Finding the best college for you requires asking really good questions. That’s why we offer free consultations for families to get your key questions answered. Schedule your free consultation here.
When I hear a high school student ask, “How do I find the best college for me?” I smile. The student is starting from the right perspective: What works for ME, as opposed to what’s the “top-ranking college” and how can I fit into their mold? I believe strongly that your college search should be focused on the University of YOU, not the university of THEM.
We’ve helped thousands of college-bound students find the best college for them, as well as find merit aid to make college more affordable. If you’re wondering if you might benefit from guidance on your college search, check out this blog post. The college search process can and should be informative, fun and fulfilling, as well as productive when done well. Embarking on your college search is an experience that will impact the trajectory of your life. Don’t rush it. Enjoy it. Savor it!
When I sit down with a college-bound student and their parents to begin the college search process during freshman, sophomore or junior year, the first critical question we ask is: Who are you now, and who do you hope to become? It’s a tough question, no matter what your age. Many 40-year-olds couldn’t clearly answer this question! There’s no right or wrong answer, just what’s right for you as an individual. And it’s okay if your answer changes over time. The purpose is to get you to think about you and what you want from your college degree.
Often, students and parents spend too much time looking outward at colleges (What does this one have to offer? How highly is this one ranked?), and spend far too little time looking inward. That needs to change. In my college search counseling with families, I encourage students to build The University of You. Questions like the one above can help get you started.
When it comes to “how do I find the best college for me”, it’s all about fit.
What you’re after is a “great fit” between what they have to offer and what you want and need. You’re exactly one-half of the fit equation. Good old State University is State University, and you are you. Even if you get in, it might be a lousy fit. Get clear on who you are first, and the job of knowing which colleges fit you best will be much easier.
The first critical question is, “Who am I now and who do I want to become?” This gets at the type of student and type of individual you are, what you hope to gain from your college experience and, ultimately, your degree. Once you’ve spent some time journaling or somehow capturing your answer to the question, “Who am I now and who do I want to become?” there are a few essential follow-up questions.
Here they are, plus a description of why they’re helpful. Once you spend some time with these, you’ll be ready to narrow your scope to a manageable idea of the type of colleges that could be the best fit for you.
Who do I want to be around at college?
Think about the type of learning environment that lights your fire. Do you like feeling like the smartest kid in the room, or are you inspired when you’re surrounded by people who constantly push you and challenge you because they’re wicked smart, and you’re scrambling to keep up? Do you want to be around people who think like you, or people who represent very different perspectives than yours? Do you want to spend most of your time around people interested in the same field or career, or a diverse range of interests? Do you like crowds, or small intimate groups? Your answers to this question can help determine the TYPE of college that might fit you best, whether that’s a large research-oriented institution or a small private liberal arts university or something in between.
How often do I want to go home?
This question’s geared toward narrowing your geographical focus. Students are often wary to consider schools more than an hour or two from home, until they consider the fact that three-five hours away is super manageable for visits home twice per semester. If you prematurely limit your focus to schools within an hour or two of you, then you automatically exclude MOST schools, some of which might be great fits for you.
Who do you want to teach you at college?
This question gets at type and size of the college you should consider. There’s a big difference between large state universities and small private schools in terms of who’ll be leading your classroom. Especially your first two years, the likelihood that you’ll have focused face time with a full, tenured professor varies greatly from school to school. If this is important to you, it’s worth considering early on, because it will streamline your college search.
These are just a few critical questions to ask when starting your college search. A college search done well is complex and involves a lot of discussion, research, campus visits and time.If you’d like to chat more, reach out to us anytime.
College Planning Steps for Prospective Student Athletes as Freshmen and Sophomores
For students considering collegiate athletics, the college planning process is about finding the right academic and athletic fit.
Coach Stephanie Barth
According to OnCampus College Planning Coach Stephanie Barth, “Because of the need to find the ideal combination of right team, right school, it’s critical for prospective student athletes to begin their college planning early, much earlier than non-athlete students typically begin to think about college.”
Tom and Stephanie recently chatted about this topic. You can click here to watch that video, or scroll down to the end of this post, and we’ve included it there for you. For some key action steps for prospective student athletes, keep reading.
Who is considered a “prospective student athlete”?
Stephanie outlines three criteria for someone who would be considered a “prospective student athlete”:
I have decided or have a desire to play college athletics.
I have had a conversation with my parents about my goal to play college athletics.
I have realistic expectations-NCAA I, II III, and Junior College
Key Action Steps Freshman Year for Prospective Student Athletes
The following action steps are important for prospective student athletes during their freshman year of high school, and in some cases even earlier.
