One of the most frequent questions I am asked is when is the best time to start the search for the right college.  In my experience the answer is generally during the sophomore year or early junior year of high school.  That does not mean that you need to start looking at choosing a college that early. Rather, that is the time that you want to start some self inspection to decide who you are and what do you want out of your college experience.

By thinking about the issue of who you are, over a period of time, you will better identify what type of college will fit you best. If you aren’t familiar with the different types of colleges, this is a great time to visit different sizes colleges and colleges with a different focus. Visiting your large state universityl will give you a very different feeling from that small liberal arts college 2 hours away.  Spend this time thinking about the big issues like what learing style suits you best and how far away from home do you want to be when you go to college.

Once you know what you are looking for in a college, the process of finding the best college for your needs becomes simpler and more focused. You also have time to decide when, and which, standardized tests to take.

if you are motivated to starting earlier than your sophomore year on the self inspection portion of the search you have even more time to think about who you are. But keep in mind that who you are and what your interests are may very well change as you progress through high school.

The advantage to starting early is primarily for those students who are wish to attend a highly competitive college. Planning out your 4 year curriculum and your 4 years of activities can be very helpful for the student shooting for a highly competitive school.

Many students don’t get serious about the college search until their senior year of high school and while this can be done, it is much more difficult. By starting this late you may not really know what you want from a college and have little time to explore the options. Moreover, you have limited testing options for the SAT or ACT if you wait until senior year to start testing. And early decision thoughts really are not appropriate for the student who has not done their homework.

The process of finding the right colleg for you should be an enjoyable one. Don’t wait until the last mintue and then stress out about all that needs to be done. By starting early you reduce your stress and increase your chances of finding the best college for you.

How do I go about choosing a college major? My son doesn’t know what he wants to major in at college.  Can he still find a good college? These are typical questions that I hear on a regular basis. And my answer is always the same. For most students applying to college, you do not need to worry about what your major will be once you get to college.

Why is that? Part of the issue is that college exposes students to many areas of education that they had no experience in at their high school. If you don’t know what anthropology is, you aren’t going to say that is your major. Students are also changing and maturing during this time and interests change. Most students change their major once they are in college a number of times. I have heard that the average student considers 6 majors before deciding what they will finally major in. I don’t think that is bad because a large part of college should be self exploration and the exploration of education topics you know nothing about.

Don’t get me wrong. I have little sympathy for students who spend 4 years taking a totally random array of courses and then find themselves without a major because they don’t have more than 2 classes in any area. But spending the first year or two exploring options, and finding out what you are truly passionate about makes sense to me. Once you have decided where your interests are, then declare your major and go about focusing your efforts.

The exception to this approach is for those majors that require focused study throughout college. For example, most engineering majors start working on the major as soon as they start freshman year.  For students with this type of major, examining who they are and whether they truly want to major in that field must come in the high school years.

My friend, Tom Bottorf, over at GetCollegeFunding, disagrees with this approach in a recent article entitled “Undeclared major can be costly.” Tom’s argument is that a student should enter college knowing what their major will be citing statistics about students without early declared majors often transferring or dropping out of college. It is true that a student might find that their first college does not have the field they are interested in and have to transfer although in my experience this actually does not occur very often if the student did a proper self examination of who they are before choosing a college. Look at the graduation rates of top liberal arts colleges like Swarthmore and Carleton each of which has a 93% graduation rate. As small liberal arts colleges they have limited options for majors yet very few students transfer or fail to graduate.

It is the unfortunate truth that whether students have an early declared major or not, on a national basis there are a huge number of students who transfer or drop out.  Investigating the rate of transfer and the graduation rate of colleges a student is considering might help lessen that number. If you know that most students are not satisfied after their first year and transfer out, or that few students graduate, you should have concerns about whether that college is a good choice for your needs.

The issue, in my opinion, is not whether the student has declared a major or not. The issue is whether the student took the necessary actions before choosing a college to make sure that their college choice was the best choice for their needs. If the student takes the time to consider their needs, they are more likely to graduate and stay at their first choice college. That is why planning for college is such a critical action.

Several years ago, the admissions department at Harvard put together a note to prospective students on ways to avoid burnout. The advice provided applies to all students considering applying to selective colleges and I  recommend that all students read this note.  The note discusses the often excessive actions taken to gain entrance into the “right” college as well as options such as taking a gap year before starting college.

I would urge one caution in reading the note. In discussing the various options that Harvard students take during their gap year, the prospective student may get the impression that they need to do something impressive during their gap year. While many students will travel during this gap year, there are many other options for students who might not be able to afford international travel. Note that some of the students stayed in the US and simply worked at a job that they found interesting during the year. The simple act of working at a regular job can be impressive to the admissions committee of a selective college because so few students work at a real job.

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about how 529 plans can be used to reduce the cost of some colleges. 529 plans, for those unfamiliar with them, are savings plans which provide certain benefits for families saving for the cost of higher education. For more information on 529 plans go to savingforcollege.

