College Admissions Process - All the Tips & Tools for Success

October 9, 2009

College Admission

Of all the challenges parents encounter, guiding a teen through the transition from high school to college can be one of the most daunting.

The experience is fraught with mixed emotions. You want to encourage your child to independently make choices about his education. But at the same time, you’re tempted to hover to make sure those decisions will bring out his best. On one hand, you’re excited to see your teenager take her first steps into the world that will shape her future. But you’re also worried about how she’ll cope with all the changes college life brings and with her departure from the comforts of family and close friends. And then you’re facing the bittersweet realization that your child—your baby!—is practically grown up.

On top of all this, a lot of hard work and nagging questions are involved in the school search and selection process. What’s the best kind of college or university for your son or daughter? In today’s competitive environment, does he or she have the qualifications to get in? How can you make sure a student aces the admissions tests and crafts a winning application? And, perhaps most importantly, where in the world will you find the funds to pay for what, aside from buying a home, will likely be your family’s biggest-ever expense?
That’s where College Prep Talk comes in. Starting this week, we are launching a weekly series of articles designed to give Long Island families all the tips and tools they need for the college admissions process. A sneak peak at what you’ll learn:

Finding the right school. There are literally thousands of options in higher education—including scores of excellent ones in Nassau and Suffolk counties alone—so narrowing down the choices can be tough. Some students find it best to begin at a local community college and later transfer to a four-year school. Other kids have their heart set on a prestigious university, without even knowing if it’s the right fit for them. Our articles will explain how to identify the best schools for your individual child. We’ll teach you ways to navigate a college fair, where you can gather information on hundreds of schools in a just a few hours. We’ll give you the inside scoop on making the most of college visits and taking “virtual tours” on little-known Web sites. We’ll also provide advice on how to best work with your child’s high school guidance counselor, who will be an important ally in the months ahead.

Crafting an application. With more American and foreign students applying to U.S. colleges and universities than ever before, admission has grown increasingly competitive. So College Prep Talk will offer concrete advice on how students can present themselves in the best possible light. We’ll have articles on ways to make sure that, starting as a high school junior, your teen chooses the right classes and extracurricular activities to optimize her chances. And we’ll tell you which assessment tests—the SATs or ACTs—will play to your student’s strengths. We’ve also got professional advice on how to write a great college essay and ways to impress admissions officers in one-on-one interviews.

Figuring out finances. You may want your child to go to the best school he can get into, but you also need to make sure his choice doesn’t land your family in the poor house. So our experts will help you find ways to make college affordable. We’ll hold your hand as you fill out the pesky financial aid form—the FAFSA—that schools use to determine your need for assistance. And we’ll help you scope out little known scholarships and low-cost loans that will lift some of the financial burden off your family.

In short, our goal is to take the stress out of this challenging time in your child’s life. With the advice we’ll provide, you can feel confident that you’ll have everything you need to make the college admissions process as easy—and as exciting—as possible.