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Four Tips For High School Juniors

High School Juniors! The time is here. As you watch your friends in the senior class find out where they are going in the fall, I hope you are already planning out what you need to do over the next year to get your college process moving.

If you haven’t, here are four things you should be focused on right now:

1. Standardized testing – Both the SAT and ACT have test dates coming up later this spring. The SAT will be offered on May 5th and June 2nd while the ACT will be offered on April 14th and June 9th. Keep in mind that you need to register online for both and the deadlines are typically one month prior to the test date. If you’re not sure which test you want to take – or which one you might do better at, now is the time to take some practice tests.

2. Talk about money – despite the fact that most people hate to talk about money, if you haven’t already talked about cost, now is the time to do it. The average four year cost for public schools is over $60,000. For private schools, it’s nearly $150,000. Knowing what you can afford now will save you a lot of time, stress and heartache when you start building your college list and visiting campuses. Keep in mind that paying for a college is very much like paying for a car – very rarely do you pay the sticker price.

3. Campus visits –Even if you don’t know where you want to apply to yet, you are fortunate to have so many schools within driving distance right here in Connecticut. Want to get a feel for a large, research university? Go visit UConn. Think you might have what it takes to get into and make it at an Ivy League school? Schedule an information session and tour at Yale. Want to see what a highly selective, liberal arts college might offer you? You can visit Wesleyan or Connecticut College. A private, comprehensive university? The University of New Haven is your destination. A regional, state university? CentralEasternSouthern or Western would fit the bill. I think you see where I’m going with this.

Visiting schools is one of the best ways to figure out how you feel about a school before investing your time in applying. Just be mindful of when schools are on spring break. While some may still offer tours, do you really want to see an empty campus?

4. Senior year courses – planning for next year’s courses should be happening soon and if you read my blog post from last week, you will know that colleges are looking at your senior year course load and grades. AP and honors courses are great ways to demonstrate your academic abilities. Scores of three or higher on the AP test (for very competitive schools, you will need a four or higher in most cases), can earn you college credit.

Another great way to show off your academic skills and earn some credit in the process is to take UConn Early College Education courses, otherwise known as ECE courses. The ECE program allows motivated high school students to take UConn courses at their high schools for both high school and college credit. For example, students at Cheshire High School can elect to take Child Development & Human Growth and British literature in addition to several AP courses.

Considering there are so many steps to finding the right college for you, getting started early can help ease the stress and anxiety of the process.

If you have any thoughts or perspective on things juniors should be doing now to help get their college search moving along, please use the comment section below.

You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com.

Eric Dobler is the president and founder of Dobler College Consulting. Follow him on Twitter.

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Seniors – Are You Finishing Strong?

The Finish LineA recent entry in The Choice, the NY Times’ college admissions and financial aid blog, by Martha C. Merrill, dean of admission and financial aid at Connecticut College, talked about the need for students to finish their senior year strong. I don’t call attention to the article because I think there’s anything ground-breaking about Merrill’s suggestions. In fact, I agree with the underlying message – an acceptance to any college or university is not a green light for a student to mentally check out for the remainder of his or her senior year. However, I mention this article because I think a healthy discussion of the impact of applying to a highly selective school like Connecticut College has ensued.

If you read through the comments you will see a virtual back-and-forth of opinions. Some respondents argue that colleges and universities are placing too much stress on students while others argue that a student, once he or she has received admission, should be able to take a break and relax a bit.

To be honest, I think the reality is somewhere in between. I wouldn’t read Merrill’s comments with a knee-jerk reaction. She’s not saying that students can’t let an A in a course slip to a B as much as she’s saying, “don’t throw in the towel now just because you’re looking towards next year already.” The admissions game has gotten out of control over the last several years especially for students who are applying to highly selective schools like Connecticut College. Merrill’s points may be construed as a warning, but I think there is a perspective to be gained from them if you allow yourself to read them in context:

Having said that, let me lend some perspective to each bullet in the order in which it appears in the article:

1. Students should finish their senior year strong. Hopefully, the courses they are taking were selected due to interest and ability rather than how good they might look on a transcript. More incentive to finish strong is that AP courses and coordinated college courses can lead to transfer credit, effectively lowering tuition bills while allowing the student more time to pursue experiential opportunities along the way.

2. A student’s admission is contingent on finishing the school year and graduating. A final high school transcript which reveals all D’s and F’s in the second half of senior year is a concern and the considerable drop off in performance will, and should, be questioned.

3. Like an athlete training for game day, senior year is an opportunity to build momentum while fine-tune academic skills heading into freshman year. Doing well in challenging courses senior year will only help a student be more prepared for their first year of college especially if they are applying for competitive pre-professional programs like engineering, nursing, pharmacy, athletic training or physical therapy.

4. If a school decides to send a student the “oops” letter, as Merrill calls it, it is an effort by that school to gain clarification on the change in grades. The situation is rare but the more selective the school, the greater the chance that this can happen should a student’s grades slip significantly. If it does happen, the student should be prepared to offer a valid explanation.

5. The fifth point is introduced with a sense of doom and gloom; an approach which I think is misleading. Schools should be monitoring the progress of all first-year students as closely as possible. The adjustment to college life can be very difficult and it is critical to get off to a good start. Students should connect with their advisor, a faculty member, or even the dean – someone who can serve as a mentor and provide assistance when they need it.

