College Lists

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Narrowing Down Your College List

Ohio UniversityA couple weeks ago I was touring several colleges in Ohio with a group of high school counselors and college consultants like myself. We traveled from Cleveland to Columbus visiting John Carroll, Kent State, Ohio State, Otterbein, Ohio University, Marietta and Baldwin Wallace. I also took a quick side trip to Case Western Reserve before flying home.

Ohio has some amazing schools and while most students here in New England focus on the East Coast, there are some incredible values just several hours away in the Buckeye State. Seeing them up close and personal allows me to advise and challenge my students with a more informed and personal opinion.

While I was on the trip, I was talking with some of the other counselors about college lists and how students conduct their research (or don’t) to narrow down their list to the schools which fit them well. In my opinion, a college should fit you three ways: academically, socially and financially.  While there is no one perfect fit, striving to find this balance in your colleges helps ensure a student’s experience will be one that helps them develop as both a student and person without having to graduate with excessive student loan debt. There’s a lot of reasons why only half of students graduate in four years if they graduate at all. There’s just as many reasons why the average student graduates with nearly $30,000 in student loan debt.

One of the common denominators for both is lack of research.

Each counselor I talked to agreed that the process is tedious, but so necessary and that students need to do a better job with it. And when you consider the amount of time, effort, blood, sweat and tears that will go into applications, essays, supplements, interviews, auditions, portfolios, showcases, SAT, ACT and AP tests not to mention just doing well in your classes, why wouldn’t you make sure that the schools you apply to are good fits for you?

Why wouldn’t you make sure that each school is one that gets you excited? Where your major is strong and where the support you may need along the way is available? Where faculty help students gain experience in their field so that when they graduate, they have value to offer a business, organization or facility who’s looking to hire? Where the cost is something you and your parents can handle without having to lose sleep at night?

If you’re not doing these things, then you’re doing something wrong. The Common App will launch on August 1st and, with it, the frenzy of the college application season will be underway.

Wouldn’t you like to hit senior year and your college applications feeling confident about your options?

If you want some help and guidance on your college search and application process, contact me today to set up an appointment for a free consultation. If you want to hear more about any of the schools on my travels, I’d be happy to talk to you about them as well.

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Eric Apr 28, 2014 , , , , , , , No Comments
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Making The Most Of College Fairs

College FairNow that we’re into March and headed towards more consistently better weather (and who’s not happy about that?), high school juniors should be thinking about going to college fairs to connect with admission counselors.

This is important for a few reasons.

First, demonstrated interest matters and connecting with admission counselors is one way to show how interested you are in a college. Going to college fairs allows you to talk with these counselors one on one.

Secondly, you should be asking a lot of questions about schools, their programs, and policies so that you can really say to yourself why you are interested. This goes beyond a school offering your major or being located in a state or region to which you are drawn.

So do your homework ahead of time to ensure you’re not asking questions that can easily be answered by a visit to the college’s website. Having worked many college fairs in my admissions career, I can tell you that nothing irritates an admission counselor more than questions to which you should already know the answer.

You know what else bugs them? When you let your mom or dad do all the talking while you read your text messages or go skimming through your most recent tweets.

Get off the phone. In fact, turn it off and take advantage of the opportunity in front of you. These admission counselors are real people, the people who will more than likely have a say, if not THE SAY on whether or not you are admitted to their college. They’re not going to bite and they’re not going to be mean. Talk to them, let them get to know you and help them understand how awesome you are.

Fortunately for you, the National College Fairs are coming to a town near you this spring. You can review the full list of dates and locations on the NACAC website. If you have made some progress on your college list, write down the schools who you want to know more about. Then make it a point to visit with them during the fair.

You’ll be glad you did.

If you want some help and guidance on your college search and application process, contact us today to set up an appointment for a free consultation. If you’re in the local area, check out my our college planning workshops coming up this spring in Simsbury and Cheshire. 

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Eric Mar 19, 2014 , , , , , , No Comments
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Why You Don’t Need To Go To A Brand Name College

Why You Don’t Need To Go To A Brand Name CollegeA couple days ago, Lynn O’Shaughnessy of The College Solution wrote a piece about the gap between what employers are saying about college graduates being ready for the workplace and what college administrators are saying. It’s an interesting read and you can check it out here.

While I’m not surprised to see such an incredible gap between what the two sides are saying, what I wanted to talk more about was what Lynn exposes towards the end of her post. Namely, the fact that employers just don’t care where your degree comes from.

That’s right. They don’t care. What they do care about, according to the survey, are two things:

Knowledge and applied skills in the student’s chosen field.

So, instead of going into excessive debt to pay for a brand name, go out and look for schools who fit you financially, academically and socially. Consider majors that align with your values, interests, personality-style and skills. Then make a commitment to yourself to learn as much as you can about your intended field while interning several times before you graduate.

Do that and it sounds like a lot of employers will value you and there’s a lot to like about that.

