Should we create a predefined template for these requests?

Compare College Acceptances
1

Following up on a suggestion that was posted on my announcement, should we create a predefined template for the Compare College Offers posts?

If yes, what should it contain? @lkg4answers suggested this as a starting point:

3

I think this is a great starting point.
It definitely covers everything I can think of.

My only suggestion would be to ask for net COA (accounting for any financial aid and merit scholarships).

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4

I don’t know how to word it, but maybe ask if the student cares about size of classes, access to research, campus culture, vibe, weather, sports, Greek life, etc.

5

The important things:

  • Net price at each college, after applying scholarships and financial aid grants.
  • Maximum parent contribution.
  • Major/division admitted to at each college, if applicable to the college. Also, any special programs like honors programs or combined degree programs (e.g. BA/BS->MD).
  • Desired major and post graduation goals (including if pre-med, pre-law, etc.).
  • If not a frosh admit finishing high school, indicate status (e.g. sophomore level transfer, junior level transfer, frosh after gap year(s)).
  • International or domestic student (and state of residency if domestic).
  • Student preferences beyond the above (including weather, class sizes, campus culture, college demographics, fraternities/sororities, distance from home, …).
  • Preliminary assessment of each college based on the above.
6

For colleges with more than one campus (looking at you, Northeastern) if the student applied to Boston but was accepted to a different campus; for colleges which offer January acceptance (e.g. Maryland) if the student wanted August but was offered January, etc.

We often find out after post 75 that the concern is one of the above issues… would be great to know it upfront!

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7

Reading what people have said in such threads, I sometimes find myself wondering why they actually applied to some of their colleges in the first place. So personally I would find that a useful standard question (Why did you apply to each college you are considering?).

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8

LOVE THIS ADDITION. The kids who want graphic design but whose college acceptances do not include a single graphic design program; the kids who want a minor in Russian but their acceptances offer Spanish, French, Mandarin, German and Portuguese…

We could be a lot more helpful with context! Great suggestion…

9

Thanks for the great input! I added the additions to @ucbalumnus’s template below. Let me know if I captured them right!

  • Net price at each college, after applying scholarships and financial aid grants.
  • Maximum parent contribution.
  • Major/division admitted to at each college, if applicable to the college. Also, any special programs like honors programs or combined degree programs (e.g. BA/BS->MD). Also, did you get accepted at the desired campus and start date?
  • Desired major and post graduation goals (including if pre-med, pre-law, etc.).
  • If not a frosh admit finishing high school, indicate status (e.g. sophomore level transfer, junior level transfer, frosh after gap year(s)).
  • International or domestic student (and state of residency if domestic).
  • Student preferences beyond the above (including weather, class sizes, campus culture, college demographics, fraternities/sororities, distance from home, …).
  • Preliminary assessment of each college based on the above
  • Why did you apply to each college you are considering?
10

I think “start date” might be confusing/unclear.
Students think in terms of starting semester (fall/spring/summer) - and they might think start date is the first day of college. Is there an alternate phrase we can use?

11

Perhaps a better wording would be, “If you applied to regular fall term start, specify if you were admitted to start at a different campus, in study abroad, in an online/distance or extension program, or other than in the fall term.”

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12

Thanks, @ucbalumnus! I updated the template to reflect these additions. If this looks good, I’ll set it up for future posts.

  • Net price at each college, after applying scholarships and financial aid grants.
  • Maximum parent contribution.
  • Major/division admitted to at each college, if applicable to the college. Also, any special programs like honors programs or combined degree programs (e.g. BA/BS->MD).
  • If you applied to regular fall term start, specify if you were admitted to start at a different campus, in study abroad, in an online/distance or extension program, or other than in the fall term
  • Desired major and post graduation goals (including if pre-med, pre-law, etc.).
  • If not a frosh admit finishing high school, indicate status (e.g. sophomore level transfer, junior level transfer, frosh after gap year(s)).
  • International or domestic student (and state of residency if domestic).
  • Student preferences beyond the above (including weather, class sizes, campus culture, college demographics, fraternities/sororities, distance from home, …).
  • Preliminary assessment of each college based on the above
  • Why did you apply to each college you are considering?
1 Like
13

That looks fantastic to me. You can really see the hard-won experiences from these threads (the aforementioned problem of only learning critical factors or preferences halfway into a discussion) reflected in that template.

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15

I agree. But you have to admit that there is a lot of comedy in the posts where a kid is trying to decide between five schools and after 100 posts it is revealed that she’s only been accepted to three of them. (waitlisted at the other two).

So we all start over again… and then learn that one of the three is completely unaffordable AND that the non-custodial parent won’t pay his/her share even though it was part of the divorce decree.

So we start all over again. And wish the kid mazel tov on the obvious choice- the one that the custodial parent can pay for without having to sell the house and the car.

5 Likes
16

For net price and amount parent will pay, it would be helpful to specify “per year”. And also ask if there are enough resources for this amount of support for four years.

Also, perhaps ask if the amount of support is for that one particular student. Sometimes there are twins etc and the amount of support is for both, not one.

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