As a parent of a high school junior, I am happily supporting my son during his college admissions process, standing ready to be his co-pilot during this very exciting journey. Certainly, there is no shortage of college planning resources available to families, however, I want to highlight Naviance as comprehensive college and career planning software used by many public and private high schools. Naviance helps students plan for their futures by connecting their academic interests and achievements to college and career options. This program really serves as a “one stop shop,” allowing students to identify their potential college options based on established criteria. Naviance also serves as a robust college application management system, helping families to streamline an often overwhelming process. Perhaps most importantly, Naviance has proven to be extremely beneficial to my son thus far during this process – and has proven to be a college search tool we can use together
Why You Should Ignore the College Rankings Hoopla This Year and Every Year
At this point, it feels like an annual tradition in higher education. The US News and World Report releases its rankings for the “best” colleges and universities, sells a huge number of copies of their magazine, and triggers an avalanche of responses from academics and thought leaders who assault the value of one-size-fits-all rankings. I weighed in two years ago on this blog, breaking down the methodology for the US News and World Report college rankings (which remains largely the same), and encouraging students to think more generally about the value of their education.
Congratulations! Your high school student has been admitted to a variety of colleges. After looking at finances, social life, and academics, you’ve got one more question: what happens after graduation?
Most students begin thinking about where to attend college by assessing academic programs, and rightly so. Your education is the reason you are going to college, after all, and you’ll want your school’s academic offerings to provide you with the skills you need to achieve your goals. But college is about more than just textbooks and papers. Over the next four years, you’ll spend much more time outside of the classroom than inside the classroom. What will you do? How will you get involved? What are your priorities? With whom will you connect? Asking the right questions—and finding the best answers to them—can help you identify the perfect social complement to the academic institution of your dreams.
Whenever I meet with new students, the first question I ask is why they want to go to college. Responses tend to lean heavily toward the importance of earning an education and getting a degree. But what does that really mean? And how should students go about determining the breadth, depth, and quality of the academics at an institution of higher learning?
When it comes to deciding what college to attend, finances are a key piece of the puzzle. College is a major financial investment, and while it’s an investment that pays off in the long run (college graduates earn 80% more on average than those without a degree, according to the latest research), the initial financial commitment can be a challenge. Finances need to play a role in a family’s decision making process, and it’s important that these conversations involve the whole family. Here are some of the questions we think you should ask yourselves (and the schools under consideration) when making your college decision.
This is the second in a series of posts that college finance expert, Laurie Peltier, is writing about her own experience going through the college application and enrollment processes with her kids. Her first post focused on how to stay organized during the college search process. Here, she discusses staying organized during the final decision-making process.
What Colleges Can I Get Into with Low SAT Scores?
At College Coach, we see a lot of students with immaculate high school transcripts who just aren’t very good standardized test takers. Admissions offices are fond of saying they care much more about how you do over four years of high school (your grades) than four hours on a Saturday (the SAT), but that doesn’t change the reality that some test scores can be prohibitively low for certain colleges. Many students who have worked hard to earn their excellent grades yet struggled with their performance on the SAT might find themselves with fewer options than they had hoped when it comes time to submit applications in the fall. But take heart! Even if your scores are lower than the rest of your academic profile, there are steps you can take to find yourself a great college match.
There’s a new set of college rankings on the scene, and the finance educators at College Coach are pretty intrigued by them. Created by Money magazine, the focus of the rankings is on the financial aspects of a college education including how much you might pay at different colleges and how much you might make after graduation. The three categories they use to construct their rankings are quality, affordability, and outcomes. You can read more about their methodology here.
