Posts Tagged ‘college admissions and parents’

Legacy Student Status and College Admissions: Where Do You Fit In?

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Does your family have a history of attending the same college? Maybe you’ve been wondering how this so-called “legacy status” affects your college admission status! Grandpa or grandma, mom or dad, bachelor’s degree or master’s degree, if members of your family graduated from your dream school, see what kind of impact (if any) that could make on helping you get “in!”

Dartmouth College hopeful? They might just take a peek at your legacy status.

susansimon

What is a Legacy Student?
A legacy student is a college bound student with parents or even grandparents that are college alumni of the very same college where a prospective student submits an admissions application. Some colleges also have grants or scholarships just for legacy students!

College Admissions and Legacy Status
Some colleges may have different legacy student policies regarding the type of degree an alumnus earned, like if the degree is an undergraduate degree or a graduate degree. They may favor an undergraduate degree and not count a graduate degree towards legacy status.

Other colleges will count any children or grandchildren as legacy students if the degree was earned at their institution – no matter if it was earned as an undergraduate or a graduate. Depending on your family history, that could be very good news for you!

Resources for Legacy Students
You can often easily judge if legacy status has any weight based on information found on the college  website. Many will let students know if legacy status is something that they even consider as a positive factor towards college admission. A simple search on the college website should provide the information you are looking for!

Some colleges possess more legacy resources than others. The University of Pennsylvania, for example, possesses Legacy Advising Sessions so legacy students and their parents can find out more about their selective status with regards to UPenn admissions procedures.

Another UPenn program, Linking Legacies, is something that prospective legacy students should take advantage of! Linking Legacies connects current legacy students with prospective legacy students so they can ask their questions and get actual legacy student responses via mail.

Saint Joseph’s College and Michigan State University have a legacy program for current, prospective, and past graduates to easily network and keep in touch. Bucknell University is another college that lets not only children and grandchildren of college alumni claim legacy status, but also stepchildren, great grandchildren, and even great grandchildren — with special programs for prospective legacy students and then some!

Hintz Family Alumni Center at Penn State University.

akrobat77

Some colleges prefer to make their take on legacy status a bit more secret. Yale University is one college thought to put a bit of emphasis on legacy status – and have often admitted more legacy students than not! Dartmouth College, on the other hand, openly shares its legacy admission rates.

If you discover a high rate of legacy students then it’s probably safe to assume that it might just have a bit to do with a student’s offer of college admission!

Final Thought
If your school puts particular emphasis on legacy status, it doesn’t mean that you should stop studying and start slacking! Legacy student or not, any college is still going to prefer a hard-working, valuable member of society to one that doesn’t even meet the standard admission requirements.

On the other hand, should you get accepted into your dream school, your legacy status should never make you feel as though you didn’t make it “in” because of your hard work! Your legacy status is only part of the (rather large) college admissions puzzle: your GPA, class rank, standardized test scores, community service, letters of recommendation, college interview, and then some, make up the remaining pieces.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in College Admissions, College Life, Fun Stuff, Legacy Status | 1 Comment »

A Day in the Life of a College President: Macalester College President’s Day Video

Friday, June 18th, 2010

My College Guide fell in love with this video after it was released – but with one thing and another, somehow, we neglected to bring it to your attention!  We love this insider’s view of Macalester College or, rather Macalester College President Brian Rosenberg’s view (yes, he did compare himself to Batman)!  Now, if that doesn’t make you want to check it out…we just don’t know you at all!

We just had to dig it up and bring it to your attention (just in case you missed it).  As My College Guide has pointed out again, and again, and again – college is not just studying and seriousness.  Sure, learning is important and you will need to work hard – but it’s not all work, work, work.   As you can see in this video (and all over our blog) the people inside a college bring along personality, humor, and a zest for life.  Watch President’s Day at Macalester College on YouTube (or below) for more proof!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Choosing a College, College Life, Fun Stuff, Social Media | 1 Comment »

College Admissions Tips for Parents: How to Help Your Kids without Driving Them Crazy

Friday, January 15th, 2010

momteenSure, your kid’s the one who’ll be going away to college—but let’s be honest: if you’re a parent, you’re probably more invested in the process than your son or daughter is. So, whether you’re researching schools to start visiting, or eagerly awaiting admission decisions, it’s important to make sure that your excitement about your child’s college decision doesn’t have a negative impact on your relationship. Here are some tips for how you can help your child through this stressful time.

