College gets more expensive and more competitive every year, adding background stress for every forward-thinking parent. Will our child get into the school that's right for them? Will they be happy there? And how on EARTH are we going to pay for all this? Now, this comprehensive practical guide gives parents the know-how they need to navigate the complicated, frustrating, and expensive process of college admissions. How to understand the common app, early decision vs early action choices, and whether standardized tests still matter. How to help your children find schools that are best fits for them, and create a realistic shortlist. How to produce an application that makes admissions departments sit up and take notice…including those dreaded essays. Bonus: A special section on 2022 scholarships: what’s available, who’s eligible, and where to apply. For anybody about to apply to college—and the parents who love them—this one-stop information source provides everything they absolutely need to know to get it right.
TAKE A DEEP, DEEP BREATH… • This is the beginning of the most exciting time in your child’s life…and, for you as a parent, often the most stressful. But don’t fret—we’ve got your back with expert answers to every question you didn’t even know you needed to ask.
CHOOSING WHERE TO APPLY • Picking out the schools your teen is most excited to attend should be one of the most enjoyable parts of the process, but it can be a little overwhelming. In this section, we’ll give you some tools to understand and narrow your options.
FIRST, FOCUS ON THE BASICS • Your teen may not be excited about diving into the details of thousands of colleges. But you can help them decide where they stand on key parameters.
CREATE THE BIG WISH LIST • Here’s how to identify a starter set of schools that would work—even if your child doesn’t know what they want.
DREAM SCHOOLS, TARGET SCHOOLS, AND SAFETY SCHOOLS • It’s impossible to know your child’s odds of getting into any specific college. Applying across multiple levels of selectivity lets you dream big while making relatively certain they’ll get in somewhere.
WINNOW DOWN THE PERFECT SHORT LIST • Is your child’s 3.8 GPA good enough for Duke? What schools have chemical engineering programs AND club fencing? Invaluable online resources can help your child intelligently narrow their wish list to the specific schools they’ll apply to.
UNTRADITIONAL OPTIONS TO CONSIDER • A bank-breaking four-year private college isn’t the only way to get a degree. Here are some options.
ROAD TRIP! • A school’s academic programs are only part of the picture: It’s also where your child’s going to live for the next four years. A campus visit can preview what that life might be like.
Action Plan: FINALIZE YOUR LIST OF SCHOOLS • Use this checklist to help keep your teen on track.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES • Here are several online resources that can help inform more thorough research into which schools would be just right for your child.
GETTING IN • The most important part of the application process—the application itself—is also often the most stressful. But some careful consideration in advance can alleviate a lot of that anxiety.
APPLYING WITH CONFIDENCE • If there’s one good thing about the pandemic (and there probably is only one good thing), it’s that the college application process has gotten a little bit easier.
EARLY ACTION? EARLY DECISION? ROLLING ADMISSION? Help! • Before your child starts their application, know your options for expressing their commitment level to their chosen schools.
Applications: THE BASIC PHILOSOPHY • What are admissions officers looking for, exactly? This is the general strategy to follow.
ESSENTIAL APPLICATION COMPONENTS • The days of a stellar SAT score being...
