Now is the time that high school juniors need to start working on the college admissions process. Here are three steps they need to take:

1. Arrange for standardized testing. Should you take the SAT or ACT? How do you prepare for the tests? What if you don’t do well on the tests?

2. Think about what you want from a college. Not what your parents want (sorry Mom and Dad). Not what your best friend wants. What do YOU want? Not sure what to consider. Here is a list of what to consider to find the best college for you.

3. Find colleges that fit your needs. You have various options to find a college that fits your needs but here are three of the best online college search sites.

There you have it. Three quick step to help you find, and get accepted to, the best college for your needs.

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“I want to major in business” a student recently told me while discussing what they were looking for in a college. When I asked why they were interested in business, the answer was “because I want to get a job when I graduate.”

If a  student has an interest in business, or any other subject that might lead to a job after graduation from college, great. But, don’t make the mistake of thinking that the only way to get a job after college is by having a “practical’ major.

The New York Times college admissions blog recently had an article entitled “Your College Major May Not Be As Important As You Think“.  The article talks about some of the research that has been done on various majors and the jobs students receive after graduation and it turns out that there isn’t much of a relationship. It turns out that business majors, on average, don’t make more money than history majors who also took jobs in business.

This is a very interesting article that should be read by every student, and parent, who is concerned about picking a practical major in college.

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In the past week I have discussed the 2010 State of College Admissions Report and its findings on how private and public colleges differ in what they look for in admitting a student. Today I want to talk about how the highly selective colleges differ from those that are less selective.

Strength of a student’s curriculum is of considerable importance to 82% of the highly selective colleges while only 65% of the least selective colleges view this as considerably important.

Essays are of considerable importance to 48% of the highly selective colleges but only 14% of the least selective colleges consider essays this important.  Teacher recommendations are like wise more important to the highly selective colleges with 24% assigning considerable importance while less than 12% of the least selective colleges give them the same consideration.

The other area where there is a noticeable difference between the highly selective colleges and the least selective is how extracurricular activities are considered. 25% of the most selective colleges consider activities as of considerable importance but fewer than 4% of the least selective colleges consider activities important.

I hope in discussing these various factors you have come to realize that colleges vary in how they each view admissions for their institution. Of course, these statistics are just broad brush strokes so that the relative importance of these various factors will differ even among the highly selective colleges. And they even vary from year to year depending on the needs of the college. Did a college over enroll last year? More factors may be of considerable importance this year when they try to reduce the number of acceptances they give out.

Bottom line is that grades and courses taken continue at all colleges to be the most important factors. The more selective the colleges you are considering, the more factors that may be considered in deciding who to admit for next fall’s class.

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You’re about to arrive on the campus of one of your favorite colleges. What do you do?

If you have planned ahead, you should be scheduled to go on a tour of the college.  The tour will give you some basic information about the college but you can get much more from the tour. How? Talk with the tour guide.

Most students on a tour will not ask any questions of the tour guide. Some of those that do ask questions will ask stupid questions. Yes, you can ask a stupid question during a tour. How many students go here? What majors do you have? These are questions that anyone who has done any research will already know.

But you have prepared for your visit so you can ask good questions. Not sure what a good question is? Here is a list of possible questions you might consider while visiting a college.

After the college tour there will often be an informational session. These can often sound similar from college to college but you can ask questions of admissions counselors during the informational session so use this opportunity to get answers to more of your questions.

After the formal tour and informational session, wander around campus. Talk to students you see. Ask them questions. Look at areas where students have posted information about what is going on around campus. Do these sound like the sound of activities you would enjoy?

Visit the department of any potential major you are considering. See what sort of information the department has posted. Research opportunities? Graduate school options? This can tell you something about the focus of this department.  If there is a professor in an office with an open door, introduce your self and see if they are willing to tell you something about the department.

Visit the library. Is it being used? If not, the school is probably not very academically focused. Are there adequate computer facilities in the library and around campus?