Commit to being a good student as well as a good athlete. As college planner Tom Kleese says often, “The high-school GPA you submit for college applications will be based on not four, but actually three years of high-school, and it starts day one of freshman year.” Tom frequently reminds students we work with that you submit your college applications before senior year grades are available, so your freshman year is a full third of the GPA colleges will be looking at. This isn’t meant to induce pressure. It’s meant to remind students to “control what you can control”. That means turn in every assignment on time, every time.
Create a recruiting profile for college coaches to see and evaluate you based upon the sport you are interested in. The platform for the appropriate recruiting profile will differ by sport. For instance, Stephanie works with volleyball players who use University Athlete. For swimmers, a common platform is College Swimming. Other sports have their own recruiting engines. It’s important to research and understand which platform is most commonly used and relied upon by college coaching staff for your sport.
Research schools that may be a good fit. OnCampus College Planning College Search services helps you zero in on the best fit for you, across academic, social, financial, geographic and of course athletic considerations. College Board is a helpful tool for getting started on your own.. As you get started with your college research, a free consultation with us during your freshman or sophomore year is a smart step.
College Campus Visits Are Important Early On for Prospective Student Athletes
College planning coaches Tom Kleese and Stephanie Barth recommend college campus visits early and often. Tom suggests making sure you take your first college campus tour during your freshman year, even if it’s not necessarily a school you think you’ll seriously consider. “Just getting a feel for what College is like in general is important for students. It’s a lot different from high school. Once students have an opportunity to get on campus, walk around, check out dorms, check out the student center, they begin to have a better sense of what the college environment is like. They also tend to get very excited about doing additional visits and research.”
Stephanie adds, “Especially for athletes who are frequently out of town and near or on college campuses for athletic tournaments, camps and events, college campus visits aren’t difficult to work into your schedule when you plan ahead.” With three student athletes of her own, Stephanie has personal experience with this. “Our family visited college campuses, both informal ‘drive-by’ visits and official tours arranged through admissions offices, while we were at tournaments and on vacation. It was actually a lot of fun, and we all learned a lot.”
Key Action Steps Sophomore Year for Prospective Student Athletes
Once prospective student athletes are sophomores in high school, they should continue to be a good student who earns good grades and delivers their best performance in the classroom. After all, you are a “student athlete”, emphasis on the word student. College coaches will be interested in solid academic, as well as athletic performance.
In addition, prospective student athletes should take the following steps their sophomore year of high school:
Contact schools in which you have interest. Permissible contact varies by Division and sport-but could include camps, clinics and one-way emails to coaches.
Visit schools in which there is mutual interest.
Determine when you will take your official ACT exam (Sophomore/Junior year). Based on academic and athletic considerations, as well as your personal schedule, OnCampus College Planning can help you consider when taking the ACT may be most beneficial for you and discuss options for ACT Test Prep.
College Planning Tasks for Juniors and Seniors
As you near the end of your high school career, your activity and action steps toward college planning will heat up and become more unique student-by-student based on your sport, your ability and your college prospects.
This is also when the academic side of the college planning process will become critical.
Register with the NCAA Eligibility Center (Junior/ Senior year). The NCAA Eligibility Center verifies the academic and amateur status of all student-athletes who wish to compete in Division I or II athletics. College-bound student-athletes who want to practice, compete and receive athletically related financial aid during their first year at a Division I or II school need to meet certain academic requirements. For more detail about academic requirements visit the NCAA Eligibility Center.
Getting the College Planning Help You Need as a Prospective Student Athlete
As many parents see clearly, planning for college is more involved and complex than it used to be, especially for prospective student athletes. Thankfully, there are resources available to provide the help families need.
OnCampus College Planning is one such resource that guides high-school students and their families toward a confident college choice that’s the best possible fit for each unique student.
Without the right ACT Test Prep approach, it’s the bane of many students’ existence. At 60 minutes, this ACT math marathon is a full 15 minutes longer than English and 25 minutes more than the sprint-length Reading or Science sections of the ACT exam. Worst of all, it’s 100% math, the subject most hated by young minds since the invention of finger counting (and toes for advanced math).
When we work with students for ACT Test Prep, many students generally despise or fear the math section. The most common post-exam text I receive is, “I thought it went well, but the math seemed really hard (frowny-face emoticon)”. Why is that? Aren’t we teaching math well enough in the schools? Actually, it’s not the fault of our schools or our students. And don’t blame it on calculators. (I’ll come back to that point.) It’s more of a translation or transference issue. ACT Math is like a different language. Herein lies the frustration, but also the cure. Interested? Read on.
