Advice for New College Students as you Start Your First Year

You are probably feeling a mix of emotions right now from good excited to petrified. That is perfectly normal. You are about to start something new, and it will be hard. There will be times you think “I got this” and times you want to call a parent to come pick you up and drop out (don’t do that)! I have worked at several colleges, teach a new student transition course and have seen my fair share of first year students thrive and struggle (sometimes both at the same time). Here are some of my tips for doing well your first year academically, socially and mentally.

Things You Need

Buy your books: I know they are expensive but buy them. If they come with a digital copy, get that too. And use them, but we will talk more about that later.

A calendar: If you are good at using a digital calendar, great. But using an old fashioned paper planner can be really helpful. Put everything in it from when you plan to eat meals, work out, club meetings, study time, and assignments. You have a lot of free time in college but you need to use it to be successful.

A meal plan: Even if you are commuting, get a meal plan. You will want to eat with friends or grab a coffee and study with classmates. Having the ability to do this easily will help.

Academically

Attend class and sit near the front: You are paying for each class you take, so go to them. Engage with the material, pay attention, take written notes in a notebook not a laptop (it is proven writing things down helps you remember them better than typing them).

Go through ALL of your syllabi: The first day of class your professor will give you a syllabus. It has the course policies (do they accept late work and how many points do you lose), assignments and do dates, reading materials, how to contact your professor and where to find their office. Put all your assignments on the calendar mentioned above, including readings…not just tests or papers.

Go to your professors’ office hours: Don’t be intimidated by your professors. They teach at a college because they like students (at least most of them do). Going to their office hours and introducing yourself could lead to a mentor and a friend. They can explain concepts you didn’t understand in class, give you tips to prepare for exams, review drafts of your paper or suggest books that might help you complete your research, and if you are applying for a job or graduate school–they can be great references. Large colleges/classes may assign you to a graduate student. If that is the case, meet with them. Same results as above can happen. But if you can also meet with the professor, do that.

Seek Help: Everyone struggles in college. The coursework is harder than high school. I got a D in Finite Math at Indiana University. I still went on to graduate school and I’m proud to say I have never used Finite a day in my life. But, I wish I had gotten help. Start with your professor or graduate assistant. It’s helpful to know what you might need help with to give them direction. Are you not getting a specific concept and want them to explain it to you. Are you struggling to do research or write at the college level-most campus have a writing center that can help. Have you never taken lecture notes–there is probably a note writing workshop offered on campus through the Academic Support Center. Need a tutor–that is probably offered as well…check with your advisor. Campuses have all the offices I mentioned above because students struggle. You aren’t the first, you won’t be the last so don’t be embarrassed…ask for help.

Plan Ahead: read assignments before class, it helps you understand the lecture better. Download any notes are materials ahead of time so you can take your own notes on them. If you have a paper due, plan out what you need to do so you turn it on on time (week one–research topic, week two finalize books, week three write first draft and show to professor, week four revise, week 5 its due). Turn things in on time so you get all the points you can. Spend the time doing the work so you don’t need to ask for extra credit! You may have multiple exams in one week, study and stay on up on the work so you don’t have to cram.

Socially

In the world of airpods, residence hall suites, door dash and netflix–it is easy to be in your room or walking on campus and engage with no one. Don’t do that!

Go to the Welcome Week events-there are people on your floor that are new just like you. Suck it up, push past that feeling of being a dork and ask your neighbors if they want to go to events. Some schools will have you assigned to a group with a student leader/peer mentor. If they are organizing events or getting a group to go to events, go with them. You will find you have fun and may actually make some friends (and win prizes). If you are commuting, reach out to the commuter student organization or the Office of Student Life (might be called Campus Life or Dean of Students) to see if there is a group you can attend the event with.

Join a club-Colleges have a club for everything, and even let you easily start new clubs. Go to the activity fair, read the flyers on bulletin boards, check your email announcements, read the chalk messages all over campus and attend something. They will become your closest friends and maybe your future spouse is in one of those clubs.

Attend events on campus: Get a group together to go to the basketball game, see a musical performance or play. Campuses offer lots of events regularly, for a variety of interests. It is always hard to work up the courage to ask someone to go to something, but think about how good it feels when you are asked. You can do the same thing and ask someone else.

Study around campus not just in your room: See if classmates want to have a study group, you can learn thing from others. Or hang in the student center, library, a classroom building. You may run into classmates or faculty helping you feel connected.

Get a job on campus-while some campus jobs require workstudy (a form of financial aid) some do not. Ask your career services or student employment office about campus employment. Working in a campus office helps you get to know staff, faculty and other students. You also learn the ins and outs of the college helping you to better connect to resources.

Mentally

There are many mental health and support services on campus. Make use of them if you are struggling. Talking to a counselor can be incredibly helpful. They can refer you to services and doctors if you need support the university doesn’t offer.

Is hiring a college counselor worth the money?

Just about any task or project in life can be done yourself, but sometimes having an expert to walk you through the process is easier. Many people can watch a YouTube video on how to install a ceiling fan or change their motor oil and do so successfully. But others prefer to hire someone to handle the work.

If you fight with your spouse anytime you do a house project, there is a good chance you may end up fighting with your child when you try to do their applications. Having someone to assist your child can make senior year more enjoyable. Let the college counselor be the task master while you get to go on college tours and buy sweatshirts in the bookstore!

College admissions is by no means an exact science. Watching YouTube videos, reading subreddits and visiting colleges can certainly give you some direction–but the outcome may still not be admission to your top school. College counselors can’t guarantee admission either. When schools are receiving 30,000 plus applications and admitting 3% of those–all we can do is help package your application in the best light compared to past applicants and feedback we gain from schools. But we understand what student who were admitted did–the classes they took, the way they spent their summers, the way they approached essays and whether they applied early decision or regular decision. And the earlier your child starts, the more we can help. Nothing is worse then meeting with a student who dreams of going to a certain school but they haven’t taken four years of a foreign language or have no senior year math–but the school requires it (or in most cases prefers it but doesn’t specify that on their website).

College counselors also know their university counterparts. We attend the same professional conferences, we tour their schools, we attend webinars where they present about the admission process at their college. We get to ask tough questions that give our students more detailed information to use in their college process. And we can often send an email/text/facebook message to get help because we have developed these relationships over the years.

We can also project manage–we know he deadlines, the pieces you need to apply, when test date and scholarship applications open (or we know how to do the research quickly). This can save you significant time when you don’t know where to look or how to find the info easily.

College counseling can be expensive. But when the counselor breaks down by hour the time they are spending with your child to get them ready for college and applications submitted, you will see the value. And when you are panicking or unsure how to approach something, the ability to send an email or a text to get the answer quickly is priceless.

If Coffman Consulting can help with your college search please let us know. We have space for a few more seniors and are accepting freshmen, sophomores and juniors at this time. Schedule a free consultation here.

How to write a “Why this college” essay

August 1st is around the corner, which means you can start submitting the Common Application and other college applications. While many schools only require the personal statement from the Common Application, others have supplemental essays that are required. One of the most common additional essays is the “Why are you applying to this school?” question.

These are typically short, 100 to 400 words. The college wants to see that you have done your research and that you understand what their college has to offer you. They also want to see that you have thought about what you want from a college–and how theirs matches those requirements. Start by thinking about what those things are and make a list:

  • What do you want to study as a major, minor or concentration?
  • Do you want to conduct research with faculty?
  • Are you interested in project-based learning or experiential learning or are you ok with large lecture style learning?
  • What type of clubs and activities do you want to join?
  • Do you want very specific major and curriculum requirements or do you want the freedom to take a variety of classes that interest you?
  • Do you want to study abroad?
  • Do you want big time sports and tailgating, or a vibrant arts scene (or both)?
  • Do you want a traditional campus or to have a major city serve as your campus?

Then once you have compiled the list of things you want in a college, start researching those items at the college where you are applying. For instance, if you want to do research with faculty, is that possible as an undergraduate? Are there particular faculty members conducting specific research that interests you?

Then write an essay describing how what you want from college can be accomplished at this particular school. Don’t rehash their website to them but instead share your vision for your college life and how their school helps you accomplish that.

If you need help building your college list or would like someone to brainstorm essays with you, Coffman Consulting is happy to help.

Jobs That Help Pay For College

Working while in high school (and college) can teach a teen time management, customer service and communication skills as well as how to work as part of a team. It can also help them pay for expenses and save for college. There are many companies that off their teenage employees educational benefits. Between hourly part-time rates reaching $15 an hour, working for these companies literally pays off.

Restaurant companies like Chipotle, Chick-fill-A, and McDonald’s all have tuition assistance or scholarships programs for their employees that you find at the above links. Starbucks also offers excellent tuition benefits.

Many large retailers are launching educational programs including Walmart and Target, however you must attend a specific online college that is part of their partnership. Amazon also offers a program with specific college partners. Home Depot offers employees tuition support after part-time or full-time 90 day employment. FedEx, UPS and Best Buy also have programs for part-time and full-time employees.

Grocery Stores seem to be very generous with Kroger, Meijer, and Publix all having programs. Trader Joes has a competitive scholarship for Employees. CVS offers up to $3000 to employees.

Many companies have programs for the dependents of their employees. Check with your HR department to see if your company has a scholarship program, how to apply and deadlines.

Research has shown that students who work between 10-20 hours a week while in high school or college often have better grades because they learn how to make the best use of their time. But working more than 20 hours a week can negatively impact a students grades. If your student is going to work, why not find a job that also gives educational benefits. Its a win-win!

What Activities are Colleges Looking for?

There was a time where colleges wanted to see a really active student, involved in lots of diverse clubs and activities. Now colleges are more interested in seeing you have an interest or passion that you are exploring more deeply verses superficial involvement in lots of different activities.

While many students choose to do their activities at schools, part-time jobs, church related roles, volunteering in the community, research projects all can show passion. For example-if you enjoy political science getting involved in your student government is an easy way to learn about politics. You could also volunteer on a local campaign and attend your local Boy or Girl’s State. You could even write political op-eds for your school paper. If you enjoy science you could join your school robotics’ team, volunteer at the zoo, work at vet/dentist/doctor’s office, participate in a research project through an area college.