Eat in the cafeteria. Is the food good? It may sound like a trivial thing, but after 4 years of eating the same food, it will not sound so trivial.  Also, while in the cafeteria, listen to what the students are talking about.  Are they talking about what they were just discussing in class? Are they talking about the big game on Saturday? Are they talking about the big party Tuesday night?  There discussions will give you more of a feel for what the college is like.

If you follow this advice, you will learn more about what the college is really like and will be in a great position to decide if this is a good college choice for you.

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One of the ways to find the best college for you is to visit the colleges you are considering.  But before you leave home, here are some tips to make for the best college visit.

First, decide when you are going to visit the college. Many students visit colleges during the summer. However, the best time to visit is when the students are on campus. Colleges have a very different feel during the summer or during breaks when there are few students on campus. If the only time you can visit is during the summer, that is better than no visit but try to visit your top choice colleges when the students are on campus.

Second, call the admissions office at the college and let them know when you are coming. This is important to make sure that you receive a tour of the college and possibly have the chance to attend an informational session. This is also a great time to ask if you can meet with a professor who teaches a subject in which you have an interest.  If you are interested in playing sports in college, now is the time to talk with a coach.

Third, do some research on the college before going on your visit. If you know some of the basics before visiting the college, you can ask better questions to see if this college would be a good choice for you.

Next time I will talk about what to do once you get on campus for the visit.

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You have decided that taking a gap year from college is your best option.  In my last posting I said that colleges will let you take a gap year if you are doing something productive. What do colleges consider productive?

Colleges don’t want to see you sitting around during the gap year. Want to work to raise money for college or broaden your horizons? That is fine. Want to volunteer for your favorite charity? That’s fine too.  But is there a “best” activity?

There is no one “best” activity for a gap year. But some activities are better than others depending on why you are taking the gap year. If you are taking the gap year to take a break from academics, then working, volunteering or traveling are all activities that might make sense. For these students I generally advise that they find something they are passionate about and focus their year on that passion. Whether this involves work, volunteering or travel really doesn’t matter.

However, taking a course at the local community college would not make much sense. If you wanted to continue your academic pursuits, why didn’t you just go to your original college?

On the other hand, if you are taking a gap year because you slacked off in high school and did not do well, taking a class at the local community college may be the best option to prove you can do college level work.  Working a steady job for these students is also a great way to spend a gap year because you can show some maturity by holding a steady job.  Many students also find that after working a low end job for a year that they are more serious about getting an education.  That sort of experience often makes a student more motivated than if they had gone directly to college.

The “best” activity for a gap year is one that results in growth for you. Whether that is academic growth or just growth as a person, only you can determine the “best” activity for your gap year.

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Last week I talked about what students might want to consider a gap year. But how does a gap year work?

There are two possible approaches to a gap year and the approach you use depends in part on why you are taking the gap year. The first option is to apply to a college as if you planned on attending in the fall.  Once accepted you can contact the college you have chosen and ask to take a gap year. Almost all colleges will agree to a student taking a year off as long as the student plans on using the time productively.  This is the best approach for those students who know what they want from a college but just need a break.

Occasionally, students who take this type of gap year have a change of heart on what they want from a college and decide during the gap year that the college they have chosen is no longer the best option.  If this should happen, you are free to apply to another college and if accepted attend the new college.  The only loss would be of any deposits you might have made to the first college.

The second approach to a gap year is to take a year off and not worry about applying to college in the senior year. With this approach you would have an additional year to get your SAT or ACT testing done, and would have more time to explore your college  options.

This second approach is best for students who need additional time to figure out what they want from a college.  This is also the best approach for those students who wait until late senior year to start thinking about college.  As recently as yesterday I spoke with the parent of a senior just starting to think about college. Can you find a college at this late date? Yes. Will you have the time to find the best choice for you? Unlikely.

