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Anyone else here have a JR. to busy to find colleges to apply to?


TravelingChris
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My dd is so extremely busy both with her school work, prep for tests, debate, writing a novel (one of her classes), community service, choir, and soccer in a week that she has basically no time to think about college. She visited a few colleges this summer and that is it. SHe knows one that she will definitely be applying to but other than that, she is really unsure and unable to think. NOw in April, debate ends and I can have her not do choir but in May, here comes dual enrollment and the end of May comes dive team. Her community service is here and there right now- she will be helping with a food drive soon and then there is a relay for life in June plus a blanket she is knitting for a 4H service project. I am not sure what to do. Any suggestions?

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I would recommend doing some research for her if you feel so inclined. (I'd also suggest she not apply to only one college as that is a lot of eggs in one basket!)

 

Does she have an idea of a major she is interested in? Does she (Do you) feel she'd be well served by a large university or a smaller college? Does she wish to stay close to home or move further afield?

 

When my daughter expressed an interest in majoring in Latin/the Classics, I looked into what colleges had that major but also met full financial aid or were considered "Best Buy" colleges. I then narrowed down the list by eliminating those colleges which did not seem as though they would be a good fit for her (i.e., too big, too conservative, too cold!, etc.) That left about thirty colleges on the list. I then passed the list on to her, and she wrote to each department asking for information. The replies she received helped her narrow the field further. She ultimately applied to ten colleges and was accepted by eight.

 

Best wishes!

 

Regards,

Kareni

Edited by Kareni
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Since we are military, we don't know where we will be living when she goes to college so we can't tell her whether we will be near or far. She can't go to a school where the costs aren't covered but that still leaves a lot of schools. (SHe will get the GI Bill and with a good yellow ribbon program, that should cover completely or almost completely all costs at many schools). I do know she wants warm not cold so I take that to mean zone 7 and above since she hated being in Philadelphia in the winter and she hasn;t lived in the winter in any area colder than zone 7 since she was 1. She wants to be pre-law with a major in a popular major like psychology, poly sci or economics. I have found her some colleges but she hasn't even checked them out on the web. I really don't want this to be all my ideas but I just don't know when she will have time. I am really wanting her to start applying later this summer once the applications are out since we may very well have a sudden move. The AF is having more people retire and with the economy the way it is, both dh and I think that people like him are more likely to be retiring since his industry isn't suffering. He won't be retiring (and won't be forced to either) but if people suddenly retire, he may be moved suddenly to take over someone's job. We also have our lease running out mid December and while I think the owner would like to extend it to later SPring in order to sell at a better time, I really can't predict. I want her applications in by late Nov.

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Like Kareni, I have found that I've needed to do much of the research or old-fashioned legwork. Dd has just been much too busy.

 

When I was at this stage, my choices--perfect for me in every way--were very simple compared to the journey we've been on with dd. There is just no way I could have expected the minimal effort that went in to my college choices to work for her.

 

About travel, surprisingly, we learned a lot about schools with campus visits even during the summer. Yes, during the school year is ideal, but we definitely ruled *out* some choices by taking advantage of summer travel opportunities and visiting campuses that were sparsely populated.

 

hth

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I've been doing most of the research for ds, a current junior. He will need to qualify for merit aid in order to attend any school except the University of Delaware. The U of D has very low in-state tuition, which we could swing from savings/earnings.

 

I use the forums on College Confidential, mainly the parents' and financial aid forums. The posters on the parents' forum are generally helpful and supportive (though some are highly prestige-driven), especially those on the various "Parents of the Class of 201x" threads. I've gotten great ideas for schools by reading their postings through the choice, application, acceptance and (now) financial aid process. The financial aid forum has a stickied thread with links to most schools' Common Data Sets. The CDS is in a specific format, making it very easy to compare diverse schools. You can learn about acceptance rates, retention rates, GPA/SAT ranges of the middle 50% of applicants, the number of kids who receive merit awards with the avg amount given, the number of kids who receive financial aid along with the type(s) of aid and amounts, the avg indebtedness at graduation OF THE STUDENT (not including parental indebtedness), etc.

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