How you use your summer can also be a great way to showcase your interests and passions. There are many summer programs at colleges that allow you to explore subjects. Some are competitive and require admission. Others are more “pay to play” (as long as you can pay the tuition you can attend). You can also take courses at a local community college or on-line. And of course–working in an area of interest is an excellent way to explore future careers.

What’s most important is that you can articulate why you got involved, what you learned from the experience and how it is propelling you forward with what you want to do in the future. If you were forced by your parent to go to a food pantry a few times but you didn’t enjoy it or didn’t connect with the participants–it will be hard to talk about it in an essay or to an admission representative. Be authentic and share what you truly enjoy. Colleges are looking to build a class and create a community filled with a variety of people. You will be happier in that community if they choose YOU because YOU are the right fit for their institution.

Are College Fairs Still Worth Attending?

Back before the days of the internet and before College Board and ACT would sell your information to colleges so they could send you (lots of) marketing materials, families had to attend college fairs. Many colleges would visit a high school gym, hotel ballroom or convention center–each with their own table. Families would go from table to table learning about the school and what it had to offer.

From the admissions side, colleges have seen student attendance at fairs dwindling over the years. Students are busy and often have other ways to build a list of colleges they might apply to or attend. When Covid hit, many colleges were able to take their presentations virtual. College fair organizers also arranged virtual events–and did a great job in many cases.

In-person fairs are back and many students ask, should I attend? I’m going to give my favorite answer, “it depends”. If you are just going to walk around taking pens and brochures (you probably won’t read) and not speaking to any reps–don’t go. But here are a few cases where attending college fairs makes sense.

-If you are interested in a specific school and have questions that would be helpful to discuss with an admissions representative, attend and discuss them. This could include what coursework they recommend to be competitive for admission or a discussion of whether or not to apply test optional. But remember, depending on how busy the fair is, they may not be able to go in depth with you about a personal situation and may need to address more general comments for the entire crowd.

-There are fairs for special topics or populations–LGTBQ+ friendly schools, performing arts fairs with auditions, multicultural students, STEM. If you are looking for schools that are serving a particular population well or cater to a certain major, attending the fair is probably worth your time.

-If you are interested in schools that consider demonstrated interest (demonstrated interest means you have shown you want to attend the school by interacting with them), speaking to a rep at a college fair and allowing them to collect your data (whether through completing an interest card or using a bar scan provided when you registered) will get you added to the database and calculated in the demonstrated interest formula (although visiting campus or attending an on campus event may count more in their demonstrated interest formula).

Prior to the fair, visit the organizer’s website to see which colleges will be attending. If the colleges are ones you wish to visit/learn more from, pre-register. Do some research on the schools so you have questions to ask the reps. Some of the common fair organizers include:

National Association for College Admissions counselors — college fair webpage

Many states and region have a state affiliate of NACAC such as INACAC, NYACAC–google your state and Association for College Admissions counselors to find local fairs to your state. NACAC also has STEM and Performing Arts fairs.

Campus Pride (LGTBQ+ friendly) fairs– webpage

National Diversity College fairs webpage

Each year new fairs are launched–whether at a high school, through a community organization or even a group of like colleges (the Big 10, the 7 sisters, etc). Keep you eyes on your mail and email to see if any of the particular events may be a good fit for you.

If you need help with your college search, Coffman Consulting is always happy to help. We are currently contracting with rising juniors and a limited number of rising seniors to assist with the college application process.

It’s hard to be the parent in the college process

At dinner with my brother recently, he (not so jokingly) said I must be a nightmare on college visits. Its definitely hard to remain neutral. I have strong opinions on what should be included by the college to help the student learn the most about the school. And because my recent visits are for my own son, I want him to be happy and succeed. But I also know what he doesn’t yet know.

I have a crush on several schools we have visited. I also dislike one or two, but understand why my son likes them. I have my heart definitely set on a favorite. There are places I absolutely don’t want him to attend. I have been incredibly impressed by the outreach of some colleges and admission officers, and disappointed in others (like the Saturday visit where the tour guide met us in the parking lot, and couldn’t get into a single building because everything was locked–yes I did fill out the evaluation giving low scores). I hate when schools only offer a tour and don’t include an admissions visit. I hate when we don’t get the itinerary until we arrive (I want to know who we are meeting and how long the day will be). I am appreciative of schools that build in faculty visits–my son is a strong student who likes personal attention. It helps to know who he will be in classes with and what he will learn. I know he has to choose where he will be happiest. I already got to pick my college (and graduate school). No place will be absolutely perfect. But I can’t help have favorites.

I choose my own college, Indiana University, and my major, telecommunications, for weak reasons. I went to a small, all women’s catholic high school in NYC that both my sisters and my mother attended. I wanted to attend a school no one in my family had attended and no one from my high school was attending. My sister was at Boston College and seemed to enjoy going to games and having lots of activities–so I wanted a rah rah type place as well. Indiana is a pretty campus. I didn’t like anywhere else I had visited. I got in fairly early in my senior year. Everyone seemed impressed I was going there. So I went. I didn’t research the curriculum. I liked tv shows so thought I would enjoy making them (I really should have done journalism, marketing or PR). I didn’t know anyone there except a family friend who was a year older. I had a good experience but probably would have enjoyed a school with smaller classes, more personal attention, no sororities (after an all girls high school I didn’t really want to be in one but most of my freshmen year friends pledged, leaving me feeling socially isolated). I wish I had stayed closer to NYC. I should have built more criteria into my college search.

As I watch my son visit schools, the knowledge I’ve learned working in higher education has me looking at things differently than I did for myself. I know he enjoys when teachers know him and like him (so small classes would be better). He loves being part of his cross country and track teams, even though he isn’t the fastest runner. He needs a community or activity to join (he is planning to do ROTC). He likes to get away and have alone time (he’s never shared a room) so he probably will wan to be able to come home once in a while (but I don’t want him home too much either). He forms deep long term friendships but I don’t see him enjoying the party scene of fraternities. He wants to be academically challenged but won’t want to drown in work. He wants credit for his AP coursework, that actually helps him save time towards his degree. He wants to study abroad and do internships. He wants modern facilities with study space, outdoor space, workout space and technology. He wants to study history and political science and has criteria for what those majors include.

I just finished another year of working with a great group of seniors. They are in many places. Some are excited about the school they selected. Others are still struggling to help their child decide or waiting on waitlists. Some are frustrated by the financial aid packages or disappointed by places that didn’t admit their student. And sometimes sad their child isn’t picking a certain school, because they fell in love with it during the process but their kid didn’t. All I can say is there is a college for everyone. No matter what school their child attends, that child can make it the right place for them by getting involved, getting to know their faculty, taking their school work seriously, and going to events like speakers, professional development activities and performances. They should do an internship and consider studying abroad. These activities will help them feel connected.

Parents may always feel some disappointment (my mom still wishes one of us went to Notre Dame, sorry mom). But knowing your child is happy and engaged, has to satisfy you. Now its time to get to work with the next group of seniors.

Coffman Consulting is always happy to help your student with their college search. We are currently enrolling students from the class of 2024 and 2025 as well as a limited number of class of 2023 students.

The Calculus Conundrum

Earlier this year, Insider Higher Education published an article entitled “Does calculus count for too much in College Admissions”. The answer was yes. There has been much research conducted lately showing most non-STEM and non-business majors don’t need calculus. Although research also shows taking four years of math better prepares you for college, especially college math courses. For some, statistics is a far more useful course–especially for majors like marketing to political science to education. But many colleges are still recommending (and many requiring) students have calculus or precalculus to be admitted.

While some middle school students have the ability to take high school math in 7th or 8th grade, most high school students start at Algebra I. They will take some combination of Algebra I, II and Geometry their first three years. Then senior year, they can take precalculus or calculus if they are academically prepared for the course. But many students don’t want to. They prefer to take another course like Finite Math or AP Statistics as a more relevant course (or to just avoid calculus). But colleges often don’t consider AP Statistics as rigorous as calculus.

This is an issue I have seen a lot the last two years, including with my own son. I have students who have worked very hard in high school, have strong grades but don’t want to take calculus. Or they may be ready for a normal level calculus class but their high school only offers AP Calculus AB and/or BC. Prospective engineering and computer science students who were not in advanced middle school classes are doubling up on math to be able to get to an AP level Calculus to be admissible to the competitive programs (because STEM students will need calculus to be admissible in most engineering or computer science programs).

In my son’s case, he is interested in applying to a college that states they want at least one semester of trig, precalculus or calculus. He is registered for AP Statistics for senior year. He decided to take summer school to get in one semester of precalculus. But given his career interests, statistics makes far more sense as a course for him. So what should your child do? Unfortunately, the answer is “that depends”. If you child is planning to apply to highly selective colleges or a rigorous STEM major, they should be taking advanced math–including calculus, and probably at the AP level. Also check with each college your child is considering to understand their requirements and preferred coursework (it can usually be found on their admissions webpage). If your child is not doing a STEM major, not applying to highly selective colleges or programs, or just won’t do well in the course–don’t take it–but again know the school’s requirements to ensure you aren’t preventing your admissibility by not taking a required class (you can always email admissions and ask if you don’t find it on a website).

If your child is considering a highly selective school or field, working with a college counselor can be helpful. We can review their course selection and build a four year plan that ensures they are meeting requirements. We can also identify activities that will support their career interest and preparation. Its great to do something you love and enjoy like theater but if you want to be an engineer, you should have some science related activities as well. If you can’t get those activities in during the school year, having strong summer experiences can also help.

Coffman Consulting is always here to answer questions you may have about the admissions process. You can schedule a free consultation here .

Should you visit colleges in the summer?

Finding time to visit colleges during the school year can be challenging. Students are busier than ever, and often don’t want to miss classes to visit a college. They worry they will fall behind. But is summer a good time to visit, since many college students go home for the summer? Yes, if summer is what works for your family, use it to visit colleges.

