College week - Juniors, How to Choose a College and Soon

Choosing a college for your Junior in High School? 

It's March and you have no idea what school your child is thinking about. There are thousands of schools to choose from! Where to begin?

As we get close to the end of the school season, with two to three months left, the kids will be out. And let's face it, once the warmer months hit most kids are not thinking about school. This is tough because most college applications for upcoming Seniors (your Juniors now) open in July 2019 (check all the schools your child chooses because they may be sooner).

The sooner you apply, the quicker the decision and possibly more scholarship money.

This week let's talk about Juniors in high school and how looking for a college can be a daunting task! Seniors, it's not too late, but you will need to pick up the pace and make decisions because deadlines have probably past for you. 

So before summer gets under way, Juniors (and Seniors) really need to get a handle on things and choose some colleges. 

So, where do you start? 

Sit down with your child and create a list of what you as a family are looking for in a college. Finding the best college for your child is a long and difficult progress, so starting now is key. 

Here is a list of suggestions that might help:

1. Academics - Make sure the school has one to three majors your child is thinking about - schools with more than one option is best. For example, my daughter wants to be a physician. However, we know how much schooling that entails. So we need to be sure there is a plan B and even plan C available if she decides last minutes she doesn't want to go to medical school. One college we found has a Physician Assistant program, which might be a great alternative if she decides to go that route.

2. Athletics - Does your child play sports - if it's important to them, make sure they can play in the sport at that school; if it's a NCAA Division school, there are rules, and you may have to complete a certification which may cost money. Complete the online recruiter form and see if they qualify. Email the coaches, send film, start learning if they can play or not. Remember, there are JV teams and recreational athletics at schools your child might be able to play if academics is #1 on his/her list.

3. Size of school - decide with your child what size classrooms they need or want. Some kids learn better in a smaller environment while others like to compete for grades against large classes. Small schools tend to be private, so price might be a challenge there also.

4. Location - determine where your child wants to live - close to home, far away, warm climate, etc.

5. Read reviews - there are countless websites out there (such as Princeton Review) that gives great information and reviews on colleges. Some colleges are reviewed based on items such as most beautiful campus, most diverse, to even best classroom environment. 

6. Talk to students! You can learn a lot from students that attend the college. Check out this website where students review the school!

7. Turnover rate - how many kids return after their first year? That's a tall-tell sign if it's a good school. Find out why the transferred before you decide against it.

8. Acceptance rate - this is important because if your child doesn't get great grades, sometimes admission is tough. Or if your child is a straight-A student, you might want him or her around other similar students. So then you would want to look at schools with a low acceptance rate.

9. Admission requirements - find out if the college bases admission on merit or accomplishments. Some kids do not test high and/or get low grades, but they have done great things outside the classroom. For example, my oldest daughter is a "C" average student looking at engineering, but she builds robots and her robotics team went to Worlds which helped her get into a great school.

10. Honors programs, clubs, extra-curricular activities, interests - this is important, especially when it comes to scholarships. Check the school to see what they honor. Also, it might keep your child's mind on school if they get to do other things besides study such as math club, choir or marching band.

11. Ticket price - the cost of school is extremely high these days, so making sure your child isn't going to be debt for the rest of his/her life is important.

When choosing a college, have your child pick about 10 colleges that seems to be the best fit - this way she/he doesn't only apply to one college and not get in. My oldest daughter only applied to one school, a private college, that was about $50,000 per year. Unfortunately, she didn't get enough scholarship money. We didn't want her to go into a lot of debt after high school, so we didn't let her go. 

Good luck and keep watching for the upcoming blogs on "College Week!"  Next, we'll talk more about finances and ways to pay for college.