First let’s start with the reasons students hate the ACT Math Section.
The ACT is a cumulative exam.
No one likes a cumulative exam. The most common question teachers get pounded with is probably, “Is the final exam cumulative?” As a society of learners, we’re better at short-term recall than long-term mastery. (Quick: Who was Gerald Ford’s vice president?) The ACT exam forces you to relearn essential concepts, and this is especially true for the ACT Math section.
Students in Advanced Algebra are focused on this year’s content, not the Geometry they learned last year, or easier Algebra from 8th or 9th grade. Time after time, I see low scores in the Math sub-section of Pre- and Elementary Algebra. Yes, they’re missing the “easy questions”. And since all questions count for exactly one point each, those pieces of low-hanging fruit are just as valuable as the Trig on question #57. During ACT Test Prep, I assign a systematic review of 100 essential math concepts and formulas, most of which they’ve learned, but have since forgotten. “We’re reinstalling some brain software,” I tell them. When you’re working on a problem that involves subtracting the area of one circle from another, you can’t be scrambling to remember the formula for the area of a circle. You have to have it down cold, so you can focus on the real work to be done.
The ACT Math Section is timed.
Set a timer, and then attempt something difficult. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Not much fun, is it? Students take timed quizzes and exams all the time, but most math work in schools and at home is done without time limits. They’re used to practice problems during class and homework. During ACT Test Prep, we don’t “study” for the ACT as much as we “prepare” for it using specific strategies designed for ACT Test Prep. It’s a unique test which requires a unique approach. Suffice it to say that kids aren’t initially prepared for the rigor of 60 problems in 60 minutes, in the context of a four-hour exam early on a Saturday. That can be a recipe for disappointment.
The order is all mixed up on the ACT Math Section.
Math is the only ACT section in which the difficulty level of questions increases from start to finish. You don’t, however, simply move from Pre-Algebra to Elementary Algebra to Coordinate Geometry to Intermediate Algebra to Trig. The content is scrambled, and that conflicts with standard operating procedure for learning math. EX: Learn a new concept based on a similar concept from the day before, watch the teacher do some sample problems, and then work on a batch of related questions for homework. The problems alone are difficult enough without adding the seemingly random order of it all. The adolescent brain isn’t great at multitasking.
The ACT Math section speaks a foreign language.
Okay, here’s a mini-rant on the use of calculators, which you may have anticipated from the beginning. For many good reasons, kids are taught how to use available technology. In this case, that means plugging the right numbers into calculators to get the right answers. That’s a valuable skill, and the ACT allows the use of most calculators during the exam. (Be sure to put in fresh batteries, and make sure your calculator doesn’t get bumped and go into a Spanish default mode. True story.) But more often than not, I witness good students struggle to perform simple calculations in their head or with just a pencil and paper. The ACT is notorious for asking the types of questions which are foreign or certainly less common than what is found in textbooks. What do you do when you don’t know what the question is asking, and that expensive piece of technology won’t help? You think on your feet and problem-solve. That makes kids uncomfortable, but it’s actually one of the positives of this standardized exam. And practice during ACT Test Prep can help with this.
3 Steps to Loving The ACT Math Section You Now Hate
How can we fight the ACT Math beast? When we meet with students for ACT Test Prep, we focus on doing math “by any means necessary”. We prepare for the timing and rigor of the ACT Math section by “practicing how we play”, by tapping into the power of our brains and our pencils and by pushing back when the ACT pushes us to our limits.
I don’t have a quick fix, but these three key steps can help a lot.
Step 1: Don’t wait for “more math”.
I hear it all the time. “I couldn’t do well on the Math section because I haven’t had that yet in school.” The ACT is far less advanced math or trig than most people think. With the right ACT Test Prep, most students can achieve their math goals by nailing the questions they DO know how to do.
Don’t “wait until you’ve had more math” to tackle your first official ACT. Often, students wait too long to prepare for and take the ACT because they believe more advanced math classes will help them. The truth is that by spring semester of sophomore year most students have already been taught 90% of the math content on the ACT. While we end up covering content, we are much more focused on strategies when it comes to beating the ACT.
Overall, the advantage of tackling the ACT exam early (and being done with it by the end of your junior year) far outweighs the small handful of questions that another semester of advanced math would help you answer.
Step 2: Tackle the ACT Math section like preparing for an event, not like math homework.
Doing practice math problems at home alone won’t work. This isn’t homework. It’s preparing to perform in a unique 60-minute event. Everything you do to prep for the ACT needs to be timed, and you need to take a cumulative exam approach. This is why we “practice how we play” using real ACT exams and a real watch to make sure we pace ourselves correctly.