Visit the school’s website and look for the admissions section, prospective student section or the visit section. Look to see if they offer in-person visits during the summer. Attend an information session with admissions, or a session held by your prospective major to get specific details about what you will experience as a student and what you will need for admission. Tours of campus, especially when led by a student tour guide, will help you see the amenities, classrooms and dining hall (if open). The student will share their experience and help give you a glimpse of academic and campus life.

Be prepared that things are slower in the summer. It is also time that colleges do a lot of maintenance–so you may find things closed or under construction. There are often summer camps, causing dining halls and gyms to be overrun by elementary and middle school students. There will not be many college students on campus, but there are other ways to connect with students and learn about the campus dynamics.

Social Media is a great way to get the student perspective on their schools. Follow school accounts on social media. If you are interested in a certain activity like ROTC, theater, Greek life–see if they have their own social media accounts. Parents can often join parent pages (and get a sense of any issues on campus as parents will be very vocal). Another great tool is the free app ZeeMee. ZeeMee is a platform where prospective students can follow colleges and interact with their students and admissions staff. They can also interact with other prospective students–meeting roommates and friends before they hit campus. While you can find just about every college on ZeeMee, the formal college partners can be found at https://colleges.zeemee.com/partners

Before you visit do a deep dive on the college’s website and social media. Browse the digital version of the school’s newspaper to learn about the past year’s events and activities. Take a look at the curriculum offered in your major area (are these classes you want to take). These will generate some questions you might want to ask your tour guide or admissions representative. Take a look at the courses they require for admission so that you can make sure your senior schedule is ok or ask any clarifying questions.

And most importantly–make sure you stop by the bookstore for a cool sweatshirt!

College planning for kids/parents to reduce anxiety

Anxiety is on the rise, and the pandemic didn’t help. I’m a mom of teens in addition to being a full-time college administrator and part-time college counselor. I see anxiety and depression every day with the teens in my life. My own son is a junior. I’ve had to figure out how to structure his college planning in a way that doesn’t cause him to shut down and shut me out. Here are some tips I’ve learned from dealing with him and other students anxious about (or just wanting to avoid) college planning.

Set up a regular time to meet–As a manager and a mom, I hate hallway hijacking. It’s that moment when you are headed to the bathroom or doing some task around the house/office and someone stops you to tell/ask you something but you have no time to really think about the answer or remember the details they are providing. Kids are the same way. Sending them random texts or pestering them as they are getting ready for school with “Have you done your test prep” or “did you look at that college I sent you” isn’t going to be helpful. Set up a standing meeting at a regular interval (juniors could be once a month or every other week, seniors every other week or once a week depending on where you are in the search). This will allow you to both be prepared for the conversation and know its coming. Make it fun–have a snack, drink and low pressure. This will cut down on you feeling like a nag.

Have an agenda (it doesn’t have to be a formal one)–have a general sense of what you are going to cover in the meeting. Maybe to start you just want to look through brochures that have been coming in the mall or ask your child to pull up some of the emails they have been receiving. Maybe you want to use the time to set up college visits together looking at the family calendar. Maybe you want to have a frank discussion about affordability a general budget and how to investigate schools that meet that cost. You might use the time to review their essays, or look at application materials. Discuss what you want to cover in the next meeting and let your child add items to the agenda so its not just driven by the parent.

Set a clear to do list for the next meeting–as you wrap up the meeting set out clear to dos for both parent and child. Parent may say “I’m going to do the net price calculator at these schools to see if we can afford them” or “I’m going to set up the visits at the 5 schools we identified”. You might have the child leave with tasks like “research these 5 schools, look at the major you are interested in, the courses they offer, the clubs and activities, do a virtual tour” or “Link your PSAT to Khan Academy and start test prep for the SAT”, “create your common application account” or “ask teachers for letters of recommendation”.

Make time for visits–it is very challenging to figure out where to go to college if you have never been on a campus and met the people who go to school there. Go see a college–a large state school, a medium sized college (public or private) and a small private. Get a sense of what they like and why. If they love the small private but its out of budget–can you find other small privates that give better aid or does the large public have programs that make it feel smaller like a living learning center? You will also make some great memories together. Have you child look up where to eat in the town. Let them get a t-shirt in the bookstore (although some colleges will give them one on the tour). Talk about what they liked and what you heard. Then work together to find schools that are similar.

Build a calendar/plan for applications–students can often get stressed out having to complete all the application materials, write essays, get needed documentation. Building a plan can be helpful for managing that process on top of a busy school, activity and work schedule. Once you have the list of schools where they plan to apply, look at deadlines. When do you have to apply to be considered for merit aid? Put all the schools into a spreadsheet or document with their due dates. List what application you plan to use (common app, school specific app, coalition app, etc). Then work backwards. If you have 5 applications that are due Nov 15 and each requires a school specific essay, set a deadline to have each one done (Plan to submit around Nov 10th to give some flexibility and a safety net as technology can break, people get sick, surprise tests/etc creep up). Plan maybe two weeks for each application. So starting early September will be helpful to make sure everything is done.

Remember your child is a teenager–they are influenced by their peers. They move at a snail’s pace. They don’t understand all the factors that will matter later in life. They are uncomfortable asking for help. They will pick a college based on things like sports team, school colors, dining options even if you think those are ridiculous. All of these things will make every task hard and drive parents nuts. Depending on their high school environment, everyone may be talking about college. The constant discussion creates pressure. Seeing where peers are getting in creates pressure. Home should not add to that pressure. Sometimes “checking out” is a mental health tactic. If they seem to be checking out, maybe bring in their school counselor or a professional to help guide the process or give them someone to talk to that’s not you.

Don’t let them get their heart set on one school, and don’t push a school you want heavily–Admissions is an ever changing experience. Kansas just won the basketball tournament–there applications will probably soar. St. Peter’s in New Jersey will probably see a 30% increase after their tournament experience. As a result they may deny students who would have gotten in when applications were lower. Top schools like MIT are almost a lottery–they can admit anyone who applies and have a great class but they get 33,000 applications for about 1350 spots–its nearly impossible to get admitted. Any school that admits less than 25% of their application pool is a long shot–even if you are a great student. Any school that admits less than 10% should be considered a crap shoot. You need to build a balanced list of schools that include many places your child will be happy to attend and you can afford. Nothing is worse than having no schools your child wants to attend or having no ability to afford where they have been admitted.

Be encouraging-there is absolutely a college for everyone. My most successful sibling went to a college most people have never heard of (SUNY Plattsburg). Be excited about every school they are applying to and be excited about every acceptance. My son will often send me a school that I don’t think is a great fit for him because he is a strong student. He also sends me schools where I know he will not get admitted. I will say “That’s great you like X school–its a great safety school. You might want to look at things like graduation rates and the major courses to see if you feel it offers all you want in a school”. Or if they are super selective I say “you certainly can check it out. There average SAT is around a 1490. You’d need to do some serious test prep and take physics and calculus senior year. But if you are willing to do that, lets keep it on the list”. That lets him decide if he wants to do the work to attend that school.

Coffman Consulting is happy to meet with you to provide some general guidance or work with you throughout the entire admission process. You can schedule a free consultation here.

Paying for College-Scholarships

This time of year, I often get messages via social media from parents asking for tips on where their students can find scholarships. The majority of scholarships most students receive come from the colleges themselves. Scholarships are more of a marketing tool or an incentive to get students to enroll than actual financial aid. Some colleges need to give aid to attract students, some don’t. There are outside scholarships but they take work and are rare. Here are some tips for maximizing scholarship opportunities.

Start early–strong grades and test scores (even with test optional schools) help in the scholarship process. That means starting as a freshmen getting the best grades possible. It means doing some test prep to ensure SAT or ACT scores are strong. Both College Board (SAT) and ACT offer free test prep. And while many schools are test-optional (don’t require SAT or ACT) we are still seeing many top students submit scores to competitive colleges.

Getting involved also helps. Organizations like Key Club (Kiwanis), National Student Government Association, Robotics–give scholarships. Some of these awards are given at a local level, some at a state level and some national–typically for winning a competition. Attending these organizations meetings and conferences is helpful. Read the newsletters or visit the website to find details on their scholarships. Ask the teacher or staff advisor if they know of available scholarships through the organization. Please note these are often one time awards of small amounts, not an award you get each year of college.

Talk to your high school counselor about awards available at your high school and in your community. Many times at senior awards night, several scholarships are given to students. They may be a $500 award for being the top senior spanish student. They may be from the local Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, Masons, or other organization. Some may take an application, some may be decided by school staff and faculty. This again is a reason to get involved. Its also a reason to meet with your school counselor regularly (they will know you and think of you when they need to find students for these awards).

There are many scholarship search engines like scholarship.com, fastweb.com or even just doing a google search like “scholarships for women in STEM careers”. But these scholarships are small and take work. Every year you read a story in the media of a student who applied to hundreds of these, won dozens and is paying their tuition through many $1000 and $500 scholarships. If you are willing to do the work, it could be worth it.

Check with your parent’s employers. Many companies have foundations or scholarships for their employees’ children. If your parents or family are involved in a church, community organization (like rotary), a fraternity or sorority, or other club there may be scholarships. Typically they can be found on the organization’s website under community or charitable partnerships. Or ask your parents to check with human resources.

Many employers also often scholarships or tuition programs to their student employees including Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, McDonalds and more. If typically need to be employed as a senior in high school and meet their criteria. Talk to your manager or human resources office for more information.

Most scholarships open in the fall of the senior year and have a deadline. Explore as a sophomore or junior to learn what is out there, what’s required, when is the deadline and how do you apply. Make a list and keep the url addresses so you can easily access your senior year.

To get the most money from schools, you need to be among the strongest applicants in the pool. If you are applying to Harvard–they don’t give much merit (they don’t have to) and everyone is a great applicant. If you are applying to a college that doesn’t have a brand name, you can often get more aid. A secondary benefit is these schools also make applying to graduate school/law school/med school easier–being one of the top students means faculty will get to know you and remember you as such (verses having a class of uber achievers). Those professors will write great letters of recommendation. The environment isn’t typically cut throat making it easier to get good grades. Its also easy to get involved and lead organizations. Faculty know alumni to help connect you to internships and jobs. If merit and cost are a factor for you, you might want to save those brand names for graduate school.

