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Answering Questions About College Visits
Tweet Share on Facebook May 30, 2011 CommentThe May 16 blog post, "Follow 9 Tips to Window Shop for Colleges," prompted a number of questions regarding college visits. I will address some of them in this week's column. If you have questions about any aspect of the college admissions process, send them to me at TheAdmissionsInsider@usnews.com.
I have an eighth grade son. When is the best time to start taking him around to visit colleges?
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Examine Alternative Routes to a 4-Year Degree
Tweet Share on Facebook May 23, 2011 Comment (3)As economic uncertainty continues to linger, more families are taking stock of potential alternatives to the traditional path to a four-year college degree. A popular option is one that involves taking the first two years of college at a less expensive two- or four-year college and then transferring into a higher profile (and higher priced) four-year institution from which the degree is granted.
On the surface, this strategy seems very practical as a cost-savings measure. It becomes even more so if the student is able to avoid residential expenses by living at home for the first two years. Upon closer examination, however, the net impact—financially and educationally—might not always match expectations.
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Follow 9 Tips to Window Shop for Colleges
Tweet Share on Facebook May 16, 2011 CommentAs the school year winds down, thousands of families are gearing up to start the college search and selection process in earnest. For many, the process starts with plans to visit college campuses. The questions that often arise include, "When is the best time to visit?" and "What should we expect to accomplish?"
The answers are fairly straightforward: "Visit when you can," and "Soak up as much information as possible!" Ideally, you would visit colleges when classes are in session and the campuses are full of life. But that may not always be possible—so, go when you can. The best opportunities may be around business trips, holiday travels, or vacations.
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Establish Ownership in the College Planning Process
Tweet Share on Facebook May 9, 2011 Comment (2)May is a month when high school juniors find themselves staring at the seemingly uphill portion of the college planning process. Whereas college may have been on the radar screen for quite a while, the task of getting there is now approached with a sense of earnestness.
The next 12 months will find students compiling lists and sorting through options in the hopes of happy outcomes. Just contemplating the upcoming gauntlet of college visits, essay preparation, and tests—not to mention the panicked rush to meet application deadlines—can induce waves of anxiety for even the most thoughtfully organized families.
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Answering Parents' College Planning Questions
Tweet Share on Facebook May 2, 2011 Comment (3)Periodically, I respond directly to questions about college planning that might be of interest to others as they engage in the process. This week's column features some of those exchanges with parents. If there are questions or concerns you would like me to address, please direct them to me at TheAdmissionsInsider@usnews.com.
Our daughter heard that she needs to submit the results from all of the SAT and ACT tests she has taken with her college applications. I was under the impression that applicants only need to submit scores from one of the tests—is this correct?