Step 3: Reinstall your math brain software.
Because it’s a cumulative exam, preparing for the ACT Math section will require investing time to remember stuff you KNOW and HAVE LEARNED, but haven’t used in awhile. This is one of the very few times I would support the use of online study aids for the ACT, and only to relearn essential formulas and concepts. Preparing for the ACT will require preparation for the biggest cumulative exam of your life, and that’s especially true of the Math section.
Reinstalling your math brain software also means using your brain and your pencil. We talk about this a lot and we practice this repeatedly during ACT Test Prep. We coach kids on pushing back at ACT Math problems and using their brain and their pencil. Honestly, this isn’t something our tech-savvy students are used to doing, but it’s table stakes for crushing the ACT. Best of all, we find that when students prove to themselves what they’re capable of with their brain, their pencil and some common sense, confidence soars.
It’s surprising and inspiring to see how many math-hating students can learn to love (or at least not hate) Math once they take these three steps and learn to beat the ACT Math section.
Most importantly, to learn to love math more, ask for help.
Find an ACT Test Prep professional who understands the complexities of the ACT Math section and whose coaching style fits your student’s learning style and goals. Yes, I do this for a living and would love to help you raise that Math score as part of our overall ACT Test Prep program. But my style doesn’t work for everyone, so if your child is Johnny/Jenny Technology and wants to do all their prep on a Samsung Galaxy Note-thingy while Insta-Chat-o-Gramming, then they may not warm-up to an old school, back-to-basics approach. Find what works for your student and your family.
Bill Gates said, “Headlines, in a way, are what mislead you because bad news is a headline, and gradual improvement is not.” Whether a headline is good or bad news, Gates is right. You won’t buy a newspaper or click the link to a story about a company’s marginally noticeable process improvement, or about an athlete’s long and arduous journey in daily detail from underdog to middle of the pack.
Here are five headlines won’t generate clicks, or sell books or newspapers.
How To Succeed In One Million(or More) Difficult Steps
Work Up To Average, and Keep On Going: A Slowcooker’s Guide to Progress
Exercise More, Eat Less & Stop Expecting a Miracle to Happen: The Realist’s Guide to Slow Weight Management Over the Long Haul
Reduce Debt Over the Long Haul By Living Within Your Means and Not Buying Stuff You Can’t Afford
The Zero-Guarantees Parenting Method: Even if you Parent Right, Things Can Still Go Horribly Wrong
Perseverance isn’t sexy, but it’s the only thing I’ve found that actually works (most of the time).
There is no magic pill.
High school students come to OnCampus College Planning to raise their ACT scores, find the right college or write a great essay for a college application. We coach them, teach critical strategies, share information, equip them with an action plan and send them out with new skills and whatever motivation we can offer. I wish we had a magic pill that would eliminate the hard work, perseverance and commitment it will take on their part to put those insights to work.
Ultimately, though, they have to really work at it on their own, or it’s just going through the motions. There is no magic pill.
Getting better is better than just getting done.
Around here, we often say, “Getting better is better than just getting done.”
I perform my best when I’m invested in the process (and not just the product) of continual improvement. I must embrace the reality that achieving my goals is about discipline over time, not about finding the right shortcut.
I’ve done too many things in life where I’m doing it just to check off the box, but I haven’t really pushed myself to get better. When I’m tired and tempted to get into check-box mode, I try to dig down and think “What can I do right now to get me one inch closer to where I want to be?” I try to share this philosophy with our students. My hope is that the lessons we share during the college planning process are lessons students can apply in other areas of their life.
When it comes to college planning, I want students to give every little step of the process their all — not for me — for THEM. The work is not for my benefit. It’s for their benefit. Participation in sports, music, theater, clubs, academics, friendships, part-time jobs…all of these things present opportunities to build a part of you that adds up to something bigger.
Each student is on a journey.
We as the adults who love them tend to get focused on all the individual assignments, events, games and tasks. We lose sight of how everything should and could be part of a journey…from the person they are now to the person they want to be.
I could have easily skipped the long walk I penciled in for early this morning. That one walk didn’t really change anything, but it felt good. I know if I keep at it, it will begin to add up as I do more and more. I’m not focused on crossing the finish line. I’m just focused on getting better.
Parents, too, have to focus on getting better — not just getting done.
