the amount of college credit you can bring in and still be considered a first-year student. In other words, they may want to consider you a transfer student if you try and bring in a full load.
  • How will deferring affect your financial aid? Will you need to do the financial aid application process again? Are there other financial benefits for you and your family if you decide to take a gap year?

So Many Programs, So Little Time

Once you get those details worked out, now comes the fun part. What will you do with your gap year? There are hundreds of programs out there. So you should narrow them down much like you did when you were selecting what colleges you applied to. What are your goals?

Do you want to be immersed in a certain culture or do you want to see as much of the world as possible? Do you have a favorite non-profit you want to work for? Are there certain skills you think you need to work on? Do you want to gain some job experience that will help you decide on a major?

The Post Graduate Year

Some students may decide to take a gap year to improve their high school academic transcript in order to continue with the college application process. This is often called a Post Graduate Year and some private day and boarding schools offer academic based gap year programs to help boost your academic record.

This approach is often taken if you did not get into the college of your choice. If you want to put the college application process on hold until you can fix a few mishaps on your academic record. I highly recommend that you discuss this option with the colleges and universities you are thinking of applying. In order to see if a Post Graduate Year would be beneficial and what specific areas you may need to work on.

The Gapper Life

Becoming a “gapper” can be a life changing experience. It can certainly help you narrow down your interest before you enter college and have to decide on a college major. It also may just make you a better, more well-rounded person along the way!

Katherine Price
Educational Consultant

Taking Out a Student Loan? Listen To This First!

OnPoint, a radio production of WBUR and NPR, ran a story this past week  called The Dark Side of Student Loans. The featured guest is Alan Michael Collinge, founder of StudentLoanJustice.org and author of the new book “The Student Loan Scam: The Most Oppressive Debt in U.S. History – and How We Can Fight Back.” Publisher’s Weekly apparently calls it “whistle-blowing at its finest.”

This story should be required listening for any student or parent considering taking out a student loan to pay for college tuition and expenses.

Parents and students should, indeed, consider “return on investment” before enrolling in an expensive degree program.

But more than that, parents and students should develop a decent strategy of selecting the right college BEFORE they get admitted and are faced with a lousy financial aid package.  Do the research!  Don’t just sign the loan papers and then plead, “gosh, I had no idea!”

As I have written many times, colleges and universities are businesses.  They act like businesses.  They talk about “filling beds” and “sales leads.”  And yes, they use financial aid programs to their advantage…not to the advantage of the student.  This is not really surprising, is it?

What is surprising is that too few families have blinkers on when it comes to financing a college education.  Doing some solid research well before the applications are submitted will help mitigate the anger and hurt (and debt) that can come after the diploma is framed.

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Six More Colleges Join the Universal College Application

I learned today that the Universal College Application now has over 60 institutions that accept its online application. This is a good start, and builds upon momentum that I wrote about a while back. I’m glad that the Common Application’s monopoly on online submissions may be ending. And further developments from CollegeZapps may render both organizations obsolete before too long.
Here are the newest members of the Universal College Application:

  • Arcadia University
  • Gonzaga University
  • Harcum College – 2 year institution
  • Hobart and William Smith Colleges
  • University of Miami (FL)
  • University of Pennsylvania

For a current list of all members, please go to www.universalcollegeapp.com and click on the “College Info” link.