Learn About the College Search and Application Process! ENROLL IN ONE OF OUR COURSES!
Author: Cee
An education advocate, a college graduate, Ivy League master’s degree holder, alumna of one of the nation’s elite high schools and a mom of twins — each twin with very different interests and career goals who also attended a top high school and got into great colleges.
If there are too many schools to see, try to take advantage of the offer of the high school’s organized trips. Counselors and teachers will escort students on bus trips to several schools, either a long day trip or one or two nights. If parents don’t have time or a way to do the trips themselves, the student should go with their classmates. If the high school doesn’t have plans, get the PTA to petition to organize some trips. Also consider paying more than the cost of the trip as a contribution towards a ticket for a classmate whose family can’t afford the full price. The reward is seeing a child go on the trip, find their best fit college and go on to have a career that brings in a higher income. They’ll pay it forward when it’s their turn…
Who waited until the next to last day to submit the final applications? Hoped the internet demons didn’t cut your connection while sending? Go ahead and torture parents! Geez. Still, for those who don’t live in New York City, this college application process is easier than getting into a good New York City public high school. I mean, there is a gurantee students with great grades and scores will get into a good college. But NYC high schools? The odds are worse; not as many desirable high schools around for them. Regardless, parents are still probably wiped and just coming out of it emotionally. You’d think parents had to write the essays themselves! Now, they just have to hope the FAFSA and CSS angels are in their favor…
True Story: It was 5:50am. It was still dark. The mom came into living room to watch the morning news. Tripped over the accordion file full of mid-west, west, and deep south college junk mail (college mail brochures categorized by region/state, put into separate accordion files and have never thrown out since sophomore year). The mom flailed around like a surfer in order not to fall, and wrenched her upper and lower back, knee, hip. Didn’t fall, broke no furniture nor herself, but oy, was she sore.
“I’m okay,” she said out loud, and realized that no one else was awake. She sighed and limped into the kitchen.
High schoolers start to receive college mail and emails as early as sophomore year if they take practice PSATs then. Did you keep them all or throw them away? Seniors/Parents: it’s December and the time to purge the college paraphernalia looms…
Down the stretch to meet final College Application Deadlines? The final submission dates loom. Make sure the college applications are complete. Take our “Dotting the I’s and Crossing the T’s” Mini-Course! This is for anyone who doesn’t have time to take our full-length “Talking College Search” course but still wants to make sure the process is complete. Also includes the 45-minute Bonus Lesson, “Acceptance & Rejection”, which lays out the options and next steps in plain talk after the letters come in. You’ll have 24/7 access to this course, so you can watch it anytime ( but do not wait for the last hour!)
This mini-course is for anyone who has a day remaining but still wants to make sure the process is good-and-done!
The final deadline looms. Make sure the college applications are complete. Before hitting “send”, take our “Dotting the I’s and Crossing the T’s” Mini-Course. This is from our full-length “Talking College Search” course and is for anyone who has a day remaining but still wants to make sure the process is good and done. Also includes the 45-minute Bonus Lesson, “Acceptance & Rejection”, which lays out the options and next steps in plain talk after the letters come in.
Have you dreamt yet that your prospective schools received erroneous SAT scores — very low scores!? And that the final essays were full of typos that kept going back to wrong even after being corrected? And the applications wouldn’t go through, one minute before the deadline? First college anxiety dream…
Do you parents sometimes feel your child is considering schools far away enough so just so that you can’t start a PTA at them? There are better ways to select schools that are good fits; take the “Talking College Search” course at https://goodapples.teachable.com
Ron Brown Scholar Program awards $10,000 each year for four years to economically-disadvantaged high school seniors of African descent who demonstrate a keen interest in public service, community engagement, business entrepreneurship and global citizenship. This is a great opportunity for qualifying students who have very high grades and test scores. Students chosen for these scholarships are very impressive: more than half of the Scholars end up attending Ivy League universities.
Ron Brown Scholar Program was established in honor of the late Ronald H. Brown, an attorney who worked for Senator Ted Kennedy, then as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and finally as Secretary of Commerce for President Bill Clinton. It was while serving in President Clinton’s cabinet that Brown perished in an airplane crash while on a mission to Eastern Europe.
According to the website, recipients may use the renewable scholarships to attend an accredited four-year college or university of their choice within the United States. Ron Brown scholarships are not limited to any specific field or career objective and may be used to pursue any academic discipline. Since the Program’s inception in 1996, more than 300 students have been designated as Ron Brown Scholars.
Must be Black/African American.
Must excel academically.
Must exhibit exceptional leadership potential.
Must participate in community service activities.
Demonstrate financial need.
Be a US citizen or hold a permanent resident visa card.
Be a current high school senior at the time of your application. Current college students are NOT eligible to apply.
NOTE: this scholarship is one of the few that requires a paper application to be MAILED! So make sure your materials, recommendations, test scores etc are all ready BEFORE Thanksgiving so that the package arrives in the RBSP office in plenty of time to be considered.
All high seniors and parents have gotten their FAFSA PIN numbers and have drafted their Financial Aid forms, right? HS seniors should try to send their forms out ASAP, using parents’ tax forms from usually a year before last year. With your parents’ permission, FAFSA, being a government service (the website ends in “. gov”), can connect to the IRS and download the data from your 1040. This makes the form even easier to complete. Some people may need to manually type in the numbers themselves; usually they have complicated investments and businesses. They might want to ask a financial advisor for some advice as to what is supposed to be added into the form. But bottom line: the earlier you file, the earlier you get in the line for financial aid.
Get an overview of the financial aid process with our “Just the Money, Honey” course! Learn about pitfalls and how to ask the right questions of your advisors: https://goodapples.teachable.com/p/justhemoneyhoney
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation was created by a philanthropist and funded by his estate. About 115 high school seniors receive scholarships that cover “unmet need”, meeting expenses after Pell grants and college grants. This means that some students can get scholarships up to $40,000 a year as long as they maintain a good average in college! Applications are filled out via the Common App and deadline is usually the first week of November.
From the website, among the criteria used in the selection process are:
Exceptional academic ability and achievement: Strong academic record, academic awards and honors, and substantive assessments by educators providing confidential recommendations. They consider:
unweighted cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above
participation in available advanced courses
commitment to learning
intellectual curiosity
Unmet financial need: We will consider applicants with family income up to $95,000. Last year’s cohort of new college scholarship recipients had a median family income of approximately $35,000.
Persistence: Determination and perseverance in the face of challenges, ability to set and remain focused on goals and to put in the effort needed to meet those goals in the face of obstacles.
Leadership: Ability to organize and positively influence others in school and out-of-school areas (family, religious community, sports, arts, etc.).
Service to Others: Purposeful and meaningful commitment to others which may be evidenced by participation in volunteer/community service activities.
It is a competitive process, but if you’re not in it, you can’t win it!
