Please note that your school counselor is your college counselor. That said, I am happy to discuss colleges with you. I do not have access to Naviance, which your counselors do. I have however, been through this process with my own daughter who has lived to tell the tale. I also have a private business outside of school where I work with families in choosing schools. How I did this with my own child though was in a somewhat unconventional way. I know a wide variety of schools outside of the usual Virginia schools and surrounds. I am always happy to talk to you about what schools might fit you as a learner and as a person given what your goals are in your future. But it's important to know that while I want the very, very, very best for you that is usually not in a name or ranked school alone but in a super good match to who you are and who you are becoming. I am not interested in getting you into a school that is the best named school there is. I am interested in getting you into the school that is best suited to who you are as a person and who you will become in the future.
Scholarships &
Financial Aid
The College Visit
Go in person when you can. Do it virtually if you can't. It's best to do it when people are there though. We did ours before my daughter applied and it meant schools we thought she'd love, she hated and she didn't even consider applying to them in the end. Ask questions. Try these sample lists out:
Then add these two. These are "School Counselor" questions. But they will give you some really good information:
- Do you read regionally? – You want the answer to be yes. If they read regionally, then the admissions officer knows our area and the schools in this area. That means s/he knows that WAHS is a great school and a rigorous one. S/he understands that our teachers are very demanding and a B here, for example might be an A in a different school in our area. Chances are s/he even knows the reputations of individual teachers here which can be huge!
- Are you need blind or need sensitive/need aware? – You want the answer to be need blind. Schools that are need blind have larger endowments and therefore more money for financial aid in the form of need aid but also in the form of merit aid. You don't want to apply to a school where you might not get in because you need aid there and they choose another student over you who does not need aid.
- Sit in on a class – This makes a big difference. If you are in a class and you are the one participating most, or the students don't seem engaged, or interested, this is not a good sign. If you get a good vibe and it feels comfortable, then that's a great thing.
- Eat in the dining hall – As a family we have been faculty fellows at Brown College at UVA for about 20 years now. We eat in the dining hall there about once a week. The food is so not very good. It's better than it was 15 years ago, but it's still just not great. Rumor has it O Hill is better, but I have my doubts. If you eat in the dining hall and the food is bad, think about what it will be like by November when the menu has cycled at least three times. I'm not kidding, this is a real issue. This is why people gain weight in college: they eat the desserts and the fatty, bad for you foods, trying to cobble together something that tastes passable.
- See a dorm room – freshman dorms are not usually luxe. But get a sense of it because if they smell, you'll be living in it! We visited one school where the dorm smelled so bad, my daughter didn't want to finish the tour (but we weren't sure how to get back and it was snowing so we did). You will have to live there so make sure you can. It's not going to be the Four Seasons. But it shouldn't be something a medieval monk would find homey. My daughter's 1st year dorm was wretched. It had last been updated in 1995 (yes, updated then) and it smelled like mold and unmentionable things for most of the year. If you hate living there that makes it hard. It shouldn't be depressing to go back to your room.
College Interviews (Yes it's optional,
but do it).
How can you prepare? These questions cover it all!