To see how your stats line up to the applicant pool, you can look at the school’s common data set. You can google this and look at the admissions section. Or you can use college board’s website, click search, type in the school name and click the admissions tag. You will see the admission stats for the last admitted class.

If you need help developing a list of schools that will include more merit scholarships, Coffman Consulting can help

Paying for College–so many acronyms and terms

No one can use a TLW (three letter words) like a financial aid office at a college. They also work under many state and federal regulations, causing them to be very process oriented, and not always relational or warm (even though they are great, and often very caring, people).

The Financial Aid Office can often be called Finaid, or FA or OFA (Office of Financial Aid). It is the place that creates your financial aid offer and process the aid. The Bursar, Business Office, Office of Student Accounts is typically the place that handles the actual billing. They are often not housed together or lead by the same manager. This can result in being bounced around when you have questions. I typically recommend parents and students ask the person on the phone (or if you are in person) to transfer you (or walk you over ) to the right person and explain the situation so you don’t have to keep repeating your needs/story over and over. Plus when staff speak to staff, they often explain the situation more clearly using the right lingo–getting the problem solved more quickly.

Financial Aid starts with two forms. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a form used by most colleges and the federal government to determine approximately what your family can afford to contribute to the cost of college. It is free–never pay to file it. FAFSA doesn’t give you money. The college creates your financial aid offer and distributes all aid. Some schools use an additional, and more complicated form, called the CSS Profile, a form by the College Board. You do have to pay for each school where you submit the CSS.

There are two categories of aid–merit and need-based. Merit aid typically comes from the college and is in return for a grades, a special talent, or background. Some scholarships have specific criteria because a donor has given the money for a specific reason. But typically, the college is just giving a discount, reducing what they are charging you for tuition. Merit aid may come with the offer of admissions, or shortly after (as a marketing tool) but some schools wait and include it in the total financial aid offer. It typically has a gpa or requirements the student must meet throughout college to keep the award (this is very important to note–lots of students lose their scholarship because they don’t maintain a high enough college gpa).

Need-based aid is based on your family’s financial situation. It typically requires you to file a FAFSA, and at highly selective schools, the CSS Profile. Need-based aid includes funds from the federal government but can also include state and school aid. Need-based aid may include:

Grants or scholarships: free money that does not need to be paid back.

Loans: money you borrow and must be paid back after graduation or leaving the school, more details on loans below.

Work study: students must get a position on campus and will be paid via a paycheck or direct deposit. Part of their salary is paid by the federal government (and some states have work study). Students don’t receive the money if they don’t take a work study position on campus (or near campus–some places partner with the colleges like YMCA or boys and girls clubs). Students will then need to apply this money to a tuition bill or use for expenses/spending money.

The parent and student each need to create a FSA ID to sign and submit the FAFSA. Go to https://studentaid.gov/help/fsa-id to learn more and start that process. You will use this every year you file, so keep them both in a safe place (like in the contacts on your phone).

After you file the FAFSA–which you must do each year for each child in college (if you have two kids in college you file one for each child, each year they are in school, and they each need their own FSA ID), you will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR). This report is now emailed to the student. Don’t use your child’s high school email as it often is disabled by the high school after graduation. The student email and parent email must be different. Create an email the student can use for the college process. The SAR will provide your Estimated Family Contribution (EFC). This is the dollar amount the federal government determined you can contribute to your child’s education. It can range form 0 to over $100,000. Most people don’t agree with the EFC calculated. FAFSA changes are coming over the next few years in a process to simplify the FAFSA but this will detail how it works now.

You can list up to 10 colleges on a FAFSA initially (you can update it later if needed by removing schools and adding schools). Colleges will receive your FAFSA data through a digital file called the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR). The aid office will use this data to create your financial aid offer. Some schools state they meet need–so they will provide a combination of federal, state and school money to meet your financial need (minus your EFC) to attend that college. That is rare (about 50 colleges). Most schools will do their best to meet your need but may provide a gap==an amount of tuition or costs you still need to pay above and beyond the EFC you are also expected to pay.

Direct Costs are the fees you pay directly to the college or university. This includes tuition, fees (parking, printing, sports, activity–colleges are great at charging fees), room and board.

Cost of Attendance (COA) is a budget a school can set to give you a sense of the expenses you may have as a student including books, transportation, personal expenses, childcare (for adult students) in addition to the direct costs of tuition, room, board and fees.

Some colleges build their aid packages off of the Cost of Attendance. Some build it off direct costs. As you compare your aid packages, make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

Let’s look at two hypothetical aid situations:

College A has a tuition cost of $28,000 a year, room and board is another $12,000 for a total of $40,000

The Families EFC is $25,000

The college takes the direct costs of $40,000

subtracts the EFC of $25,000 leaving a balance of $15,000

They offer $5500 in federal student loans (the federal loan limit)

They offer $2500 in work study

and have a gap of $6000

The family would need to come up with their $25,000 and the $6,000 gap in this situation, so $31,000 plus pay back the loans.

College B also has a direct cost of $40,000

They awarded the student a merit aid award of $19,000 at admission.

They also award the $5500 in loan

The family now has to find $15,500 plus pay back the loans.

There are several types of loans. Federal student loans are subsidized or unsubsidized. Subsidized do not accrue interest while in college because the government subsidizes the interest. Unsubsidized do accrue interest while in college. Interest rates are not fixed but are low. These loans are in the student’s name. Payments begin 6 months after graduation or separating from school, if they don’t graduate. They can be paid back through a variety of plans (different year lengths, schedules that have the same payment the whole time or a payment plan where payments go up over time as your income increases). Payment plans are decided closer to graduation or when they leave the school. They can be deferred if students go to graduate school. There are some forgiveness programs but have specific requirements. There are limits to how much a student can borrow each year.

Parent Plus Loans are loans in the parent names. Parents can borrow up to the Cost of Attendance if they are credit worthy (haven’t had a bankruptcy). Payment begins 60 days after disbursement of the loan although can be delayed until after graduation. This debt is in the parents’ name, not the students.

Families can also take private loans. These are through a private bank or lender like INvestED (Indiana specific) or Discover Student Loans. These are typically in the student’s names but require a co-signer. Schools typically have a vendor they partner with for private loans, but parents can also explore their own. Interest rates vary as do origination fees.

You don’t have to accept loans and they won’t automatically be added to your account. You have to complete entrance counseling (typically an online process) to make sure you understand what you are borrowing. Then shortly before graduation or if a student leaves a college, they should complete an exit counseling process that explains their payment plans.

Colleges will have a deadline for their financial aid process. State’s often have a specific deadline. You should file your FAFSA by whichever deadline is earliest. Don’t wait until the last minute as technology can crash. You file the FAFSA at http://www.fafsa.gov. It becomes available in October for the next academic year–so for students entering college Fall 2023, the FAFSA will open in October 2022. It uses your taxes from two years prior (known as your prior prior year taxes). For Fall 2023 that is 2021 taxes. You can link directly to the IRS pulling in most of your data but you will need to have all assets and social security numbers for the parents and students available to complete the forms. Check here for specifics.

If the child’s parents are divorced, only the child’s household has to list their assets on the FAFSA. If parents have equal custody, who provides 50% or more of the support (such as health insurance) or who had the child one extra day since there are 365 days in a year. If the household parent is remarried, step parent’s income is also considered. It doesn’t matter who declares them on their taxes, who is paying the tuition or what your divorce decree says. Only the household has to report their income in the current FAFSA structure.

Any person can be selected for verification (like a financial aid audit) so be honest. If you are selected you must submit documentation to substantiate your information. Lying on a federal form is a federal crime.

Coffman Consulting knows just enough about financial aid to be dangerous. But specific questions should be addressed to the financial aid offices, your financial planner or the federal government. But if we can help, we are happy to work with you and point you in the right direction.

Paying for College-Figuring Out What Colleges You Can Afford

College has gotten expensive. We are going to launch a multi-part blog series helping you understand what you can afford as well as how to navigate the financial process and all the terms and acronyms. The first thing to know is very few people pay the actual sticker price published on the college’s website under tuition and fees. Most colleges give some form of aid, especially private schools (state schools often do not give a lot of aid outside some special honors programs). But understanding what aid and what will be your out-of-pocket costs can help you pick a better list of schools (more on what is merit and what is need-based aid in a future post).

Brand name colleges don’t have to give a lot of merit aid. They don’t need to. They get far more applications (usually from people who can and will pay) than they need to fill their class. They use their big endowments to help increase enrollment from lower income and marginalized communities through need-based aid. Every other college is fighting for a smaller pool of high school graduates. They use merit aid to attract and enroll students. Its become more of a coupon or discount than actual scholarship.

During the Obama administration, colleges were required to add a Net Price Calculator (NPC) to their website. Some are better than others. You can put in your family’s financial info and student’s grades and get back some information on the merit and/or need based aid you might receive (schools change their budgets and aid can change year to year so know its an estimate). Print the NPC results for your records (this could help with negotiating later-another blog post to come).

Most colleges will allow you to pay tuition over a payment plan (for a fee). Most payment plans are 10 or 11 payments. Take the estimated aid you might receive, and subtract that from the tuition, room (if your child will live on campus) and board (even commuters should get some meal plan since they are on campus a lot and they will want to eat with friends). What remains is your out-of-pocket direct costs. Divide that by 10 months. Can you cover that with cash flow, savings or will you need loans (we will talk more about loans in this series)? Can you sustain this for the next four years or will the savings only cover one year? Are you willing to take on these loans times four years? If the answer is years–than its a good fit. If the answer is no, you might need to remove it from your list.

Some schools give free books, some have a small fee for a digital textbook subscription but some places books cost as much as $1500 or more a year. So add that cost. Also, how far away is the school. Estimate cost for plan tickets and gas. Many colleges do this for you and publish a Cost of Attendance (tuition, fees, room, board and all estimated expenses). Can you afford these costs for four years? Again, yes means its a good fit. No, means its not.