As parents, it requires discipline to stick to this. Especially when it comes to tough lessons in life, like perseverance, patience, long-suffering or managing expectations. Especially when our child’s in pain. MOSTLY when things aren’t going according to “PLAN” — ours or theirs — and we want to “fix it”. But sometimes if we rush in to fix it or join our kids in the goal to simply “be done”, we miss the lessons of the process. As a dad, I can relate to the desire to rush my sons through tough spots, because being done with the tough stuff is way less painful and more comfortable (for them and for me) than slogging through it and accepting our current reality. Sometimes when I find the strongest urges to “just be done” is precisely the moment that if I pause and resist that urge, I’ll gain the most from working on “just getting better”. Life’s funny that way. It sucks sometimes, too. But hindsight’s taught me this is true both for me and for my kids.
I’m trying to be kinder and gentler with myself as I work on getting better at things that are important to me in life. I’m trying to do the same with our two sons.
I take great joy in watching a student say, as one junior did recently, “Hey this is still hard, but it’s not as hard as it was yesterday. I’m not perfect, but I’m getting better.” To me, that IS a headline.
Barack Obama once said, “If you’re walking down the right path, and you’re willing to keep on walking, eventually you’ll make progress.” Wise words from someone who knows.
I’ve been at this college planning gig for more than 10 years, and I continue to see the same themes over and over again. I find this reassuring because it means that sometimes, what feels uncomfortable and worrisome, and maybe even hopeless, is actually normal. I also have two sons of my own, one in college and one a senior in high school. I’m experiencing firsthand the “messy middle” of being a college-bound student and parent.
I’m learning to be grateful in the middle, both at home and with each and every amazing student I get to work with on the college planning process. Often the difference between gratitude and frustration isn’t a change in circumstances, but a change in perspective. Have you noticed that sometimes the circumstance doesn’t change, but you change and that changes everything? It’s kind of like that.
In my line of work, I have the privilege of getting to peer behind the curtain and get a glimpse into the rather messy, humbling and chaotic parts of a college-bound student’s life. And that is truly a gift. When I have the privilege of seeing the beginning and middle of the process, I can truly appreciate the glorious final outcome. The struggle bears gifts of its own, regardless of the result. It just takes time to recognize what those gifts were. As they say, hindsight’s 20/20.
My In-The-Middle Gratitude List as a College Planner
I’m grateful for Authenticity.
When students come to me, it’s because they don’t have it all figured out. Guess what. No one does! But not everyone will admit it to themselves. Even fewer will admit it to another person. It’s a blessed person who can openly say “I don’t get it.” I’m grateful that I get to be the guy who says, “No one does. It’s confusing. That’s why you’re confused.” Or “It’s hard. That’s why you’re struggling.” And then, “But I can help you. Together we can do this.” And I get to watch the relief wash over their faces because now that we’ve been Authentic and we know what we don’t know, we can make some forward progress.
I’m grateful for first drafts.
We’ve helped students with hundreds of college essays, and here’s what I know. No one goes straight from concept to final, single-spaced, typed and polished final product without a few messy first drafts. The benefit of first drafts is that they reveal where work is needed. They’re about getting a sketchy view of your story, and then stepping back for a few minutes and pondering what the real story behind the story is. Usually, students discover something about themselves between first draft and final essay that they didn’t know before, or that wasn’t as clear as it is now. And it is a privilege and a joy to witness that discovery process. If all of us could learn to appreciate first drafts or first attempts for the messy, sketchy teachers they are, we’d probably all be a lot better off.
I’m grateful for getting off topic.
Typically our ACT Test Prep or College Search sessions with students are incredibly focused and productive. They’re jam-packed with tasks we’ve both agreed are priority number one. But some days we get off topic. On more than one occasion, I’ve had the experience where I can tell a student’s had a particularly rough day, or they’re feeling stuck, or they’re feeling inept. Or the whole big jumbled process of planning for college is weighing them down. And then we take a break, and we get off topic. I share some relatively inane story about when I was a high school student and felt the same way. Or we watch a funny YouTube video as a mental breather. Or I ask them about something they’re passionate about that has nothing to do with college. And in these moments, we meet each other, human-to-human, and we truly connect. Perhaps we didn’t clip through the agenda as quickly as we will the next meeting, but the off-topic moments build trust and build relationship. They’re just as critical to the process as checking things off the to do list. This is true for all of us in all of our relationships. When I can let go of my agenda and let the conversation go off topic, there’s no telling what I’ll learn in those unplanned, “unproductive” moments.
I’m grateful for failure.
