Pointers for Parents during the College Search and Application Experience

Deborah Dworsky, Parent Council
Northeastern Regional Chair
Edison, New Jersey
mother of member Sarah Lutes, Drexel University 2012

As a parent of an NSHSS member, I would like to share my daughter’s college search and application process, and hope that this proves to be helpful for you.

To prepare, my daughter took advantage of the SAT practice courses in her junior and senior year. She also attended college summer camps which provided a real on-campus experience. Her high school resume was completed the beginning of senior year (this comes in very handy to insert in letters of interest and applications).

First, we composed a list narrowing down schools of interest and fields of study to get the ball rolling. We paid attention to location, size, admission requirements, and cost. Next, we researched colleges on the Internet. A good place to search for colleges that match your requirements is www.collegeboard.com. We noted admission requirements and application deadlines as well as dates for college visits. Also, information and letters of interest from colleges were organized and filed.

We visited as many colleges as we could (the summer camps were geared towards colleges of interest). Note that online tours are very different than a live tour! We were interested in a school based on an online tour until we visited and realized it was not the right fit. During the visits, we paid attention to the student’s interest and motivation and asked lots of questions. We also took interest in the professors if there were opportunities to hear them speak.

My daughter put a lot of effort and time into the applications and essays, finding that several colleges had different requirements and topics. On the topic of essays, originality is the main concern. Pay attention to application deadlines! Get the applications in earlier than the deadline if possible. FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) deadlines are very important as well. For information on filling out the FAFSA, which is essential in order to obtain financial aid in college, you can visit the official government website.

She sent letters to the schools that she was interested in and followed up with phone calls to the admissions counselor during the application phase. When my daughter chose her school, she sent a thank you note to the counselor and also to the schools that she did not choose (not only is it the proper thing to do, but you never know!)

She researched scholarship opportunities, which were plentiful. It was difficult to apply for all that were available. Again, she sent thank you letters, even to those that she did not win.

The college search and application process was a busy and exciting experience. We found that continued communication, preparation, and organization are instrumental in making it go as smoothly as possible.