With the high cost of college most families are looking for ways to reduce their out of pocket costs. Most of you know that I am not a huge fan of outside scholarships for most students since the real benefit of such scholarships often goes to the colleges and not the students. However, if one of the college in which you are interested participates in one of these 529 plan reductions, that can be a real savings. Always ask the colleges financial aid office if they participate in such a program. It may save you some money.

Yale College has officially announced that they are increasing the enrollment by 15% by creating two new residential colleges.  The new colleges are expected in open in 2013.  I first reported on the possibility of Yale expanding back in September 2007.

For those students for whom Yale would be a good option, this is great news. However, as I have said repeatedly, not every college is appropriate for every student, even if you can gain admission. Yale is a wonderful college but there are many wonderful colleges throughout this country. And yes, even many in other countries.

Community colleges are a great choice for many students who either are interested in a technical type program or who want to save some money the first two years of college. But there are some little known problems that can occur with those students wishing to transfer to a four year college after a community college.

Jay Matthews, and education columnist for the Washington Post, highlighted some of those problems in an article entitled Community College Transfer Mess. One particular problem, that I have also seen among students with whom I work, is the failure of four year institutions to fully recognize all of the work done at the two year college. A related problem is that the four year institutions will often have requirements for a particular major that mandates a student take the course at the four year college and will not fully recognize a similar course taken at the community college.

There are also often concerns about financial aid for students transferring to a four year college since some four year colleges will reserve their best aid for incoming freshman, leaving less aid for transfer students. The result is that the last two years of college can often cost more than they would have if the student had started at the four year college initially. This offsets some, or all, of the savings a student receives from initially attending a community college. The New York Times also an article today discussing the problems with getting loans that some students at community colleges are having.

I have written about many of these issues in my college transfer help article. Transferring from one college to another can work great for some students but like most things related to college admissions, you need to know all of the issues before making a choice.

A new study out of Chicago reinforces what I have suggested in the past and that is that spending too much time preparing to take the ACT is not beneficial. The study found, in part, that studying to much was not beneficial because it took time away from studying the broad content knowledge that students need to know to do well on the ACT.

This is not to say that a student should go in cold to the ACT and just see what happens. At the very least the student should have reviewed the instructions of the exam before taking the test so as to not waste time reading instructions the day of the exam. I also suggest that a student take at least one practice exam just to get some level of comfort with taking this type of test. However, spending a great deal of time in review for the ACT is probably not beneficial.

The SAT is more susceptible to test preparation and I will often recommend that a student do more test preparation for the SAT if they have chosen to take that test. However, this is a point os diminishing return where spending too much time, even on the SAT, is not beneficial.

One of the issues that often comes up when I am talking with parents is when their son or daughter should start the college admissions process. Of course the answer varies but students generally should start thinking about the first stages of the process as high school freshman. As freshman, students need to be aware of the courses they are taking in high school and be aware that most colleges consider grades from all four years of high school.

Most colleges look at the academic courses taken in high school as the biggest factor in deciding who will be admitted. Ideally, students should consider taking four years of classes in the five academic areas of English, math, social studies, science and foreign languages. In deciding which classes to take in each of these areas the student should try to challenge themselves while being reasonable in their capabilities. If a student is not as strong in math, for instance, pushing to get through calculus may not be necessary. On the other hand, if the student is an aspiring engineer, not having calculus will be a serious impediment to that goal.

Since colleges prefer to see four years of the study in the academic subjects, planning your course work as an incoming freshman is necessary. For those students who may be considering a selective college, it is even more important to have four years of study in each of the five academic subjects.

Students considering selective colleges should also be considering whether they should be taking SAT Subject Tests and if so when. If your high school offers biology as a freshman then taking one of the Biology Subject Tests may be appropriate at the end of freshman year.

Now if you are a sophomore or junior that haven’t thought about any of the issues surrounding college admissions, don’t panic. But because there are many issues that should be considered to make sure you find the right college for your needs, now would be a good time to start getting involved.

Here is a college admissions time line for helping students plan what needs to be completed to keep on track for a successful application to college.

I have discussed many issues surrounding the college admissions process on this blog and I hope they have been helpful. But there other resources out on the web discussing college admissions. The problem is separating the good information from the not so good.

A new resource that has been put together is the Carnival of College Admissions. Brian Carver over at Accepted to College began this project and, although still in its infancy, it shows much promise. Basically, the Carnival consists of submissions from various resources throughout the web that deal with the world of college admissions. In the few weeks that the Carnival has been going there have been some wonderful submissions. And for those who are wondering, you will find a few of my submissions as well.

If you are in the search for the right college, take a look over at the Carnival of College Admissions to get some other perspectives on the college search. Enjoy the new resource.

Princeton has announced the creation of a working group to study the idea of having some freshman take an “international bridge year program“. Basically they are examining the possibility of about 10% of incoming freshman, about 100 students, take a gap year and engage in public service in a country outside their native country. Costs of such a program would be treated as costs of the college with financial aid available for students with need.

I have written about gap year programs on several occasions and am generally a fan of such programs for the right student. I think Princeton’s approach is admirable, particularly their approach that financial aid would apply to needy students. The also make it clear that if a student wishes to take a traditional gap year that option would still be available although without the financial support of Princeton.