Sometimes students forget appointments. Sometimes they fall short of their goal ACT score. Sometimes they forget to do the assignment I gave them. Sometimes they give me some pitiful excuse for why they didn’t have time to study or write that essay or do that research. Sometimes students just come up short. Don’t we all? My usual approach in these instances is honesty combined with grace. I don’t let them off the hook, but I don’t beat them up about it either. Because I know from my own failures in life that failure is its own best teacher. The worse the failure, the less likely I am to let that happen again. So I try harder next time. In working with students, nothing gives me greater joy than watching kids learn from their own mistakes, on their own time. I work with kids in their formative years, when they’re making huge strides in maturity, responsibility, intelligence, independence. BIG STUFF. I’ve learned that if I can stand failure and not shrink away from it, I can learn from it. And my students are learning the same thing. It is a joy to get to witness this lesson in real life.
These are just a few of the things I’m grateful for about the messy middle.
I can’t believe I get to wake every morning and do what I do, and work with the amazing people I work with. And be part of one of the most important phases of a young adult’s life. How did I get to be so blessed? To those of you who’ve entrusted your college planning process to my help, thank you for making me one of the luckiest men alive. Can’t wait to get up tomorrow and do it all over again.
Blessings to you and yours this Thanksgiving. If your middle is particularly messy right now and kind of uncomfortable, and not altogether pleasant, may you take comfort in knowing you’re more normal than you think you are. One day, the gifts of the struggle you’re in will become clear. I truly believe that. I’ve seen it over and over again, in my work and in my life.
After more than a decade working with college-bound students and families, we’ve heard time and time again some of the most common fears about finding the right college. Here, we’ll spell out these fears and talk about how best to overcome them. You’re not alone in struggling with these common fears about finding the right college. Hopefully, you’ll feel a bit more at ease knowing you’re “normal”. And there’s a remedy to help overcome these fears.
What are the three biggest fears about finding the right college?
College Fear #1 “I’m not good enough.”
Bet you thought you were the only one who felt this way. Truth is, this is a big one. We hear versions of this all the time. It may also sound like this, “I’m not as good as so and so.” Parents, who can relate to their student feeling this way? Maybe you as a parent feel this way? Students may not always say this out loud, but we often hear from parents that this is a nagging feeling their student has, and it’s weighing them down.
Comparison kills contentment.
The problem is that there’s too much comparison. Comparison kills contentment. When you hear what someone else is doing or the colleges they’re looking at or what they want to major in, you think, “Wow, they have it all figured out. What’s wrong with me?” When Nancy Know-It-All shares her perfect ACT score and you’re staring at your less-than-stellar scores, you think, “I’ll never measure up.”
Stop yourself. Measure up to what? The only path you need to run is your own. Who cares what anyone else is doing? What counts is what’s right for YOU. If you’re concerned about how your options and progress stack up against those of your friends, you’re using the wrong measuring stick. You’re comparing your insides to other people’s outsides, meaning you’re comparing all your internal insecurities, thoughts and doubts to the edited, varnished, filtered life story that others present on the outside.
Use the right measuring stick.
Believe it or not, they, too, have their own self-doubts, challenges and deficiencies. How do I know this? Because this is true for every single human in the world. Other people are the wrong measuring stick. The right measuring stick is getting absolutely clear about what YOU need/want/don’t need/don’t want in your ideal college experience. (We call this the University of You™). Forget what everyone else is doing. Fix your focus on what you can control and what is your responsibility and your path. You’re not responsible for anyone else’s actions or aspirations, only yours. Chasing what someone else thinks is important won’t get you closer to what will ultimately be right for you. You are unique.
Our College Search services zero in on finding the University of You™, not the University of Them. We find that once students invest some time in self-discovery and can articulate what they need/want/don’t need/don’t want in the ideal college experience FOR THEM, they can then then use those insights to define their unique University of You™. They can then focus on their path versus what everyone else is doing. Plus, finding the right college options gets much clearer and easier. Once you know what you’re shopping for, it becomes much easier to know where to look. You can schedule a Free Consult in person or via video conference to learn more about College Search services to help you ditch the constant comparison and find clarity.
College Fear #2 “I’m going to make a big mistake.”
The path to college is fraught with fear of stepping in the mud. Parents feel this way all the time. Teens often feel this way, too. Consider this. Where do you get your information about college? If you watch the news, no wonder you’re freaked out. Most of what you hear in the media about college is all bad. There’s way too much scary, bad news out there about college. It’s nowhere near the whole truth, but it sure sells ad space, clicks and newspapers. We can all relate to hearing about college admissions scandals, crippling college debt, high transfer rates, low 4-year graduation rates and jobless, debt-ridden college graduates. It’s enough to make you want to hide under the covers and wait out the storm.
Ditch information overload for clarity and structure.
The problem is too much information and not enough structure. There’s no shortage of information about college out there. It’s so much that it can be overwhelming. And not all of the information out there is reliable. Turn a deaf ear to the masses of information and zero in on sources of clear direction that will help you get where you want to go.
