Life's Little College Admissions Insights

Top Tips From the Country's Most Acclaimed Guidance Counselors

Eric Yaverbaum, Cole Yaverbaum

• Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
• Year: 2000
• ISBN:
  9781600379178
• Topic: Bildung
• Subtopic: Hochschulausbildung

Top-of-the-class tips for starting your college search, from professional advisors and counselors. Compiled by a successful business and leadership author and his college-bound daughter, the words of wisdom in this book can jump start your collegiate research and guide you in the process as you select and apply to colleges and universities. Top experts and insiders across the country were interviewed and have given many wise and different opinions on what's important, based on their own firsthand experience advising hundreds of thousands of students in their careers. They were asked to provide: * the one college tip no one ever seems to know about
* the first piece of advice top counselors give their own children
* the one piece of advice they have given that's worked best
* what students have to do differently today
* and—to add a little education to the process—advice with an SAT word in it! Eric and Cole Yaverbaum also offer reflections on their own thought process during the search, and include invaluable informational resources such as where to look for financial aid; a detailed timeline for when to do what; test preparation information; athletics; and even the sample essay Cole used on her applications to get into college. While many adults look back on their college years as the best time of their life, no one ever seems to say the same about the college application and selection process—but this book can help make it as enjoyable and easy as possible.

CHAPTER ONE

What is one college tip that nobody ever seems to know?

Do not visit your first college choice first. Students should save the first choice for somewhere in the middle or for the last visit, so they have many other schools to compare it to before visiting their first choice.

Robert Bardwell
Secondary-Level Vice President, American School Counselor
Association
President, New England Association for College Admission
Counseling
School Counselor and Director of Guidance & Student
Support Services
Monson High School
Monson, Massachusetts

In order to qualify for need-based financial aid, you need to fill out the FAFSA. You should file prior to February 15^th.

Valerie Simmons, MEd
School Counselor
Pennsylvania

Most colleges will host students for an overnight visit once they are accepted. This really helps you decide if a college is right for you and reduces the likelihood of a transfer.

Cristiana M. Quinn, MEd
College Admission Advisors, LLC
Providence, Rhode Island

Don’t follow the “you never know” philosophy of the college admissions process. Translated, that means: don’t apply to a lot of colleges you know are beyond your reach.

Betsy Sherwood
Guidance Counselor
Tappan Zee High School
Orangeburg, New York

College should not be a competition, but a match.

Deborah Hardy, EdD
Chairperson of Guidance and Counseling Department
Irvington School District
Irvington, New York

Make your “name” your email address for college communication.

Jeannie Borin, MEd
President
College Connections
Encino, California

Pay attention to the guidelines colleges offer as to what kind of student they are looking for. No one seems to anticipate that terrible feeling one gets when reading the “denied” letters. It is painful.

Betsy Sherwood
Guidance Counselor
Tappan Zee High School
Orangeburg, New York

The students who do the right things are going to get the admission and scholarship offers—there is no “fate” or personal validation built into the college admissions process, no points for suffering in silence.

Keith Berman, CEP
President
Options for College, Inc.
New York, New York

Students should have eight first choices. Prioritizing before you get in closes minds.

Joyce Slayton Mitchell
Author
8 First Choices: An Expert’s Strategies for Getting into College
College Advice U.S.A.
New York, New York

Thank your admissions rep. After a visit, go “old school” and send a handwritten postcard from your hometown/state, thanking them for their time. What’s old is new again.

Robert F. Kennedy
Counselor/Post-Grad Coordinator
Smoky Hill High School
Aurora, Colorado

Ask for an appointment to interview with a human being and tour the college. Bring along items that make you unique to show off: portfolios of your articles, poems, songs, awards, speeches. Make sure you’re one candidate for admission they won’t forget! Then follow up with a note of appreciation.

Livia Sklar
Guidance Counselor
Bronx Aerospace Academy High School
Bronx, New York

Colleges do not like to admit students who are unlikely to attend. They make assumptions about strong students who express no interest in a school whatsoever. If a student has not communicated with a school at all except to apply there, they may not get in, even if their statistics are way above what the college is looking for.

Betsy Sherwood
Guidance Counselor
Tappan Zee High School
Orangeburg, New York

CONTACT! Make contact with the colleges you are really serious about.

Nathan J. Heltzel
School Counselor
Briarcliff High School
Briarcliff Manor, New York

Admissions officers aren’t looking for reasons to reject you. They’re looking at your application and trying to get comfortable with the idea of accepting you.

Scott Shrum
Co-Author
Your MBA Game Plan:
Proven Strategies for Getting into the Top Business Schools
Director of MBA Admissions Research
Veritas Prep
Malibu, California

For a variety of reasons, students don’t take advantage of the summer and often regret the lost opportunity when the rush of activities kicks in at the start of the school year. Reminding students at the end of the school year about the benefits of using the summer months can go a long way towards alleviating major stress in the fall

William Slocum
Guidance Counselor
Lenape High School
Medford, New Jersey

The college search process is NOT supposed to be a damaging experience. Create a list of schools that includes reaches, targets, and safeties, with a heavy hand on the safeties.

-Betsy Sherwood
Guidance Counselor
Tappan Zee High School
Orangeburg, New York

Students in the creative and performing arts don’t seem to know that they can request to take a music lesson or a dance class or whatever class that relates to whatever they plan to study in the arts when they visit a college or university. Of course, they have to request this in advance of their visit.

Judy Zodda
Zodda College Services
Framingham, Massachusetts

Parents and students who do speak and get everything out on the table have the best perspective on things and fare the best in the process, without question; their stress levels are exponentially lower and they end up making the best decisions.

Philip M. Kavanagh
District Director of Guidance and Counseling
Lakeland Central School District
Shrub Oak, New York

A great time to take a subject test is after an AP exam.

Mandee Adler
Founder and Principal
International College Counselors
Hollywood, Florida

If financial aid is a concern for a family, then they should be investigating how each college handles financial aid before choosing a college. For example, most families assume that the expected family contribution number from the FAFSA will be the amount that they will be expected to pay. However, this is only true for those colleges that provide 100% of need. Most colleges do not provide this level of financial aid and instead practice “gapping,” whereby they only give the student a certain percentage of their need. By focusing on colleges that provide more financial aid, the student can save thousands of dollars each year.

Todd Johnson
College Admissions Partners
Minnetonka, Minnesota

The one thing that parents and students forget is that there are more than 3,500 colleges in the US and there is more than one perfect college for a child.

Emilie Hinman
Dunbar Educational Consultants
New Canaan, Connecticut

Private colleges can potentially be equally as affordable as public options, depending on financial and merit-based aid.

Kiersten A. Murphy, MEd
Murphy College Consultants, LLC
Seattle/Bellevue, Washington

You are the customer, not the school.

Kristina L. Dooley
Independent Educational Consultant
Estrela Consulting
São Paulo, Brazil

College admission officers are usually very skilled at “reading” students, so do not think of the college admission process as a game and try to fake your interest in the school.

Marilyn G.S. Emerson, MSW, CEP
Independent Educational Consultants Association
College Planning Services, Inc.
Chappaqua, New York

When you’ve got your first short list of colleges, decide on your number one choice. If it isn’t on Common App, then write the essay first. While Common App is your friend, not all colleges use it and if that is the case, you need to decide what your top choices are to focus your admissions questions appropriately.

Elisabeth Marksteiner
College Counselor & Alumni Relations
International School of Zug and Luzern
Zug, Switzerland

Colleges are looking for good citizens as wel...