College Advising

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5 Tips To Make Sure Your Senior Year Matters

If you’re a high school junior, you’re just starting the second half of your school year. You just wrapped up midterm exams and hopefully they went really well. Strong grades in competitive courses are one of the most important factors when admission counselors are reviewing your application. In fact, for the umpteenth year in a row, admission counselors around the country have identified them as THE most important factor according to NACAC’s State of College Admissions report.

Which leads me to my post for today.

Knowing that your courses and your grades really matter in the college admissions process, it is so important that you make the most of the courses your high school offers. As you prepare to work with your counselor on your senior year schedule, keep the following five tips in mind:

1. Continue taking courses in the five core subjects: English, mathematics, science, social studies and foreign languages. If you’ve already taken three years of a foreign language and would rather not go into a fourth, make sure you double up somewhere else

2. If you’re taking a couple honors courses this year, work on getting into an AP course. If you’re already in an AP course or two, keep that trend going. Now is not the time to take it easy.

3. Consider your eventual major and enroll in courses that compliment your brand. Graphic design major? Sign up for graphic arts. Nursing major? Sign up for AP biology or anatomy and physiology. Engineering major? You need to be in calculus. Pick courses that will get you started on the path towards your major.

4. Get the full credit for your courses. In other words, if you’re taking an AP class, sign up for the AP test and do your best to do well on it. A score of four or better can earn you transfer credit at most colleges. If you’re enrolled in an Early College Experience (ECE) course, make sure you sign up for the college credits. Strategies like this not only ensure you make the most of the academic opportunities available to you, but transfer credit can also help reduce the cost of college in the long run.

5. If you live close enough to a community college, check out the courses they offer which may be related to your major or even just your interests. Currently, one course at a Connecticut community college will cost you $482, or just over 1/3 of the cost of one course at a state university like UConn or 1/8 of the cost at a private school like Fairfield University.

However, none of this really matters if you don’t put in the time and effort to do well. Take good notes, ask questions in class, study the material and actually learn it.  Your grades will reflect the effort and you will be so much more prepared for college and your professional life that follows.

Have something to say? Use the comment box below or email me at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com. If you think this makes a lot of sense, consider sharing it with someone you know.

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Eric Jan 28, 2013 , , , , , 1 Comment
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10 Things You Need To Know About The FAFSA

As we head into the end of January, high school seniors and their parents are filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). While some of them might be done or just about done, ten things every family needs to know about filing the FAFSA:

1. It’s free. If you end up on a website that requires a fee to file the FAFSA, you’re in the wrong place.

2. It’s THE form required by ALL colleges which award federal aid. No FAFSA, no federal aid.

3. Both the parent and student need to obtain a PIN at www.pin.ed.gov before filling out the FAFSA.

4. For current seniors, the FAFSA has been available for filing since January 1st and the deadline is June 30, 2014. Yup, that’s right, 2014. Keep reading.

5. It runs on a July to June calendar where July 1st marks the “New Year.”  In other words, current high school seniors who intend on starting college this coming fall should be filing the 2013-2014 FAFSA.

6. To be considered for state grants, Connecticut residents must file by February 15th.

7. The FAFSA determines your EFC, your expected family contribution. This is the amount of money colleges will expect you to pay for one year of tuition, room, board and fees.

8. This EFC calculation is based on income and assets, not retirement money or home equity.

9. When parents are divorced or separated, the FAFSA is calculated on the parent who the student lives with for the majority of the year, the custodial parent.

10. When the custodial parent is remarried, the income and assets of the step-parent are included in the FAFSA calculation as well. It’s a federal law.

And the item I remind parents of all the time? You don’t need to have your taxes filed to fill out the FAFSA. Just enter an estimation based on the previous year. Then, when your taxes are filed, use the federal data retrieval tool to upload final information.

Have something to say? Use the comment box below or email me at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com. If you think this makes a lot of sense, consider sharing it with someone you know.

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Eric Jan 20, 2013 , , , , , , No Comments
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Why Your Application Needs To Stand Out

Each year the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) puts out a report called, The State Of College Admission. The report is free for NACAC members while non-members can purchase a copy for $25. The report talks about trends in college admission as reported by college admission officers and high school counselors from around the country. One of the statistics from this year’s report that I wanted to share with you today was the average number of applications that each admission counselor reads.

According to the report, the average college admission counselor in 2005 read 359 applications. By 2011 that number had nearly doubled to 662.

Think about that for a second. You are one of nearly several hundred applications that will cross an admission counselor’s desk in a very short period of time. Having reviewed thousands of applications in my old admission days, I can tell you that admission counselors do their best to give each application the time and attention it deserves. But when your application underwhelms or does not tell your story in full color, well, that review and the decision to say “no” can be painfully quick. Admission counselors want to connect with you as an applicant. They want to get excited about you. And they want to say “yes.” But sometimes it becomes very hard for them to do just that simply because you didn’t make the most of your application.