Some schools make the scholarship process very transparent (University of Alabama publishes a chart–Roll Tide). Others, its a super secret who knows why I got the amount I did process. Never rule out a school based solely on sticker price but do some research to understand if they are stingy or generous with aid–what type (merit or need) and if you will be able to afford the outcome. If after the research, you think its manageable then keep it on the application list. Don’t assume you can just negotiate the aid package. Some schools will allow you to file an appeal, some will only do so if you have new information (change in job circumstance, medical bills, death, divorce), others may negotiate if they aren’t meeting their enrollment goals. Many don’t negotiate at all.

Aid is often tied to specific deadlines. Make sure you are meeting those and submitting all required materials. Paying for college is often seen by the college as a partnership between the family, the student and the school–savings, loans and aid. Going into massive debt for a college, borrowing from a parent’s retirement or home is not a great solution. There are a lot of amazing colleges in this country that admit a high percentage of their applicants and give generous aid.

Regardless, have a conversation about what you can afford so students focus on schools that are realistic. Nothing is worse than falling in love and being admitted to a school you then can’t afford.

If you need help exploring colleges and creating a college list, Coffman Consulting is happy to help.

Juniors Can Start Their Common Application (and some tips for making applications go more smoothly)

900 plus colleges in the United States use the Common Application, or common app, as their application for admission. Instead of having to complete multiple applications with the same information, the Common App simplifies the process. The Common Application serves as a sort of application portal. Students input data like contact information, high school coursework, and parental information into the common app. They write a personal statement. They can send links to recommenders to submit letters of recommendation, upload test scores and transcripts. Students select the colleges they wish to apply to and can also complete college specific questions and submit materials for those colleges within the common application. It officially opens August 1 each year, but juniors can create an account now and complete some sections (if they want to get a jump on things).

Students should use/create a personal email address that is not their high school email or their parents’ email address. High schools often shut off students’ emails after graduation, making it challenging to communicate with colleges over the summer if you use your high school email address. Many colleges communicate separately to parents and will want their email in their database uniquely from the students. Creating a dedicated student email for the college process can be helpful to keep everything in one place. Sharing the log in details with a parent can allow them to read through admission materials and financial aid materials that tend to come electronically and directed to the student.

To get started, visit the Common Application website here. Select create an account, then first time student, and create an account using the dedicated email address mentioned above. Start a notebook to keep the login credentials for all of these sites. There will be a lot of them over time (you will have a portal for almost every college which we will discuss another time). Once you log in, the student has a dashboard (blank initially). Under the my college tab you can look for a school and add it, and it will appear on your dashboard.

Under the common application tab, students can begin entering their data. There are several sections listed along the left side to complete. Many questions have character limits (like activities and the personal statement). It can be helpful to draft them in a word or google doc then transfer once happy with the content. Save all your work.

On the dashboard there is an application requirements button. This is a chart showing all the schools you have listed with the college admission deadlines. Scroll right to see which schools require which materials. WS means the school has their own writing supplement (their own essay). The blue question mark next to each heading it explains what the section means. It is important to plan ahead and provide enough time to write any supplemental materials. You will not be able to see the school specific sections until August 1. You can not submit a completed common application until August 1 (and no need to submit that early unless you are really ready–most students will submit their applications by the November 1 deadline, typically in late October). But working on the application over spring and summer will give you time to make it truly reflect your strengths and include the information you feel is important to share with colleges.

If your school uses Naviance you can link to your common application in Naviance. Check with your school counselor if they prefer you to use Naviance to request letters of recommendation. If not, you can send recommenders a link to complete the recommendations within the Common Application. Ask teachers this spring before school lets out if they will be your recommender. This allows them to work on your letters over summer.

The common application does change slightly from year to year. The personal statement questions are not changing this year. So feel free to start brainstorming and drafting your 600 word essay.

If you need help with your application components, Coffman Consulting is always happy to help.

10 tips to keeping the peace and your sanity during the admissions process.

I have worked with some amazing students the last few years. But the stress of selective admissions, standarized tests, COVID, and transitioning from high school to college on top of all the normal teenage hormones and angst can be too much for both parents and students. There are behaviors during the admissions process that makes this much harder. Here are ten tips to navigate the process and keep your sanity–hopefully even helping the relationship between parent and child.

  1. Know your budget and how much you might be willing to borrow. Sit down as a family and talk realistically about what you can afford for college. Most colleges will allow you pay the annual costs (tuition, fees, room and board) over 11 payments each year. You will also need about $1200-1500 a semester for books, and will have to get to and from school on breaks (plane fare is high during breaks). How much have you saved? Are other family members (divorced parents, grandparents) contributing? How much on top of that can you realistically cash flow a month (knowing you have one less person at home eating groceries if they are away at school)? Then discuss if you are willing to take on student and/or parent debt and how much. You don’t need to rule out schools based on price tag, as they may give aid (see below). But having a sense of your budget will make the process easier. Having to tell a child once they are admitted that you can’t afford somewhere is a very difficult situation.
  2. Research the aid schools offer and use the Net Price Calculator (NPC) on each school’s website. The federal government requires colleges to publish a Net Price Calculator. These take time to complete. You answer questions about your parent and student finances (much of what you will also put on your FAFSA) and it gives you an estimate of the need-based aid (based on your family financial situation) you might receive. Some schools also include merit aid (scholarships and grants based on students’ grades or talents), some don’t. Some schools publish their merit aid ranges or even charts with exact dollar amounts–some don’t. But having a sense of net/out-of-pocket costs before you apply, will make it easier to create a list of schools that are affordable. Applying, then discovering you can’t afford somewhere a child loves, is a very difficult situation to be in when emotions and stress are already high.
  3. Don’t get fixated on one school. So many students and families come to me saying they want to attend X school. Often these schools are big names with low admission rates (they deny way more students than they admit). Students may have all the right classes, great test scores and wonderful activities and still get denied, because 90+% of applicants to that school get denied. You want a list of many colleges where you will be happy.
  4. Create a list of 5-8 schools you would be excited to attend. There are hundreds of colleges in this country–big, small, religious, secular, selective, non-selective, etc. If you apply to a group of schools that are all a good fit–then you will be happy to attend anywhere you are admitted. This will create less disappointment if you don’t get admitted everywhere you apply.
  5. Start your college search process early and make time for it. The earlier you start looking at colleges (even online) the better. It will help make sure you are on track for admission. They can make sure you understand courses needed to be admissible and timelines or deadlines. It also gives time to research different majors, explore the curriculum and understand how colleges are different from one another (and how they are similar–which helps find several you like). And you can research the aid available (see above). Schools need to be an academic, social and financial fit for everyone to be happy.
  6. Visit a variety of colleges in-person. Looking for a college is a lot like looking for a house. You have to visit in person to see what you like and what you don’t. As you looked for a house, you discovered things you loved and had to have like a third car garage or bathroom in the basement. But you also discovered things you didn’t like or would be a nice option but not a deal breaker. College is the same way. The more you visit, the more you will start to understand what you want, what you need and where you will accomplish your goals. Websites are great, but just like an online listing for a house–they don’t show down side of the place. Family vacations are important memory making opportunities but you might need to use those school breaks for trips to colleges (starting spring of sophomore year and junior year). Don’t try to cram all your visits into fall of senior year. You want to be able to use senior year for applications.
  7. Social media can be helpful and damaging at the same time. The world of instagram, tiktok, reddit, and youtube has created a wealth of information about colleges–many from a student perspective that is more honest than the college’s own marketing materials. But no one is vetting these for truth. Lots of misinformation, rumor, and negativity circulates. While it can be helpful to see past essays from students who were admitted to a specific school or read their stats, holistic admission means colleges are reviewing all candidates to create the most interesting class they can. And applicant pools change each year. A college might win a championship that results in tons of new applications. Take what you see on-line with a grain of salt. Always get the most accurate information from the college’s website and admission staff.
  8. Don’t make your child apply anywhere they don’t want to go. College is expensive. Only 60% of students finish in 4 years at the majority of schools. Forcing someone to go somewhere they don’t want to go, isn’t going to be helpful. If you think they might like a school, visit. Then if they don’t, let it go. This is their education (even if you are paying for it). It is hard to not live vicariously through our children but you have to trust them.
  9. It is ok to be an English major. Liberal arts majors get jobs. Not everyone wants to be an engineer. But engineers are great, too. What is important is finding a college that helps them connect to marketable skills, internships, and employment opportunities. Everyone will publish a stat that says something like “96% of our graduates are employed within six months of graduation”. But they could be employed anywhere and it counts. What you want to ask about is how that particular college’s career preparation and support functions, how faculty mentor students to connect them to career opportunities and do most graduates report being satisfied with their employment after graduation (Gallup has a survey that asks this if you are curious).
  10. Guide, don’t push. Remind, don’t nag. The college admission process has a lot of steps, deadlines, forms and applications, and even more steps once you are admitted. Much of the info will come directly to your child which can be annoying if they don’t share (bonus tip–if you start early enough you can create a general email for all college material that both parent and student can access for all college related material). Set up a specific time each week you are going to talk about college and stick to that appointment. Review schools, materials, work on applications. This will prevent frustrating hallway hijacking…your child is headed into the bathroom and the parent randomly asks about an application or form that needs to be submitted-or the parent has just sat down to a netflix show and the child asks for an application fee. Set clear expectations and deadlines. If you know you and your child will fight about this process, bring in a professional college counselor to help you manage the process.

Hopefully these types will help keep the peace and help you both enjoy the last few years of high school.

Its important to tell colleges you are not attending

Its the time of year where seniors are receiving their admission decisions and financial aid packages. Seniors are also ruling out schools they no longer wish to attend. Its important to tell schools no so they can better plan for their first year class.

