Thursday, June 26, 2014

Loving a School You Can't Afford

Sasha Noble brought up a good point yesterday: North Carolina is full of great schools to visit. In fact, we started our tours there almost two years ago when we visited Elon, Davidson and Wake Forest. But I think North Carolina is also the perfect example of why you need to be prudent about your college visits. Schools like UNC, Duke and Wake Forest are first-tier, highly competitive and EXPENSIVE. 

A lot of my perspective on this comes from that book I recommended called Debt-Free U. Some important points from Zac Bissonnette:  

  • It's more important that you ATTEND college than you attend a CERTAIN college
  • How much work you put into school matters more than where you go to school
  • It doesn't matter as much where you START college as it matters where you FINISH with a college degree 
  • Parents shouldn't go into debt over college costs, and students should avoid loans as much as possible

UNC costs $45,806 in tuition, fees, room, board, etc...and to get a good perspective on the competition to get in, Fiske says "admission is next to impossible for out-of-staters who aren't 6'9" with a 43-inch vertical jump." Wake Forest is $58,260 and Duke is $61,404, and they both have enough highly competitive students getting in to make merit scholarships beyond the reach of your average student.

These are fantastic schools and deserve their excellent reputations. But if you're an average family who can't afford $50,000+ for college each year or you have multiple kids to send, and you don't want them drowning in loans, make sure you've got reasonable schools in your sights. This is especially true for Virginians who have many excellent schools available for reasonable tuition rates. 

Consider state schools that are known to waive out-of-state tuition rates for competitive candidates. The Universities of S. Carolina, Georgia, Connecticut and Florida all offer this incentive, just to name a few. NC State lists many opportunities for merit money on their site, and our admissions counselor at the information session there recommended that every student apply for three such scholarships the day they receive their acceptance. Don't assume expensive private schools are out of reach - those that are a little less competitive often have lots of scholarship money to give to good students (Elon and Miami of Ohio are eager to offer at least some merit money). 

While it's helpful to see as many schools as you can, consider the cost factor when you go. I've heard from many parents that it's hard on everyone when your student falls in love with a school that your family really can't afford.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

An Out-of-State Campus Tour

It's summertime, and maybe you've realized that you have a few days in a row with nothing really scheduled. Consider making a quick trip with your high schooler to take in a couple of campus tours. 

I like to visit locations where I can get the most bang for my buck -- see several schools in a small geographical area. We've made it a policy to only visit one school per day, however, so we can keep schools straight in our minds. Try taking just a few notes in your phone while you're there. You don't need a lot of details; most of those you will find on the school's website. But take note of some things that really struck you as a huge PRO (i.e. tuition includes free laundry service!) or a huge CON (you have to keep your belongings locked up at all times) -- things that seem unique to that particular school.

A great city for getting your college tours started is Greenville, SC. We checked out Furman University in Greenville, Clemson University in Clemson (about 32 miles from Furman), and the University of South Carolina in Columbia (about 110 miles from Furman).  The nice thing about these three universities is they represent three very different kinds of schools.  Furman is a small, private school of about 2,000 students with a beautiful secluded campus that has easy access to the city of Greenville. Clemson is a medium-sized, public university with about 15,000 undergraduates located in a small, rural town. The University of South Carolina is in the capital of South Carolina and has 24,000 undergraduates. While the campus itself is lovely and park-like, it is smack in the middle of the city, which comes with pros and cons.

A trip like this may help your student realize that a small school makes them feel really comfortable or that they want to be one of 80,000 people cheering on their team. While they may not like one of these schools in particular, it will give you more information about the kind of school you should check out next.