We believe that the antidote to fear of making a huge mistake is to have a clear plan, timeline and method for adding the right colleges to your shopping cart so that you know exactly what to do and when. When you have a plan, you can tune out 99% of the noise and just run your race. One outstanding example is a family we’re working with in Minnesota. This student is a junior now. We started working together when she was a sophomore. We sat down and mapped out an action plan and timeline for key tasks by semester that made college planning work clear, easy and manageable. In the spring of her sophomore year, this student and her family spent their spring break touring colleges. This gave them a great sense early on for what does and doesn’t fit. It also made it really clear what standardized test scores and grades she would need to earn admission to her top-choice schools. That has provided a ton of focus for her junior year for schoolwork and ACT test prep.
This family has learned the value of starting early, making an action plan, having a method and tuning out all information but the clear, reliable information that will help them on their college path.
College Fear #3 “I’m going to get ripped off.”
This super common fear is kind of a Dad thing. Dads, can you relate?? It sounds like, “With our luck, we’re going to get stuck paying way too much for a crappy college, and in the end, it won’t get us where we want to go.” Or simply, “We’re going to go broke paying for college.” Or, “We’re going to miss out on some secret deal that everyone else knows about, and we’ll be suckers.”
Ignore the hype. Focus on key insights.
The problem is too much hype and not enough insight. There’s a lot of hype about college costs. And we each have that friend who goes on and on about the all-expenses-paid scholarship their kid earned, leaving us feeling like a chump. We can end up feeling like we’re on the outside looking in, bound to pay more than we would have if we would have known the secret.
Here’s the thing. There are ways to control college costs, but it’s not obvious and requires some digging. College costs are a little bit like airline tickets. The true cost you’ll pay isn’t obvious or transparent. It depends on where you’re going and what you bring to the table. Finding trustworthy information sources and reliable insights on the true cost of college as well as ways you can save money will help keep this common fear at bay.
For example, merit aid is one key strategy we discuss when helping parents and students get control of college costs. We talked recently with a family and mentioned merit aid and how it impacts college costs. They’d never heard the term “merit aid” before, and it was a game changer. Merit aid is not dependent upon financial need. It depends on your academic achievements and standardized test scores, and it differs from school to school. We specialize in helping students and families find hidden gems and high-value colleges that will reward you for your academic and other achievements.
Dads especially love feeling like they’re the one that got the killer deal for a change. And why pay more than you have to?
What do I do next to find the right college for me?
If you can relate to any (or all) of these common fears about finding the right college, we have good news. We can help. We have a University of You College Search method to find the best-fit colleges for you, and we can also help you get command of college costs and find better value for your college dollar. Schedule a free consult in person (in the Madison, WI area) or via video conference. LIKE us on Facebook and tune in to our free Facebook Live videos for free insights on a successful path to the college of your dreams.
When I hear a high school student ask, “How do I find the best college for me?” I smile. The student is starting from the right perspective: What works for ME, as opposed to what’s the “top-ranking college” and how can I fit into their mold? I believe strongly that your college search should be focused on the University of YOU, not the university of THEM.
What you’re after is a “great fit” between what they have to offer and what you want and need. You’re exactly one-half of the fit equation. Good old State University is State University, and you are you. Even if you get in, it might be a lousy fit. Get clear on who you are first, and the job of knowing which colleges fit you best will be much easier.
This question’s geared toward narrowing your geographical focus. Students are often wary to consider schools more than an hour or two from home, until they consider the fact that three-five hours away is super manageable for visits home twice per semester. If you prematurely limit your focus to schools within an hour or two of you, then you automatically exclude MOST schools, some of which might be great fits for you.
The following action steps are important for prospective student athletes during their freshman year of high school, and in some cases even earlier.
College planning coaches Tom Kleese and Stephanie Barth recommend college campus visits early and often. Tom suggests making sure you take your first college campus tour during your freshman year, even if it’s not necessarily a school you think you’ll seriously consider. “Just getting a feel for what College is like in general is important for students. It’s a lot different from high school. Once students have an opportunity to get on campus, walk around, check out dorms, check out the student center, they begin to have a better sense of what the college environment is like. They also tend to get very excited about doing additional visits and research.”
Once prospective student athletes are sophomores in high school, they should continue to be a good student who earns good grades and delivers their best performance in the classroom. After all, you are a “student athlete”, emphasis on the word student. College coaches will be interested in solid academic, as well as athletic performance.
