College Search Process......Then and Now

ahermitt
Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:29:02 +0000

Wow. I wish I could read every single one of these. I may come back later for more.

I think the biggest difference is that many of our parents either didn’t go to college or at best went to the one down the street. They knew nothing about the process and so we in many ways got screwed financially. I applied to 4 colleges,Cooper Union- a free art school, NYU where I was offered a scholarship, Fordham - where I went no scholarship because my family thought it was the most prestigious. I can’t remember the 4 th right now. Maybe Marymount. Anyway, I only lasted a semester and I started over the next fall at a community college because of the commute my grades suffered, and our inability to pay. Also, I took the SAT 2x as I got a low math score first time. My final superstore was 1200 (1986). I remember filling out forms in my word processing machine which I got as a gift Sr. Year of highschool. I needed no correction paper or liquid.

Wanting my kids to have a better experience I did a lot of research (and used my position as an Internet content writer) to interview admissions officers all over the country.

Each kid took PSAT, SAT, and ACT. then they repeated their best test 3 more times to maximize score. They seemed to max out the 4th time doing no better than the previous time.

We then chose colleges based on cost and likelihood of merit awards. They chose colleges based on a combo of major, reputation, and cost. Like me,they kept it to 3 or 4 colleges, most of which offered free applications.
( I should ad that because my kids were homeschooled, private colleges were our best bet for admittance and scholarships. Getting the state grant would be difficult.)

We visited colleges and paid for summer programs so kids could get to know the colleges they were considering. ( I visited The art college with my art teacher.) Also my parents threw away any college solicitation that was too far for a daily commute.

I think I’m still a little bitter about my experience. I worked hard hoping my kids would not be.