If you want some help and guidance on your college search and application process, contact me today to set up an appointment for a free consultation. 

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Eric Mar 04, 2014 , , , , , , , No Comments
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Hey Juniors, It’s College List Time!

Hey Juniors, It's College List TimeWhile high school seniors are celebrating their acceptances, it’s time for the juniors to step up to the plate. Its college list time and that means it’s time to really start getting into what makes a college interesting to you. It’s all well and good to like a college because you’ve been a fan of their basketball team or because one or more of your parents graduated from there, but it’s another to thing to understand just what makes a college a good option for you.

Here’s a few things to pay attention to as you work on building a great college list:

1. Don’t get hung up on location

Not until you’ve really investigated a college, at least. If you’re willing to be open-minded, sometimes a great school might be just around the corner from what you think is your comfort zone.

2. Be realistic

Especially when it comes to gauging your chances of admission. When you see ranges of test scores for colleges and your scores fall in the lower 25th percentile of who gets admitted, your chances really aren’t that great, even you really, really hope they will be.

3. Merit money goes to the top students

Don’t think a college is going to give you a merit scholarship just because you’ve worked hard. Often, your GPA and test scores BOTH need to be in the top 25th percentile of who gets admitted for you to be considered for merit.

4. Find your WHY

Why you like a college is important. And it will never be more important than when you have to explain your reasons in an interview or supplemental essay.

5. Majors are not created equal

If you’re looking for a major in advertising, you will find it at some schools. You will also find it as a concentration under a communications major at other schools. Don’t be so quick to discard a school just because you don’t find something listed exactly how you hoped you would.

The bottom line? You have to research and turn over all the rocks to make sure you find what you’re looking for. You have nothing but time right now so put it to good use developing your college list. When you visit college campuses this spring, you will have a more informed idea of who they are and what you need to find out before you submit your applications this fall.

There’s a lot to like about that.

If you want some help and guidance on your college application and financial aid process, check out what other families are saying about Dobler College Consulting and then contact me today to set up an appointment for a free consultation.

You can also come out to one of my FREE college planning workshops this spring. So far, dates in March and April have been announced with additional ones for May being planned.

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Eric Feb 17, 2014 , , , , , , No Comments
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Do You Know What You’re Looking For In A College?

Do you know what you're looking for in a collegeLast week I talked about the importance of paying attention to a college’s personality. Campus culture is often overlooked but colleges do have unique characteristics which make them WHO they are. It is these characteristics, these personalities, that often make a campus feel like home or nothing like it.

If you missed the post, you can catch it here.

Today, I’d like to take a step back and talk about the characteristics that make a college WHAT it is.

With over 4,000 colleges in the country, students must do their research and thoroughly investigate the schools they are interested in to determine if these schools really are worthy of their interest. Here’s a few characteristics you should be paying attention to if you’re not already:

1. Size

There’s a big difference between a large research university like Penn State with 37,000 undergrads and a small liberal arts college like Assumption which tops out at 2,000. You are going to stand out a lot more at a smaller school where classes are built on active discussion and debate, and where professors teach undergrads and will have time to meet with you to talk about internships and your career aspirations. At larger schools, you are more likely to be just one in the crowd. And sometimes that crowd can be to the tune of as many as 400 other students in your Introduction to Business course.

2. Location

Location, location, location. It’s the buzz word in real estate and it can also be rather important in choosing colleges. Visit Brown University and there’s a lot of hustle and bustle going on around you in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. You’ll be in a concrete jungle surrounded by businesses, restaurants, and traffic not to mention thousands of other students from Johnson & Wales, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence College and Rhode Island College. Visit Susquehanna University in rural Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania and you’ll find a very open and green campus nestled alongside a small college town where you’ll quickly become a “regular” at the local coffee shop.

3. Majors

Colleges aren’t created equal and neither are majors. As a graphic design major, will you have to produce a portfolio? For nursing, will you have to complete pre-requisite courses in your freshman year before you can be admitted to the major? As a business major, do you start taking business-related courses right away? Regardless of your major, is there a required internship? Is there an involved alumni-mentoring program? How are graduates of the program doing and where have they ended up? You want to know the answers to these questions so that you know what it takes to get into your program and, more importantly, what it’s going to do for you.

4. Cost

Cost matters, but it matters even more when you pay attention to how strong of a candidate you are at each college. The stronger your candidacy, the more likely you are to receive a merit scholarship. This is especially true at private colleges where tuition and fees far exceed those at public schools. So, while you might have a dream school like Boston College, you need to understand that, even if you do get in, you probably won’t get much, if anything, in the way of merit money and will be stuck with a sizable bill that may not work for you and your family.

If you would like some assistance with your college search or financial aid process, contact me today for a free 60-minute consultation.

Here’s what other families like yours are saying about how Dobler College Consulting made a difference for them.

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Eric Dec 09, 2013 , , , , , , , , , , No Comments