Let him choose the schools to apply to. It’s true that financial concerns can be valid reasons for choosing one school over another, but that doesn’t mean you should limit your child’s choices to cheap state schools. Most elite private universities offer generous financial aid and merit scholarships, so it’s well worth letting your child apply to schools he seems qualified for to see what they’ll offer. Likewise, even if you’d love your daughter to attend Smith College like you did, if the idea doesn’t appeal to her, don’t force it.

Combine a college tour with a vacation. Even though your daughter is curious to see where she may end up spending the next four years, don’t go overboard on the college tours. Before applying to schools, you might be best off to limit the tours to your child’s top choice, or to schools in a specific region that you can combine with a fun family vacation. After your child finds out where she’s been accepted, you’ll be able to visit the schools she hasn’t seen up close yet, so there’s no need to spend thousands of dollars on jetting around the country now.

Shell out for SAT prep courses, or at least some test prep books. If you’re still early in the college application process, your teen may not have even taken the SAT yet. No matter how he did on the PSAT, you can help him boost his college prospects by investing in an online or in-person SAT prep course, or, if that’s unaffordable, buying some test prep books and committing to spending a few hours a week quizzing him.

Don’t compare your child to other teens you know. So what if Hannah down the road just got in to Princeton? Bringing up other students’ college success stories, especially if they’re unrealistic for your son or daughter, is likely to make your child resentful. Follow your teen’s lead, and only discuss other students’ admissions decisions when your child specifically brings the subject up.

Keep track of admissions deadlines, but don’t nag. It’s important to know when all of your child’s admissions materials are due at their prospective schools, and marking deadlines on your teen’s calendar can be a helpful reminder for your child. While it’s okay to ask every once in a while to make sure things are on track, try not to nag your teen too much—as long as she gets everything in on time, there’s no cause for concern.

Remember – it’s not about you. Many parents get emotionally invested in their child’s college decision, which can often cause a lot of friction in the relationship. While of course you want your child to go to a good school, the best college for your teen is going to be the one that’s the right fit for him or her—which isn’t always the one that you might like the most. Whenever you find yourself getting judgemental, take a deep breath and think about whether it’s really worth picking a fight over. After all, your child doesn’t have too much time left at home. Enjoy it while you can.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Choosing a College, College Admissions, College Applications, College Campus, Preparing for College, SAT/ACT Test | 4 Comments »

Getting Started at College: Tips for Settling in at the Beginning

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Andrew Stawarz/Andrew Stawarz

If you’ve already received an acceptance letter from your early-decision school, congratulations! Your time worrying about getting into school is finally done—but what do you need to know when you actually arrive at college? Here are a few tips that will help make the transition from home to the frosh dorms simple and painless.

Connect with other future students in advance. These days, it’s easy to connect with your future classmates before you even set foot on campus. Just search Facebook for groups, fan pages, and people connected to your future school—more than likely, you’ll find a group dedicated to admitted students in your class. If not, start your own, and others will soon discover you. If anyone in the group lives nearby, see about getting together for lunch. It will be great to have a familiar face on the first day of school.

Buy or rent your textbooks before you arrive. During the first few days of school, you can spend hours in line waiting to purchase your textbooks, which are often sold at heavily inflated prices. Skip the lines and the high prices by getting a list of coursebooks in advance from your school, and purchasing copies online from Amazon.com or renting copies from Chegg.com or Bookrenter.com.

Once you get your course schedule, find all of your classrooms in advance. There’s nothing more embarrassing than walking in during the middle of a lecture on the first day. Make sure it doesn’t happen to you by taking a walk around the campus and locating all of your classrooms, using a campus map to get your bearings.

Take part in Welcome Week activities. Your school will probably offer a few days packed with games and activities designed to help you meet fellow students and get used to the school. Though some of the activities may not exactly fit your interests, it’s important to get involved—this is a great opportunity to find new friends before you even start classes.

Find out about clubs, intramural sports teams, and the Greek scene. During the first few days of school, most colleges’ various activity groups will set up information booths, where representatives can talk to freshmen about what’s involved in joining or participating in a club. Scout out the groups that appeal to you, and come prepared with questions. If you’re thinking about getting involved in the campus Greek scene, this is also a great time to work out which fraternity or sorority seems like the best fit, and find out about their welcome mixers.

