Jane's tips on making your college list
In the last post, we went over the Common App 2020 introduction and your activities question!
Jane’s tips on making your college list:
Not sure where to start? These searches will help narrow down your list: You plug in how many schools you’re applying to, what majors you’re interested in, and a few other reference questions and then they give you a list!
As you look through these websites ask yourself: What type of school do you want to be at in a year? Do you want to go to a large school, which usually has more student organizations and diverse activities, but has the downside of less individualized attention? Or would you rather go to a smaller college with small class sizes and more individualized attention?
Ask yourself: Do I want to stay local or go away for college? Both have major advantages— and disadvantages— pro-tip: if you go away for college and like your family/ want to be with them on the holidays: try to go somewhere no more than an 8 hour drive away, plane tickets during the holidays are cray.
(other side of this pro-tip: you get to avoid family holidays if you want to because “you’re so busy studying” if you are more than 8 hours away :P )
Be realistic— but not too limiting— when it comes to tuition. As I’ve said before, state colleges and universities offer the biggest bang for your buck, so to speak, and will usually be the most affordable best option for you… unless… you start looking into what New York state calls “HEOP” which is the “Educational Opportunities Program” that the SUNY’s have but for private schools. Never under estimate how few brown and Black kids apply to small liberal arts schools and never under estimate how much scholarship money they have available for need-based aid!
Private Schools that have HEOP programs (for NYS residents only)
http://www.nysed.gov/postsecondary-services/higher-education-opportunity-program-heop
Aim for 6 schools in total, but have no more than 10! Out these, you want to have about 2 schools that are “Reach” schools: meaning you don’t quite meet their GPA and SAT scores, but you know you got Dr. Harbin helping ya with that personal statement so it’s worth a shot
“Match” Schools: You want about 3-4 of your schools on this list to be match schools— it’s like Goldilocks, your SAT and GPA scores are juuuust the right fit for the college, meaning you have a good chance of getting in.
Safe Schools: Make sure to have at least 2 of these on your list, as they are your fail safes- if all else fails, you apply to these schools that have a lower GPA/SAT score than you have, meaning you’ll more than likely get in!
How to determine if the college/university you are looking at is a good fit for you:
Look up school’s GPA and SAT requirements. If they are a little bit higher than your own, STILL APPLY. If they are a bit higher than you own, STILL APPLY, but have some easy schools.
Have 2-3 easy schools that are “safety” ones, meaning your scores are higher than the required averages.
Have 1-2 “reach” schools that might have scores that are higher than yours, but since there’s a lot of other factors involved in your application it’s worth a shot
If there is a private expensive school you really want to go to, DO apply, but also have state schools on your list in case you don’t get enough aid.
Resources— students! If you happen to find more resources for NJ or NY, please post them in the comments section and explain what they are! We are all learning together about this process!
On Calling Admissions Offices:
If you are particularly interested in say, a SUNY’s EOP program, but can’t find much information out about it on the website… believe it or not… CALLING a real live person is a good way to go. Before you get intimidated let me paint you a picture of admission officer #1, we’ll call her Carol here:
Carol has worked in the EOP office of X University’s admissions department for the past 12 years. She has three cats and two kids who are insane. She rarely gets any calls from the actual students she’s matching up with scholarship programs, so at times she feels a bit bored by her job. Further, she’s one of a handful of people who review the EOP applications, so chances are, if you call and engage her in a conversation, she’s going to remember your name when they’re reviewing applicants— you always want to make a charming impression on admissions administrators (and all administrators et al bc they control everything).
Types of things to ask when calling admissions:
How many students are admitted into the EOP program last year?
What are the tutoring and coaching programs really like?
How long have you been working in this department? What do most successful applicants have?
Can you get the contact information of a current EOP student to ask them questions? (this one is a clutch move, especially in the spring as you’re deciding what school to attend— whenever possible try to talk to an existing student there because they’ll give you the real deal).
Non-Citizens: Jane and I are still looking into this, and because it is such a tense time, I don’t want to give you any advice that may not be best— so— I’m going to direct you to the source: go on university websites and search “DACA” or “undocumented students” and find which department handles them. Then— you guessed it— call and ask specifically about that university. If you have discovered any more advice about navigating DACA, please post in the comments below!
College Tours:
Can’t do an in-person tour? Check this website to see if the school you wnat to apply to offers virtual tours:
https://www.youvisit.com/collegesearch/
Other ways to narrow down your search:
In the next post, we start the Personal Statement process!