Monday, June 23, 2014

College Tours

A great way to get started on your college search is to go on an official tour. We started doing this the summer before Cal's junior year, and it definitely wasn't too early.
You don't have to spend money on a fancy trip to some exotic college or faraway locale. Living in Virginia, we have lots of choices close to home that make a great day trip. You can get to UVA, Washington & Lee, JMU, VCU or Mary Washington in an hour or less from Charlottesville. Try to plan ahead by visiting the school's website to sign up for a tour and information session, but if you get a last-minute chance to go, it's unlikely that they will turn you away.
These visits usually always yield some fruit. Even if your student comes away from the school thinking they don't like it at all, you will know a little more about the criteria they think are important and how to choose the next school to tour. Visit schools that represent a variety in size, cost, public/private, urban/rural campus, etc..., and you'll see a picture of the school with the right fit start to emerge.
Taking a college tour can help your student to understand why they are doing all of this hard work in high school. They may start to see that campus life can offer much more than four more years of classes and schoolwork. A close-up view of life at a university may be exactly what they need to invest them in the college application process.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Unscheduled time is good!

This article is a nice reminder from The Atlantic that our kids need free time. I'm sure I could find five contrasting articles about how my children are falling behind this summer while they're out of school, but since this advice requires me to do NOTHING, I'm going with this one.  http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/06/for-better-school-results-clear-the-schedule-and-let-kids-play/373144/

Friday, June 20, 2014

Middle School Students Taking High School Courses

I don't want this to be a forum for panicky conversations and worrying about college before your student is even in high school. And keep in mind that I am no expert - always consult your guidance counselor.

That said, I need to point out that if you have a rising 9th grader in ACPS who took high school classes in middle school, you should have received a form in the mail this week. It's the kind of form that if you do nothing, everything is likely to go just fine. And if your child received all A's in those high school classes, you can and should do nothing at all.

If your child received less than an A in any of those classes, and this concerns you, you need to do something with that form before June 30th. Grades from high school courses in middle school DO go on your transcript and DO count toward your GPA. The counselors at the middle school are the people to consult for guidance - that is where you will submit the form. You have the option to NOT transfer the grade to your student's high school transcript, but complications can arise with regard to verified credits toward the Advanced Studies Diploma.

The turn-around time on this is obviously pretty quick. The form arrived this week and is due a week from Monday. If you have questions or doubts, be sure to get the answers you need before you find you've made a choice you didn't intend to make.


Thursday, June 19, 2014

A little help for my friends...

Recently, I've had several friends ask me lots of questions about how we found the right school for Cal. We have a population sample of only one so far, but we've made more than 20 visits to schools up and down the east coast. We've read books, taken notes, created spreadsheets and followed some fantastic blogs on the topic. With three more student/college matches left to be made in this family, there will be many more visits, observations and discoveries over the next few years. I'll use this forum to share some resources, describe our college visits and update you on our successes and mistakes. I don't have a lot of blog experience, so we'll see how it goes, but hopefully friends will be able to read our updates, post questions, and add experiences and advice of their own.

A few things that are really helpful in getting started:
  • The Fiske Guide to Colleges by Edward B. Fiske is an invaluable resource throughout the college search process. You can start searching for the ideal college right at home by reading about the best schools by major, cost, location, size, etc...
  • Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching off My Parents by Zac Bissonnette and Andrew Tobias and Crazy U: One Dad's Crash Course in Getting His Kid Into College by Andrew Ferguson were two books that revealed to me how much an open mind will matter in this process. MANY schools have the potential to be a good fit for your student, and you don't have to break the bank to send him/her to a great school.
  • My friend Jane Kulow has an excellent blog you should explore. Jane is a couple years ahead of me in this pursuit and got me started with the books mentioned above. She has insight to most of your questions like "How close is too close to home?" and "How long should college take?" and she's visited more colleges than we have. She often posts college-related pieces gleaned from the pages of current periodicals. Go to drstrangecollege.wordpress.com.
  • Does your student have schools in mind already? Check out their websites and sign up for their admissions blogs. UVA has an excellent one filled with important updates about the application process, tools for improving the likelihood of creating a successful application, and reminders about looming deadlines. Go to http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/.