Most schools now use a portal as part of the admission process. Login to your portal account and see if there is a button or place to respond to your offer of admission. If there is not, you can send an email to the Office of Admission letting them know you will not be attending. Include your full name, high school and date of birth to allow them to match your message to the appropriate student. This email should come from the student, not a parent.

Most US colleges are members of an organization called the National Association for College Admission Counseling. As members, they had agreed to give students until May 1 to accept or decline an offer of admission. Colleges could not continue to recruit students who had told them no or who had committed or were attending another college. This all changed when the Department of Justice started an investigation into NACAC’s policies, charging collusion. NACAC settled with DOJ and as a result schools can set different deadlines. Schools can also continue to recruit–even once you are enrolled trying to convince you to transfer.

Despite these changes, telling a school no is still important. The school may have students on a waitlist who would love your spot. They may be able to offer a student hoping to attend additional financial aid. It also allows them to plan for students in residence halls, or how many sections of First Year Seminars. Small schools also dedicate a lot of staff time and resources to yielding students. Telling a school you are not attending will allow staff to focus their efforts on students still considering the school–saving you from lots of calls, emails and texts you don’t want. Last year, some schools struggling to meet enrollment goals offered students who had said no, more aid to change their decision.

If you are struggling to make a decision–see if the school offers programs for admitted students. These usually include more interaction with students and faculty to help you make a decision. Talking to a faculty member in your area of interest can also be helpful because they share details about the curriculum, internships, clubs and employment.

As always, if you need help with your college search process, please reach out to Coffman Consulting to schedule a virtual meeting to discuss your needs.

What are supplemental essays and how should students prepare?

Supplemental essays can really make or break an application-and most students don’t take them seriously enough. These are essay questions or short answer questions specific to each college. Some colleges have none, some have multiple, and some require you to submit additional essays for their scholarships or honors programs. They require research and are time consuming. But if done well, they help you stand out.

The majority of colleges now use the Common Application for admission. The Common App has a required personal statement of no more than 650 words. Students choose to write on one of seven topics. The Common App officially opens August 1 but the personal statement topics are released in spring on the Common App blog. Many schools have November first early action/early decision deadlines. Having the personal statement done over the summer allows you to focus on writing supplemental essays from August through November (and earlier as you will learn below).

Most schools have a version of “why are you applying to this school”. Some want 200-250 words on this, others give you up to 500. They want to see that you have researched the school-understanding the general curriculum, the major curriculum, student life, career preparation, and what differentiates them from other schools. Most importantly they want to know why this is important to you and fits into your goals. What will you do on their campus to take advantage of these opportunities. Spending time over the summer researching this info is critical to writing successful essays. If you really understand what you want out of a college, your list will be similar (for example you are applying to all small liberal arts colleges or all large research one institutions). You should be able to write a general essay and then tweak it with specifics for each school.

Covid has made it hard to visit colleges in person. However you can still attend virtual information sessions, speak with an admissions counselor, and research the school on websites and social media. Fifty percent of US colleges admit more than fifty percent of their applicant pool, but for those colleges who are highly rejective (deny 80% or more of their applicant pool), demonstrating research and an understanding of the school are critical-but helping them get to know you is also really important.

I often read essays similar to this “I want to be a nurse. You have a strong nursing program. I will get hands on experience in clinicals beginning my sophomore year. I also hope to join a sorority. I look forward to attending football games and taking advantage of all the activities on your beautiful campus.” This could be written by any student about any college.

Here is a slightly better version “From my youngest memories, I’ve wanted to help people. The last two and half years of the Covid pandemic have shown me there is great need for nurses. I have taken certified nursing assistant courses and worked at my local nursing home to gain experience and confirm my career interests. I am applying to Fake University because the focus on critical care will best prepare me for work in a ICU or critical care unit. I also hope to assist Professor Jane Doe with her research on music in ICUs to better understand how hospital environments can impact healing. While nursing is a demanding major, and will take me off campus for clinical rotations, I want to continue my involvement with organizations like Dance Marathon, that raise money for pediatric infectious disease research.

For those who don’t know what want to do as a career or major, it’s ok to express that. Many colleges don’t make you declare a major until sophomore year. But understanding and being able to express how the curriculum will support that exploration is important.

Depending on the school, short answer questions can be completely esoteric like University of Chicago which asked something along the lines of “simple as pie” and you have to write something related to that statement (they basically want to see how you think). Princeton has asked in 150 characters explain what you can’t live without. Many people will say sow thing like “my family” or “oxygen” but it’s a chance for you to stand out, be unique and get to know you better. Think about something you truly love like your childhood lovey. You could say “a well-worn and loved dog blanket I’ve had since infant hood” or “a well-written historical fiction novel that takes me to a new time and place”. Give them a quick snippet into you.

Regardless of whether you are applying to one of the most competitive colleges in the country or a local college you know you will be admitted, do your research. Senior year is busy. Having your essays and applications done early, and well will alleviate a lot of stress. Doing your research is the most important factor in being able to write articulate and effective essays.

Yes, colleges are emailing you. That doesn’t necessarily mean they want you.

If you have taken a PSAT, SAT, ACT or Advanced Placement course, you are probably getting inundated with brochures, letters, and emails from colleges. They often say that they think you are a good fit for their school and encourage you to visit, learn more or apply. Take these messages with a grain of salt.

There are many magazines and websites that rank colleges. They often use a school’s admit rate, the percentage of applicants that are admitted, to determine if the school is selective. The admit rate, combined with the ACT/SAT range, gpa range, graduation rates and other factors also influence rankings. Colleges are concerned about their rankings because it attracts students, donors, quality faculty and staff as well as creates opportunities for students to be recruited by companies and admitted to strong graduate programs. As a result, many are trying to drive up applications to create a bigger and “better” class each year. So they market broadly–including to students who may not be admissible.

Colleges can license your data from the testing agencies to market to you. They use test score ranges, gpas, geography, high school type, race, gender, and major as criteria to create their data files. One or multiple of those factors gets you pulled into that list. Some schools cast a wide net–pulling in scores slightly lower than they admit–assuming you might retest and score higher. Some schools cast a wide net because they want to drive up applications to be able to select from a more diverse pool–not just ethnically diverse but also geographic, majors, gender, etc. Some cast a wide net to be able to deny a large part of their applicant pools (and I dislike these schools especially).

What is hard for students is how to tell which are actually interested in you, and which are just stringing you along. I recommend to my clients to read the material and if a school seems interesting, google {school name} common data set. Every college that accepts federal financial aid must report to the Department of Education certain statistics. Admission statistics are part of that report. You can see the middle 50% of admitted students’ SAT/ACT score (this excludes the bottom 25% which may often be athletes and legacies, and the top 25%). If you fall in the range, its worth exploring and applying. College Board also publishes some of this data on their Big Future website. Some schools also report their admitted gpa ranges to DOE (and Collegeboard). The stronger you match their stats (gpa, test scores, preferred high school coursework), the more likely you will be admitted. But applicant pools change each year based on a variety of factors from winning national sports titles to improved rankings or great press. Admission is never guaranteed unless the college is an open enrollment school.

If you are interested in a school, and are a good match, respond to the emails. If they ask you to click a link or download a form, do so. If an admissions counselor calls or texts you, respond. If a student calls to see if you have questions, ask them some. They track it in their database. Some schools want to see “demonstrated interest”–that you have visited, read emails, visited their website, interacted with students and staff. Some people worry that if you show too much interest they will know you want to attend and low ball your scholarship–probably not. And you can always negotiate, or wait to deposit. Last year, many (but not all) schools offered additional aid right around the May 1 deadline to try and meet their enrollment goals.

I wish admissions wasn’t such a game or puzzle. It shouldn’t be. But it is. I had students this year denied by schools because they were too strong a candidate–the college was protecting its yield rate (the number of admitted students who decide to enroll–another factor used by rankings). I had students admitted to schools that were a reach. Test-optional admission has made this all more complicated (but most students admitted to highly selective schools still submit SAT or ACT scores). Find schools where you will be admissible, but more importantly where you will be happy, can afford, and will exit with the job or grad school admission of your dreams.

If you need help creating a list of schools and determining whether or not to submit your test scores, we are happy to help. Coffman Consulting is still taking a select number of 2022 graduates applying to rolling admissions schools and several more 2023 graduates ready to begin their college search. We can also help freshmen and sophomores with course planning, identifying extra curricular activities and other steps to be college ready and a successful applicant.

How will your AP and Dual Credit transfer?

Over the last thirty years, there has been a big push for students to take Advanced Placement and dual credit classes for a variety of reasons. Some high schools encouraged students to take a rigorous curriculum because highly selective colleges preferred them. Other schools saw dual credit and AP as a way for their students to be college ready, and save money on college tuition with college credit earned in high school. Students began amassing a lot of credit, but it didn’t necessarily transfer or equate to time (or money) saved. As a result, some states have put laws into place that colleges must accept certain credit, or certain AP scores. Some states have also created a core set of classes that can be offered as dual credit at the high school level or transfers easily between that state’s public colleges. But many colleges are still stingy with transfer credit, making it harder for students to get credit for the classes they took in high school.

What does this mean for your student? My son recently shared that he believed he could graduate college early with all of the AP credit he will earn during high school. Advanced Placement, or AP courses, are designed by the College Board and offered at high schools. They contain college level material. Students complete the course and take an exam at the end. The exam score is out of 5 points. Students can also self study for AP exams in some cases. Visit the College Board website for more details and information about AP.

I wasn’t confident that my son could graduate college early, because some schools just aren’t transfer friendly. We researched three colleges he is considering and likes equally–a small well-regarded liberal arts college that is moderately selective, a large state school that has become morevery selective, and a mid-size private Jesuit university that is not highly selective. We had a list of the AP classes he has taken and plans to take as well as his scores on the AP exams.

We went to each college’s website, then to academics and to major requirements or the academic catalog/bulletin and printed out the degree requirements for his future major–this is the list of classes (or categories) needed to get the degree (for example an freshmen English composition, math, natural sciences, social sciences, plus the actual courses in the major, as well as anything like religion, philosophy, or school specific diversity, career planning, or new student transition classes that are part of the curriculum).