Next week I will talk about what you might want to do during a gap year.

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I have received a number of phone calls this month from parents of seniors wondering about finding the right college for their student. I always tell them that a gap year should be seriously considered at this point so late in the admissions season.

For those of you not familiar with a gap year, it is an increasingly popular option for students to take a year off between graduating from high school and starting college.  There are several groups of students for whom a gap year makes sense.

Students who had problems early in high school and haven’t lived up to their potential are often good candidates for a gap year. The additional year can be used to take college courses at a local community college where the student can prove that they are capable of handling college level work. This goes a long way to convincing college admissions officers that you are able to handle college work despite a poor high school performance.

On the other end of the scale are those students who have worked incredibly hard during high school and need to take a year off to avoid a burn out. Princeton University made news several years ago when they began encouraging admitted freshman to take a gap year although Princeton calls it a bridge year.

A third group of students for whom a gap year makes sense are those that have not taken the time to determine what they want from a college.  These students might be able to find a college at this late stage of the admissions process but they do not have the time to find the best college for their needs.   For these students, a gap year makes sense so that they have all of this year to work on finding the best college for them.

If you fit one of these groups, you should seriously consider taking a gap year next year. I will talk about how a gap year works and what to do during a gap year in one of my next postings.

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Now is the time that juniors should start the process of finding which colleges they will apply to. But with over 3,000 colleges in the country, where do you get started?

Here are my 3 favorite college search sites. Each of these website has its advantages so checking more than one is a good idea.

1. College Navigator- I recommend that students start at this site more than any other. This is the official college search site of the US Department of Education. You can search for colleges by a number of different criteria but I particularly like the ability to look at the retention and graduation rates of different colleges.

2. College Board College Search – This site  allows students to search for even more criteria than the previous site. The other thing I really like about the the College Board web site is the financial information provided for each college that is identified.  This is one of the few sites that tells a student the average amount of need met by each college’s financial aid department.

3. Princeton Review- Princeton Review’s Counselor-O-Matic asks questions in a fun way to make the process of finding the right college more interesting. Unfortunately, in the past, the colleges that were identified were often not appropriate. Think a guy having an all woman’s college as one of their options.  They are working to improve the search engine. The nice thing about the Princeton Review site is that once it identifies a possible college you can also find similar colleges.

Using these three sites together can help a student put together a preliminary list of colleges. But do not rely on such a list alone. You need to research each of the identified colleges in more detail starting with the websites of each college.  And as I have discussed here before, I always recommend visiting a college before making the final decision of where to apply.

Of course, if you really want to find the best colleges for your needs, you should consider hiring a professional college admission consultant.

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Allen Grove at About.com recently wrote a good article entitled “5 Good Reasons to Transfer to a New College“.  Allen lists 5 of the most common reasons that students transfer from one college to another. There are good reasons where a transfer to another college is appropriate. But, more often than not, the reason for a transfer to another college is inadequate planning when first choosing a college.

Let’s look at several of the reasons listed in the article. Reason 1 for a transfer: Financial Necessity.  I have written many times about the need to understand college financial aid before choosing a college.  If you understand financial aid and consider it when making the decision of where to apply to college, the chances that you will need to transfer for financial reasons is substantially reduced.

Reason 2: Academic Upgrade.  If you understand what your qualifications are and what colleges are looking for, you have a much higher chance of being accepted at a college that is academically appropriate for you. It is true that many very qualified students are not accepted into the most selective colleges, but if you have planned your match and safety colleges appropriately, then you should have been accepted into an appropriate academic college to begin with.

Reason 5: Social Situation.  If you have spent the time to investigate colleges before applying, you should understand the social situation at those colleges when you apply.  To understand the social situation at a college will generally involve visiting the college, either before applying or after acceptance.  This is why I also tell people to visit a college before making the decision on whether to attend or not.

By doing some work before applying to college, you can hopefully avoid the need to transfer to another college.

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