Get your student ID card and rent a fridge as early as possible. Your student ID card is your key to all sorts of campus activities, from meals to gym use, so be sure to get your photo taken for your school ID as early as possible, to avoid long lines. Also, unless you’ve purchased your own mini-fridge, you’ll want to rent one from the school—so be sure to register for one before they’re all gone.

Talk to your academic advisor and your R.A. During the first week of school, it can be helpful to schedule one-on-one meetings with both your academic advisor (who helps you with managing your course load and other academic matters) and your resident advisor (an older student who can help you navigate the rest of college life). If you have particular concerns about either academic or social issues at college, these people are trained to provide you with the support you need.

Send your parents home. Though it can be tempting to keep your parents around for moral support as long as possible, once they’ve helped you with anything you need parental assistance for (unpacking your luggage, dealing with the financial aid office, etc.), let them head back home. It may feel a little scary to be on your own, but you’ll get used to it soon—and just remember, all the other freshmen are in the exact same situation. You’re sure to find a friend or two among them.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in College Classes, College Life, Housing | 6 Comments »

6 Ways Homeschoolers Can Help Their Admissions Odds

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

homeschoolWhether it’s for religious reasons, practical concerns, or simply because it’s tough to find a school that seems like a good fit, a growing percentage of teenagers are being homeschooled by a parent or tutor. There are a lot of advantages to this approach: parents can directly oversee their children’s education, there’s no need to worry about crime or bad influences at school, and you have the flexibility of taking vacation time whenever you like. But there’s one concern that most families have a hard time escaping: once you finish your high school education at home, will any competitive college be willing to take a chance on you?

Because you have no formal GPA, you may feel like you’re putting yourself at risk of being rejected from top schools. But in fact, just the opposite could be true: Stanford University, in particular, is very enthusiastic about homeschooled students, and has accepted a far higher percentage of them than they have of the general student body. The admissions officers believe that homeschooled students who pursue unique independent learning paths have something that many other students lack: intellectual vitality.

Still, if you feel like homeschooling may be holding you back from a great college, here are some tips to help you get ahead.

Prepare well for the SATs, and take as many subject tests as possible. If colleges can’t evaluate your course performance by their usual criteria, test performance becomes even more important. Make sure to prepare well for the SATs, and take the exams several times if necessary to achieve impressive scores. Though SAT subject tests are generally considered to be optional, you’ll want to take as many as possible, since they can serve as stand-ins for formal grades.

Get recommendations from people besides your parents. Let’s face it: Mom isn’t exactly the most unbiased judge of character. Even if she teaches all your classes, schools will want to hear from others, too. If you’re involved in community service activities or are taking community college courses, get recommendations from the people guiding those activities.

Check out colleges’ homeschoolers’ admissions policies. As applications from homeschooled students become more common, more colleges and universities are publishing standardized policies about how they evaluate the applicants. This page has a listing of many homeschool admissions policies, but if a college you’re interested in isn’t listed, contact the school directly and ask if they have any guidelines.

Use the personal essay to talk about your homeschool experience. Unlike most students, you’re likely to have an education that’s heavily based on taking part in new experiences, rather than simply learning from books. Impress the admissions officers by showing them how your unique education has shaped your life and helped you to grow as a person—one who would surely be in demand at any top university.

Take part in campus interviews and college fairs. Because many people have the (often false) impression that homeschooled students aren’t well socialized, take every chance you can to prove them wrong. If you’re interested in a particular college, try to arrange a one-on-one interview with an admissions officer, so that you can impress him with your intelligence and unique outlook on education. Attending college fairs offers another opportunity to network with college officials, and can give you an opportunity to find out more about how you will be considered as a homeschooled student.

Make sure your transcript passes muster. In many states, you have a lot of leeway as to the focus of your home education. You’re free to spend time beekeeping as a science project, or take trips to the ocean to study marine biology. However, whatever you’re doing, colleges want to make sure you’re actually learning—so, along with standardized tests, you’ll want to make sure your academic transcript presents an impressive overview of what you’ve accomplished in your studies. Your family may consider hiring an admissions consultant (typically a former admissions officer) to look over your transcript and offer an honest appraisal.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Choosing a College, College Admissions, College Applications, College Interview, Personal Statement, Preparing for College, SAT/ACT Test | 1 Comment »