We then used the webpage search feature and looked up AP credit. Each school had a page that showed the AP course, AP exam grade needed, and what college class it equated. This is where it got a little complicated. Our state has a law that public colleges must accept an AP score of three. But often they gave a generic 100 level class for that score of three. For example–my son scored a four on the AP World History exam. At the large public university, a three on the exam equals H100 for three credit hours. A four equaled H105 and H106 for six credit hours. He is planning to be a history major, and H105 and H106 are not classes he needs for that major. While they will count as elective credits, he needs the majority of his electives outside his major or they do not count towards graduation. So its somewhat wasted credit at the large public institution. At the smaller Jesuit University, he gets credit for H105 and H106 but they do count as courses in the history major–so he now has 6 credits of his degree completed (if he attends there). At the small liberal arts college he needs a 4 for credit but it transfers as a history courses he needs to graduate. His AP Language and Composition will transfer as three credits at all schools if he receives at least a four on the exam (or a three at the public). He is taking AP US History, which has similar results–will count at the Jesuit and liberal arts college but be unused electives at the public university. Those 3 classes give him a total of 15 credits at two of the colleges–a semester of college done. While he may not finish early he now has flexibility to study abroad, do an internship, double major, or take some fun courses he might not have fit otherwise.

As he plans his senior schedule, I’ve explained he really shouldn’t take any more AP History. Colleges want the majority of your classes in your major taken at their institution. Plus you only need so many 100 level classes–your degree will require 200, 300, and 400 level courses at college. Most colleges also have a residency requirement stating so many of your classes must be taken at that college and in that major for them to feel comfortable granting you a degree from that college (side note–residency can mean many things– you qualify for in-state tuition if you are a resident, residency requirement can also mean you have to live on campus, but this residency refers to courses taken at a college). If he brings in too many 100 history credits, he may be required to retake the class at the college. He is better off taking AP classes that will give him credit towards his distribution requirements (those math, foreign language, science, humanities courses needed besides your major to graduate). I’ve encouraged him to look at AP Government or AP Economics (political science/humanities credit), AP Statistics (math credit), AP English and Literature (English/humanities), AP Psychology (social science credit). He may not take this many AP classes–because you should only take what you can handle and will do well in verses overloading yourself and impacting your grade point average. However, if he truly wants to save time and cost in college, he needs to choose courses wisely not just continue with the history he enjoys. He is also now leaning towards the schools willing to give him the most credit (since he likes the schools equally). My second son is passionate about science and biology–he will need to balance not taking all AP sciences for the same reasons.

He also has the option to take dual credit classes. Dual credit are a specific college’s courses taught at the high school by teachers credentialed by the college to teach the course. If you receive a C or better in the course, you receive college credit from the college offering the course. If you do not attend that college, you will need to get a transcript from that college and send it to the college you are attending to get transfer credit. You may need to also submit a course description and syllabus for the college to review the course and determine if is equivalent to a course they offer. If they feel it is, you will get transfer credit. If they do not, you will not get that credit. Some colleges use the website transferology.com to show credits they accept.

Whether you are bringing AP coursework or dual credit classes, you need to find out the process that your college requires to submit this information and grant credit. Often new freshmen have to register for classes before they have AP scores and transfer credits/official college transcripts from dual credit. This may mean you end up registering for classes you don’t need. Its important to advocate for yourself, tell your academic advisor what you took, submit transcripts and official AP scores and check your college academic record to see if the credit has been issued. If you need assistance understanding how things transfer please reach out and we can assist you creating a degree map and prepping you for conversations so you can best advocate for your credit. Don’t just assume you didn’t get credit or you have to retake a class. Colleges are big places and can take time for paperwork and credit to be issued.

Coffman Consulting is happy to meet with student at any time during high school to help recommend classes, review transcripts, and explain transfer credit to help you pick the best college for your interests, goals, and financial situation.

Transferring 101

Students consider transferring colleges for many reasons. Some don’t enjoy their first college. Others did not get admitted to their first choice, and plan to transfer once they strengthen their academic record. Some change majors and their school is no longer the right fit. Some didn’t do the research in the first place, and ended up at the wrong fit.

If a student is considering transferring, they should plan to spend a year at their first college. Most schools do not admit students after one semester, unless that student would have been admissible out of high school. But check each college’s website for the actual transfer policy.

Students should take classes that will transfer to other colleges easily–typically 100 level coursework like entry level English, Math, History, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences. Major specific courses or higher level classes often don’t transfer as easily as colleges want you to take your major courses at the institution issuing your degree. Some colleges participate in credit databases like transferology that allow you to see how your courses will transfer (but these may not be comprehensive).

If you have are taking courses that don’t appear in these databases, keep copies of your syllabi (download if they are digital on a learning management system). You maybe asked to submit course descriptions and syllabi so the faculty at your new college can review and find equivalent classes at your new university/college. You typically only receive credit for classes that you received a C or better.

If you are trying to transfer to a highly selective college, you need to maintain As in the classes you are taking. Make sure you are aware of any particular courses they require for admission. If you previously applied to the institution and were not admitted, it might be helpful to try and schedule a meeting with admissions (if they provide them) to understand how to strengthen your application. While you may not be enjoying your initial institution, take advantage of clubs and activities to show you got involved and are engaged.

Think about what you like and dislike about your college. Then research the new schools thoroughly so you find one that has what you truly need to be happy and successful.

If you need help finding a new college or university, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We are happy to assist you navigate the transfer process as it can be complicated at times.

Here are some tips to make applying to college easier (because we are exhausted from Nov 1 deadlines)

Start early, start early, start early. If I had to offer advice on the admissions process it would be to start earlier than you think. Sophomore and juniors really should be starting now. Seniors should have applications well under way. Here are a few tips to make the process go more smoothly no matter where you are in the process.

Get Organized–start digital folder where you will store all materials. What should you include in this folder? Anything you may need for college applications including test scores, awards, copy of your transcript, copies of confirmation pages from applications and scholarships as well as things you will create like activity lists, resumes and essays.

Create a college application worthy email address (firstname.lastname21@mailservice.com). This will help keep clutter out of your personal inbox. Make sure both you and your parents can check this. Create folders for particular colleges, scholarship applications, and materials as you move through the process so you can easily find it in your drive and on your email. Use this email when you sign up for college mailing lists, collegeboard tests or other college items. Do not use your high school email on applications. Your email will be used through enrollment and your high school may close it over the summer locking you out of messages.

Know your application steps–Create a spreadsheet with the schools you are considering. Look up their application deadlines, type of application they require (common app, their own, coalition, etc), are they test optional, do they require the CSS profile in addition to FAFSA for financial aid, essays, letters of recommendation (how many and from who). Note if you visited and thoughts on your visit (many schools have an essay about why you are applying to that school so you want to remember details of what you liked). As you gather materials keep the spreadsheet updated. If you are a senior and can open the application, do so. Then you can see the essays and questions asked to start drafting your responses.

Talk to your school counselor early (spring of junior year or early in fall) so you understand the process to request recommendation letters from teachers, from counselors, and send transcripts. Some schools use google forms, some use Naviance or Scoir, some just let you email the counselor, others have a software program for transcripts. If you wait until the last minute, counselors and teachers are not going to be able to submit things by the deadline which you need it.

Document your accomplishments–Start a list of activities, honors, work experience and community service. Add to it regularly as you do something new. List where you did it, how many hours a week, how many weeks a year and a small description. You will need this for your applications. Consider creating a resume and keep it updated.

Join school mailing lists–If you really like a school, join their mailing list and check the emails and letters they send you. Attend their events (virtually if they are far away). Show you are interested as it is measured by some schools. Application fees are expensive–up to $80 at some schools. Many schools send fee waivers or application coupon codes to those on their mailing list or give them at events.

Read the school website –The admissions website will give you all the details you need to apply. They also can help you better understand the school’s curriculum, get to know faculty and discover student organization and study abroad opportunities. You will want to have this information handy for when you write your essays.

If you are self directing and task oriented, create a plan for creating applications and stick to those deadlines. An independent college counselor can help you understand the timeline, tasks involved and keep you on track. If you have any questions please feel free to contact Coffman Consulting. We enjoy helping simplify the admissions process.

Parents-finding a college is similar to buying a house

When you are planning to buy a house you spend time online searching for homes. You partner with an expert—a realtor—to help you navigate the process. You look at many different houses to decide what options you really need and what you can live without. You get your finances in order and fill out mountains of paperwork. Picking a college can be a very similar process. It takes time to help your child discover their options.

Realtors help stage houses, write nice blurbs about them and post gorgeous pictures online. They don’t always show the horrible next store neighbors or massive cell tower looming over the yard. Colleges can be similar. They often put their best foot forward on a website and in brochures. They don’t often share that everyone goes home on the weekend, or there is no where to eat in town, or that their dorm rooms haven’t been remodeled in fifty years. But exploring a website can give you a basic idea of what majors are available, it’s size, what activities exist and their admission process.

You can then follow that with a virtual information session or virtual open house. Usually these include a presentation by an admissions staff member and sometimes include faculty or students sharing their experience some let you ask questions and others do not. They help you understand if you like what the college has to say about itself, the curriculum and student life. Your student should leave with a feeling they want to learn more.

Once you have a list of schools your child would like to get to know better, schedule an in-person visit if possible. Open House programs usually include an admissions presentation, tour, student panel, faculty or major event, and sometimes lunch. Or schedule an information session and tour. If they have optional events like major presentations or residence hall fairs, try to go to those as well. There are many more living options than when parents want to college (singles, doubles, triples, quads, suites, Jack and Jill bathrooms, Living Learning Communities, First Year Interest Groups, coed floors, etc). Get as much info while there, take notes, and keep information organized so you can compare and contrast schools.

Admission staff also visit high schools and host virtual high school visits. If you child can make the time (and sacrifice missing class) attending can help them get to know the admissions staff member and have that “expert” to go to when they have questions about the school. College fairs can be a great way to talk to specific school staff members. Many are virtual right now. They include a panel of a few schools then breakouts with individual schools where you can ask questions. Every touch point your child makes with a school helps them learn more about the school, show your student’s interest, and get closer to a decision about where to attend.