As you near the end of your high school career, your activity and action steps toward college planning will heat up and become more unique student-by-student based on your sport, your ability and your college prospects.
As many parents see clearly, planning for college is more involved and complex than it used to be, especially for prospective student athletes. Thankfully, there are resources available to provide the help families need.
No one likes a cumulative exam. The most common question teachers get pounded with is probably, “Is the final exam cumulative?” As a society of learners, we’re better at short-term recall than long-term mastery. (Quick: Who was Gerald Ford’s vice president?) The ACT exam forces you to relearn essential concepts, and this is especially true for the ACT Math section.
Set a timer, and then attempt something difficult. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Not much fun, is it? Students take timed quizzes and exams all the time, but most math work in schools and at home is done without time limits. They’re used to practice problems during class and homework. During ACT Test Prep, we don’t “study” for the ACT as much as we “prepare” for it using specific strategies designed for ACT Test Prep. It’s a unique test which requires a unique approach. Suffice it to say that kids aren’t initially prepared for the rigor of 60 problems in 60 minutes, in the context of a four-hour exam early on a Saturday. That can be a recipe for disappointment.
Okay, here’s a mini-rant on the use of calculators, which you may have anticipated from the beginning. For many good reasons, kids are taught how to use available technology. In this case, that means plugging the right numbers into calculators to get the right answers. That’s a valuable skill, and the ACT allows the use of most calculators during the exam. (Be sure to put in fresh batteries, and make sure your calculator doesn’t get bumped and go into a Spanish default mode. True story.) But more often than not, I witness good students struggle to perform simple calculations in their head or with just a pencil and paper. The ACT is notorious for asking the types of questions which are foreign or certainly less common than what is found in textbooks. What do you do when you don’t know what the question is asking, and that expensive piece of technology won’t help? You think on your feet and problem-solve. That makes kids uncomfortable, but it’s actually one of the positives of this standardized exam. And practice during ACT Test Prep can help with this.
Because it’s a cumulative exam, preparing for the ACT Math section will require investing time to remember stuff you KNOW and HAVE LEARNED, but haven’t used in awhile. This is one of the very few times I would support the use of online study aids for the ACT, and only to relearn essential formulas and concepts. Preparing for the ACT will require preparation for the biggest cumulative exam of your life, and that’s especially true of the Math section.
High school students come to OnCampus College Planning to raise their ACT scores, find the right college or write a great essay for a college application. We coach them, teach critical strategies, share information, equip them with an action plan and send them out with new skills and whatever motivation we can offer. I wish we had a magic pill that would eliminate the hard work, perseverance and commitment it will take on their part to put those insights to work.
Around here, we often say, “Getting better is better than just getting done.”
We as the adults who love them tend to get focused on all the individual assignments, events, games and tasks. We lose sight of how everything should and could be part of a journey…from the person they are now to the person they want to be.
I’m trying to be kinder and gentler with myself as I work on getting better at things that are important to me in life. I’m trying to do the same with our two sons.
When students come to me, it’s because they don’t have it all figured out. Guess what. No one does! But not everyone will admit it to themselves. Even fewer will admit it to another person. It’s a blessed person who can openly say “I don’t get it.” I’m grateful that I get to be the guy who says, “No one does. It’s confusing. That’s why you’re confused.” Or “It’s hard. That’s why you’re struggling.” And then, “But I can help you. Together we can do this.” And I get to watch the relief wash over their faces because now that we’ve been Authentic and we know what we don’t know, we can make some forward progress.
Typically our 
Sometimes students forget appointments. Sometimes they fall short of their goal ACT score. Sometimes they forget to do the assignment I gave them. Sometimes they give me some pitiful excuse for why they didn’t have time to study or write that essay or do that research. Sometimes students just come up short. Don’t we all? My usual approach in these instances is honesty combined with grace. I don’t let them off the hook, but I don’t beat them up about it either. Because I know from my own failures in life that failure is its own best teacher. The worse the failure, the less likely I am to let that happen again. So I try harder next time. In working with students, nothing gives me greater joy than watching kids learn from their own mistakes, on their own time. I work with kids in their formative years, when they’re making huge strides in maturity, responsibility, intelligence, independence. BIG STUFF. I’ve learned that if I can stand failure and not shrink away from it, I can learn from it. And my students are learning the same thing. It is a joy to get to witness this lesson in real life.
I can’t believe I get to wake every morning and do what I do, and work with the amazing people I work with. And be part of one of the most important phases of a young adult’s life. How did I get to be so blessed? To those of you who’ve entrusted your college planning process to my help, thank you for making me one of the luckiest men alive. Can’t wait to get up tomorrow and do it all over again.
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