College Night Brings Good Advice

On Tuesday night, juniors in the class of 2018 officially kicked off their college process with a program in Froelicher Theatre.  In addition to some great information provided by the college counselors, there were three college admissions directors on hand to give their perspective on the current landscape of college admission.  Local administrators Kevin MacLennan of CU-Boulder and Mark Hatch of Colorado College were joined by Deb Shaver of Smith College to provide a strong overview of the entire application process.

 

There were many strong messages and memorable moments from the evening, but I will highlight three major takeaways here.

Be authentic.  Related to the previous point is the notion of developing a true sense of self. Part of the amazing journey of high school is really figuring out who you are and what you believe in and value.  Those interests and passions and ideals should then be translated into what you want to convey about yourself to any college to which you apply. Sometimes it is tempting for high schoolers (and even adults) to try to manufacture a certain version of themselves that they feel is going to be perceived and judged more favorably by an outside source.  They want to present an ultra-polished version of their life and accomplishments.  Even the college essay can strain under the influence of the desire to sound a certain way.  But students should understand that this inauthentic version of themselves generally comes across to college admission officers, who read hundreds if not thousands of files.  These folks want to hear from the “real you,” the one that may be a little messy at times or has learned from mistakes.  And what may be considered a “quirky” interest actually might be the very thing someone else wants to hear about if it can be expressed in an interesting and authentic way.

Have a discussion about the financial reality of college.  There are no two ways about it: college is expensive, and the price tag is going up all the time.  The cost of a four-year small liberal arts college can now easily exceed $250,000.  Families need to have frank discussions about the costs and the relative value of any college education, so that there are no surprises for anyone down the road.  We have seen situations where the family has assumed “something will work out” and allowed their child to apply wherever he/she wants, only to find out that the price tag at the end exceeds what they can reasonably afford.  It’s important to understand all the costs and if financial aid is going to be needed to understand the policies and procedures by which that can be obtained.  Merit scholarships are also a great way to bring costs down.  Typically, such scholarships come from college or universities where an applicant is at the high end of their applicant pool.  Thus, it may make sense not to look at the schools that are the hardest to get into, but rather the ones that want a student so much they will actually reduce that student’s costs to get him or her there.