If you need more expert help navigating the admission process, Coffman Consulting is happy to help. It takes a lot of time to find the right house, finding a college is no different.

Test-optional admissions has made your essay more important.

I recently read a comment on a group for counselors that really resonated with me. The respondent said applicants are not one dimensional and compared a painting to a sculpture. College applications are a chance to show you are three dimensional. Academic performance shows one side of you. Activities show other interests. But the essay (or essays and short answer questions depending on where you are applying) rounds out the story. Use it to paint (or sculpt) a picture of yourself that leaves the admission committee wanting you to join their campus community.

One of the biggest fallacies I hear from students is they have nothing interesting to say about themselves. Everyone has a story to tell—it doesn’t have to be overcoming a major struggle or obstacle in life. Think about what your friends would say about you. How do you spend most of your time? What are some of things your enjoy in life? What is a passion or dream you have? All if these can be crafted into a personal statement.

Many schools have a supplemental essay that is basically “Why are you applying to this school”. They want you to have thought about how the academic programs and campus life match your interests. How will they prepare you for your career? Get past the basics (I will thrive in a small environment) and get a little personal (I want to interact with biology faculty in a small class setting, gaining mentors who will connect me to research opportunities. Professor Smith’s project on how vitamin D impacts cancer cells is an example of a research project I hope to join). Maybe you have always been a fan of Indiana basketball. Instead of saying you want to watch the Hoosiers win an NCAA title make it more personal, “I can picture myself living with my fellow informatics majors in the Luddy LLC, discussing our latest computer projects while cheering on the Indiana Hoosiers as they defeat Duke”.

If a school has multiple essays try to write something different in each. If your common application personal statement focused on one aspect of yourself or interests, write something different in the supplemental essays. If you are funny in real life it’s ok to be funny in an essay. If your not, now is not that time to write comedy. It’s ok to be vulnerable and take a risk. Maybe you write poetry and you want to submit a poem. Some schools will love it and some will penalize you for not writing an essay—but which school would you rather attend?

Admissions counselors read a lot of essays about not making a sports team or play, parents divorcing and Covid. It doesn’t mean you can’t write about these things but how do you make it different or unique? As a result, how have you changed, grown, found a passion or career interest? If you are asked who is your hero, and you pick your mother (which is sweet) have reasons. There is a difference between “my mom is my hero. She is always there for me” and “every side line, she is there cheering me on with a smile. She balances a full-time job while caring for my grandparents and her children. She is up before most of us, and goes to bed after all of us, working tirelessly to make sure others are cared for and accomplish their dreams”.

Highly selective schools often have very cerebral essay questions like “what if the moon was made of cheese”. These are designed to see your creativity, intelligence and academic prowess. It’s also a way to build a diverse class of unique thinkers. Some have short answer questions where you need to get your point across in very few characters. For example if they ask “what can you not live without” you don’t want to just answer “my family”. Instead think about one of your beloved possessions. I know a student who could say “a well-worn, often mended stuffed pig named Porkchop”. You will stand out and be remembered with an answer like that.

We are happy to brainstorm essays or help review them for content and clarity. Colleges know you are smart (they see your grades). They want to see how effectively you can communicate and express your ideas.

How do you determine if you are admissible to a college–Part II Naviance and Scoir

In our last blog we offered some tools and resources to help determine if you should apply to certain schools and your likelihood of admission. There are additional tools, Naviance and Scoir that can be very helpful, if your school subscribes to one of the services.

A great place to start in Naviance or Scoir is taking a career or interest inventory/assessment. These quiz like activities help you identify what career aligns with your skills and interests, and helps you identify future college majors or career training programs. From there, you can use this information to search for colleges that offer that major.

Both websites have a college search tool. You can then like schools (in Naviance you click the heart), and they will send your data to that school so they can contact you/market to you (if you don’t want to be contacted or have your data shared, feel free to explore just don’t “like” any schools). They will also give you a list of colleges that are similar to the school you like/select. Some of those colleges pay to be positioned on that list. It doesn’t hurt to explore them but know Naviance/Scoir make their money both from high schools licensing the products but also selling data and advertising opportunities to colleges.

In Naviance, when you click on the college there is a tab at the top that says admissions. On that page there will be details about the school as well as a bar chart showing how many applicants applied/were accepted/waitlisted/denied from your high school. If you scroll all the way down on the page you will see a scattergram. That will allow you to position your stats (if your school has updated them in Naviance) against the past three years of applicants from your school–you appear as a colored circle sitting on the scattergram. If it isn’t updated–find your GPA on the Y axis and your SAT/ACT on the X axis, then find their intersection point. Do the students admitted (green check mark) have similar stats to you? Great, its a target school. Are the denied similar to you (red x), then its probably not a great fit. Are you way above those admitted–its a safety school or even a place you may get merit aid.

Scoir works similarly. On the school page there is a link that says view scattergram. If your school has your information updated, you can position your stats against the historical data in Scoir. Scoir is newer than Naviance and some schools have made the switch recently, therefore it may not have all the data you need.

Please remember that admissions is a holistic process that involve more than grades and SATs. They will look at the courses you took, what courses your high school offers (high schools send a school profile with details about the school and courses available), did you challenge yourself and will you be able to handle the rigor of their curriculum. They will look at your involvement to determine will you contribute to their campus. Its great to position yourself using Naviance and Scoir to get an idea of how you compare to other applicants, but read the school website and visit to learn more about what the school considers as they review applicants.

You can link to your Common Application on Naviance through the “Colleges I’m applying to” tab. Add at least one school you are considering. You will then see a red bar across the top of the page that says match to your common application. You can then log into the common application (if you have created an account) linking the two, making the application a little easier. Check with your school counselor if they prefer you use Naviance to request transcripts, recommendations, or counselor forms. Indiana high schools use an additional program called Parchment to send transcripts. If you need help navigating these check with your school counselor.

Many colleges are visiting high schools to meet with students. They use these visits to showcase their school but also discuss the application process, learn more about you and the classes your high school offers as well as get to know the high school staff. If you are able to take advantage of these visits, try to attend. Its more important to attend class but if you are doing well missing one class won’t hurt you. Meeting with a college admission rep can show demonstrated interest and also help learn if you might be admissible. Bring your transcript and specific questions. If the school is a popular one at your high school (ie: large state school in your area) you may not get to meet one on one.

As always, if we can help with the admission process please don’t hesitate to contact Coffman Consulting. It is our goal to simplify the admission process for families.

How do you determine if you might be admissible to a college?

Terms like “reach school” and “safety school” often get tossed around during the college planning process. How does a student identify whether or not they may be admissible to a particular college? Here are a few resources and tips to figure out what might be your target schools.

The best place to learn about a college is that college itself. Start on the college website. Look under admissions and applying. Usually there is information about criteria they consider including high school coursework (often listing specific courses they require), essays, SAT or ACT scores or if they are test-optional, deadlines and more. Some schools will share a profile of the students admitted the year before, or at least the middle 50% of that pool (the middle 50% is the bulk of the applicant pool but 25% of students had stats higher than in that range and 25% had lower–although those could be athletes or other special populations).

Every college that receives federal financial aid is required to report their admission data to the federal government. You can access this data at the National Center for Educational Statistics. Select schools to compare and download data on SAT, GPA, and the number of applications. An easier way to do this is on the Collegeboard website. In the search bar put a school that interests you, select that school from the list that appears, then click the applying tab on the left side.

You will see the number of applications received, how many were admitted and how many enrolled. If they offer decision deadlines/programs like Early Action or Early Decision, you may also see the numbers for each of these deadlines. If you scroll further you will see several tabs. Click the academics and gpa (then scroll down) and you will see the rank and grade point averages of admitted students. You can do the same for SAT and ACT. Please note that with so many schools going test-optional, many students are electing to not use their test scores. Those who send scores tend to have high scores which is driving up some of the middle 50% ranges. Collegeboard also lists the classes these colleges require and recommend but make sure you check that information is accurate on the college’s own website.

If your stats fall into the middle 50% of the school, then you are likely a good candidate for admission–you are similar to the profile of student that has been admitted in the past. Applicant pools grow and change–schools may win a national championship in a sport which brings in tons of new applicants, or they may have a scandal that causes people not to apply. Admission is never guaranteed. But if you are similar to the last class (have the right classes, gpa, rank, scores) its a “target school”. If you fall well above the middle 50%, then you will likely be admitted. This is a safety school. This may be a school were you are also a strong candidate for merit aid. If you fall just below the middle 50%, then this might be a reach school for you. If you are significantly below the middle 50% or are missing any required classes, you will likely not be admitted.

Some schools offer admission programs called Early Decision or Early Action. They typically involve applying earlier, by a November 1 deadline (but check school’s for their deadline). Using these programs is a way to indicate to schools they are one of your top choices. Early Decision is binding–which means if you apply and are admitted you are expected to attend (but you may not know your financial aid yet so make sure you are willing to pay whatever it costs). If admitted Early Decision, you are supposed to withdraw applications to any other college. Early Action is not binding. You still apply early but can go through the financial aid process or apply to other schools before you have to make a final decision. Applying Early Action can help admission, but isn’t a guaranteed way to strengthen your application. If you can have your application materials together and they are a strong reflection of your ability, there is no downside to applying early. To make things complicated Ivy Leagues have now created restricted Early Action which is basically binding. If you are applying to an Ivy or highly selective school, be aware of their admission program restrictions before you apply.

We recommend having only 1 or 2 reach schools. The majority of your applications should go to target schools where you know you are a strong candidate and at least 1 or 2 safety schools. Do not apply anywhere you don’t want to go. If it ends up being your only option, you want to be excited to attend not disappointed. There is no perfect number of schools to which you should apply. But application fees range from free to $90, so it can get expensive. 5-10 applications is a typical range.

If you need help conducting your college search or research, please let us know. We are currently accepting new sophomore and junior year clients and a limited number of high school seniors.