6. Disciplinary action is what it is – students should exercise sound judgment and understand that there are consequences for their actions. This is a life lesson, not a school lesson.

If you have any thoughts or perspective on how seniors should approach post-acceptance letter life that you would like to share, please use the comment section below.

You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com.

Eric Dobler is the president and founder of Dobler College Consulting. Follow him on Twitter.

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Talkin’ About The SAT

Juniors, if you’re thinking about taking the March SAT, the registration deadline is February 10th which is less than a week away. Hopefully you have been putting in some time on test preparation. If you haven’t, here are some resources I would recommend.

First, check out Debbie Stier’s website, Perfect Score Project. In an effort to connect with her son as he was preparing for the SAT, Debbie decided to roll up her sleeves and take the test herself. Debbie’s website offers great tips, suggestions for test preparation on a budget and, for the motivated and organized, a year-long test preparation timeline.

Another website for test preparation that I really like is PWN the SAT. Created by Mike McClenathan, the site is full of tips, free diagnostic tests, and an extensive Q& A section. Oh yeah, Mike scored a perfect 2400 on his SAT! He knows what he’s talking about.

The Khan Academy, which is a great resource for visual learners, offers an extensive video library covering nearly 3,000 academic topics. Their test preparation library shows you how to work through question on the math section in the College Board’s Official SAT Study Guide. Whether you have the eight-test edition or the ten-test one, you can watch a video on how to solve each problem.

If you’re like me and standardized testing is your nemesis, check out Fair Test – the National Center for Fair and Open Testing. They maintain a list of over 800 colleges and universities who do not require the SAT or the ACT for admission. For some schools, you may need to submit AP, IB or SAT Subject Test scores for admission while for others you may ultimately need SAT scores for course placement. In the end, these schools have decided to place a greater emphasis on your transcript, essay, recommendations, and an interview. A lot of these schools have gone test-optional to level the playing field and to increase diversity on their campuses.

There’s something to like about that.

If you have any questions about test preparation and planning or would like to share any stories or experiences you’ve had with the SAT or ACT, please use the comment section below.

You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com.

Eric Dobler is the president and founder of Dobler College Consulting. Follow him on Twitter.

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Meeting The State FAFSA Deadline

For those of you still working on the FAFSA, keep in mind that February 15th is the state deadline for filing here in Connecticut. Not to be confused with the federal deadline which is June 30th of 2013 (yes, that’s 2013 – the federal timeline for filing spans 18 months beginning in January of the student’s senior year in high school ), the state deadline is much earlier. If you want to be considered for any state grants, your FAFSA must be filed by the 15th. State grants are typically formulaic based on the student’s academic record. So, if you’re a good student, you don’t want to miss this deadline!

If you are putting off your FAFSA filing because you haven’t done your taxes yet – don’t. Plug in some estimations and then, when your taxes are done, you can go back in and make adjustments later. If you are putting off the FAFSA because you just don’t want to tackle it – arm yourself with resourcesresources and more resources.

If you are a current junior, check with your school counselor about when your school might be hosting a financial aid night. Also, look for programs like the College Goal Sunday Program which was held at twelve different locations around the state today. The program’s goal is to help students and their families learn about financial planning for college while obtaining on-site assistance in filling out the FAFSA. It’s a free program and funded by the Lumina Foundation for Education and co-sponsored by the Connecticut Association of Professional Financial Aid Administrators (CAPFAA) and the Connecticut Association for Educational Opportunity Programs (CAEOP).

If all these attempts to get answers to your questions fail, you can always call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4FED-AID (1.800.433.3243). You don’t want to miss out on any type of assistance just because you missed a deadline.

Good luck with the FAFSA and if you have any questions you would like to ask or stories you would like to share, please use the comment section below.

You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com.

Eric Dobler is the president and founder of Dobler College Consulting. Follow him on Twitter.

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Keeping It Simple

On Friday, Jay Matthews of the Washington Post wrote a blog titled, “5 wrong ideas about college admission.”  I just wanted to bring some attention to the piece because of its simple effectiveness.

One of the reasons I created Dobler College Consulting was because I see the frustration families and their college-bound students experience trying to navigate the application process. With an unlimited number of blogs, articles, publications, books, and media coverage touting lists and rankings, what to do and what not to do and tips on how to write the perfect essay, sometimes the best thing you can do is take a step back and try to simplify things.

You want to demonstrate to a college that you are a strong student by taking AP courses? Great! Choose subject areas where you excel and where you have strong interests. Think about your brand rather than signing up for every AP course possible.

You want to show that you have been involved in something that matters to you? Great! Get involved, but make it count. Eight days a week, it is better for you to show a depth of involvement in one or two activities rather than lining up your resume with twenty clubs and organizations as you head into your senior year.

Your application and supporting materials should reflect who you are as a student and, more importantly, as a person. Be true to you, invest your time wisely and, when in doubt, think about quality versus quantity.

Jay’s blog takes this approach while offering some helpful and simple advice.  I hope you take a minute to read it.

If someone has given you a tip that was extremely helpful, please use the comment section below. You can also email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com.

Eric Dobler is the president and founder of Dobler College Consulting. Follow him on Twitter.

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