So, instead of putting off your college search to the last minute, start researching schools now and then visit some college campuses this spring. Think about what you might want to say in your personal statement and then record your ideas for when you get down to the writing process over the summer. Think about who you would want a recommendation from and plan on talking to them before the end of the school year. Create an account on the Common App and go through each section to familiarize yourself with how it works and what information is required. This will be great practice for when the new one launches on August 1st. Start a list of your activities, honors and accomplishments – great or small, so that you don’t forget anything when it comes time to completing applications in the fall.

At the end of the day, ask yourself what you want an admission counselor to know about you and why it should matter to them. Then, as you go through the next several months, spend time putting together an application and supporting materials that ensure your application will be one that motivates an admission counselor to say, “YES!”

Have something to say? Use the comment box below or email me at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com. If you think this makes a lot of sense, consider sharing it with someone you know.

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Eric Jan 13, 2013 , , , , , , , , , , No Comments
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College Admissions Is Not A Popularity Contest

Definition of collegeLast week Allen Grove, the college admissions writer for About.com, listed the ten colleges whose profiles received the most reader interest during 2012. I happen to really like what Allen does with his college admissions writing. I feel a lot of it is very informative and easy to digest, but I bring this piece to your attention for the simple fact that college admissions is not a popularity contest.

Here’s the list of the top ten colleges which received the most reader interest:

  1. Harvard University
  2. UCLA
  3. UC Berkeley
  4. Cornell University
  5. UNC Chapel Hill
  6. University of Michigan
  7. New York University
  8. Stanford University
  9. Brown University
  10. Columbia University

It’s obvious these are some of the most elite schools in the country and there’s no wonder they are in the top ten. However, what you also need to recognize is that the average admission rate for these schools is 20% with Harvard being the most selective of the group at 6% and Michigan being the least selective at 41%.

Think about that. Columbia, Harvard Brown, and Stanford all reject 90% or more of their applicants. UC Berkeley and Cornell reject 80% or more. UCLA, rejects 75% while UNC Chapel Hill and New York University come in at 70%. Not only are these schools the most popular (at least in this context) but they are also the most exclusive.

While some people would have you believe that you need to attend one of these schools to have a great college experience, you can have a great experience at just about any college. You just need to be willing to make the most of the opportunities available to you.

This is true wherever you go.

Admission to a school is not the prize. If you get in and then spend four years doing nothing but going to class, it will have been for nothing. You need to invest yourself in the classroom. Network with faculty and other students. Get involved in clubs, organizations and other extracurricular activities that have meaning for you. Gain professional experience by interning or working on a co-op. It’s about creating the life you want to have and surrounding yourself with people and experiences that make you better.

This can happen at one of these schools, but it can also happen at a liberal arts college, a state university or even your local community college. Wherever it happens, it happens because of you, not because of the name of the school.

If you would like some assistance with your college search, 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 Jan 06, 2013 , , , , , , , No Comments
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Don’t Let Assumptions Lead You Astray

My seniors have most of their application work done and my juniors are starting to explore programs, potential job shadows while trying to get a grasp on just how much college is going to cost them.

It’s an interesting time of year because I find myself on pins and needles with the seniors, hoping that we have done everything right and that acceptance letters will come their way shortly. With the juniors, it’s all about exploration and introducing them to the idea that they need to be good investigators right now.

Which brings me to my thought for today.

Assumptions.

Don’t make them.

Please.

There is so much information to be had about colleges that to rely on something somebody once said as a reason to apply or not to apply is just foolish. I know we all have those people in our lives who tend to know a little about everything, but when this so-called expert on life tells you that you shouldn’t apply to a school because it’s an all-male school (when, in fact, it is not) or tells you that the professors aren’t any good (like anything in life, there are the good, the bad and the ugly but I refuse to believe that the entire roster of professors on any given campus are just the worst in the world) or that there’s no way you can afford it, I say it’s time to find out the truth for yourself.

This is YOUR college application process. Not your friend’s, not your uncle’s and not your parents. Yours. And you need to own it. Use the resources available to you to qualify information before you allow assumptions to lead you astray. Go the colleges’ websites and read up on their profile, their demographics and their majors. Use their net price calculators to learn more about what you might be able to expect financially. Go for a visit and sit in on a class in your intended major. If you can’t visit, check out a virtual tour or read student reviews on sites like Unigo or College Prowler.

Whether you do all of these things or just some of them, whatever you do, just don’t make assumptions.

If you have questions or would like some help with your college search and application process, use the comment box below or email me directly at eric@doblercollegeconsulting.com. I would love to hear from you!

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Eric Dec 02, 2012 , , , , , , , No Comments