Where can my student find helpful information about writing a college application or scholarship application essay?

The College Board offers some great tips on essay writing, geared specifically towards application and scholarship essays. Write Guide provides an individualized writing course for homeschooled students in grades four through twelve. You can review sample application essays at Just Colleges to see what other students have written. My 10 Step Guide to Stress Free College Planning has a whole section devoted to essay preparation, and I wrote a post on essay writing secrets which you can read here.

A couple other resources that I use in my own writing are Copy Blogger and Men with Pens. Although both sites are written for the blogger or copywriter, they offer some great tips and resources for improving your overall writing.

Do you have any other tips or suggestions that have proven useful in essay writing?

We have received post cards touting a financial aid search service; should we enroll in such a service, or is it a scam?

I generally advise parents to stay away from any financial aid or scholarship service that charges a fee for their services. Although the service in question may find several scholarships your student qualifies for, they cannot guarantee your student will actually win these scholarships. He will still have to apply, meet the requirements, write the essay, etc.

What these services do is provide a list of possible matches, but there is no increased chance or guarantee of your student being awarded the scholarship(s) found. It’s just as easy to use one of the many free resources available to conduct your own search.

You may also run across a service that will try and charge you for filling out the FAFSA. If so, run the other way! You are most definitely on the wrong website! The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is just that…FREE. I once had a parent fill out the entire form online, get to the end, and then was charged a $50 “processing fee.” When she told me this and I went to the website she mentioned, it was clear she was not on the actual FAFSA site. The website she was on was trying to take advantage of her ignorance. The real site FAFSA site will never attempt to charge you; as I mentioned before, it’s free.

Lastly, check out the public library. They will often carry books that list many obscure scholarships which your student may qualify for, but are relatively unknown.

Parents ask me this all the time, and the good news is “yes,” it is possible, but it may take some work from both you and your student to achieve. Just the other day a parent emailed me the following question:

What types of financial aid are available for my student and how can we keep up with all the application deadlines?

There are many resources available, and the first one that every financial aid department will suggest you check out is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is a Federal form used to determine the amount of state and federal aid a student qualifies for, based upon need. There are grants, loans and work-study programs available through this service. Federal Pell grants and Stafford loans are two of the most popular. There may also be state aid available, depending on your state of residence. The priority deadline for the FAFSA is March 1st, so be sure it’s submitted well before then.

Since Federal and state aid can have strings attached, some parents choose to forgo this type of financial aid, opting instead to look for other ways of financing their child’s education. Some private resources to look into are the following:

• fastweb.com

• scholarshipexperts.com

• collegenet.com

• scholarships.salliemae.com

All of these sites offer free financial aid and scholarship searches. If a website are business tries to charge for this type service, run away, as it’s either a scam, or simply trying to make a buck off of something that’s already available for free. Either way, your student will not have any better chance of receiving scholarships or other aid than if you did the search yourself.

One way to keep up with the financial aid and scholarship deadlines is My College Calendar, a free online resource that tracks time-lines and deadlines for the college admissions process. I have been very impressed with the information they provide.

Last March, Heidi Fletcher of College of Notre Dame of Maryland wrote a fantastic article on financial aid, which can read here.

To learn more tips on financial aid, scholarships, and deadlines, download your free copy of my 10 Step Guide to Stress Free College Planning.

When should we begin visiting college campuses?

This is a great question, and one that many parents neglect to ask. It’s never too early to start visiting potential college campuses. But before you hop in the car or jump on the plane to check out your child’s new home and learning environment over the next four years, a couple of preliminary steps should be taken to save both time, money, and headaches.

First off, sit down with your student and make a list of what you’re both looking for in a college. Write down everything you want in a college or university, beginning with the most important aspects, (such as academic major, religious affiliation, location, etc.) and ending with the smallest of details (cafeteria food selection, campus aesthetics, etc.). Leave nothing off the list, no matter how small the detail. After you feel everything you could possibly want in a college is listed, arrange this list numerically in order of importance, with 1 being the most important criteria, 50 being the least, etc.

After you’ve finished, take out another piece of paper and being writing down a list of negatives, those things you’d prefer the college didn’t have; everything from major issues such as things that would absolutely keep your child from attending to smaller things, such as minor inconveniences. Many of the items written on this list may be the opposite of those on your first list. Do the same with this list as the first, arrange all the items numerically in order of importance, with 1 being a complete deal-breaker, to 50 being a minor inconvenience.

(You may be wondering why I haven’t mentioned anything about the cost of tuition in your lists. Well, it’s because the actual cost can vary considerably, depending upon public or private school, in-state or out-of-state, amount of scholarships won, expected family contribution, and grants and loans awarded. Since all these variables will not be known until after your student has applied senior year, look past this criteria for the time being.)

Once both lists are completed, you should have a pretty good idea of what qualities to both look for and avoid in a potential university for your child. Now it’s time to research. Hop online and begin searching for schools that meet your criteria. If location is important, you can perform a radius search by location. If religious affiliation matters, you can search for schools using this criteria. A couple of resources you may find helpful are the University of Texas list of U.S. Universities, the Wikipedia list of American Institutions, and the NCES college navigator. Use these resources to find potential schools, then navigate to their websites to learn more about each school.

There are several websites that offer virtual campus tours. Although not a substitute for a physical, on-campus visit, they can be another tool to use narrowing the list of possible choices. A couple of good options are You University TV and Collegiate Choice. These are two of the most popular options for virtual tours, filmed by outside companies, so there is less of a subjective bias in the presentation.

Another great option to learn more about individual schools are college fairs. These are events where college admissions representatives from various schools across the country set up a booth or table in a large venue to provide information on their institution to potential students and their families. I have personally attended hundreds of these events, both large and small. Since there are typically multiple schools represented at these fairs, it’s best to make a list of questions to ask the admissions representative before arriving. That way, you can systematically evaluate each school based upon your predetermined criteria. The National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) has a list of these events across the country.

There are now virtual college fairs being offered, where you never have to leave home to learn about possible schools. check out Virtual College Fairs.com to learn more about this up-and-coming alternative.

These resources should help you to make a list of potential colleges and universities to consider. With this new list of possible candidates, you and your student should begin visiting them at the very latest during junior year. Freshman or sophomore year is ideal for a first-time visit, since if a college visited during this time meets your criteria, you’ll want to schedule a return visit during senior year to confirm its viability.

There are several ways to visit a college campus as a potential student. The first one is an unofficial or self-guided tour. You and your student may decide to visit the campus sporadically by yourselves, asking questions of passers-by and taking in the scenery and campus activity to get a feel for the university. This can be done both during the academic school year and during the summer, although the benefits of doing so are higher during the school year, since most college campuses are drastically different places when school is out of session.

The second type visit is a school preview day or open house. During this type of event, which is usually hosted on the weekend, the student and family may be invited to participate in several campus activities, take a guided tour of campus, meet with the admissions staff, professors and students, attend a sporting event, concert, or theatrical play, eat in the cafeteria, etc. This may or may not be an overnight event, depending on the school.

The third type of campus visit is an official overnight stay in a dormitory with another student. This is usually scheduled on a week day, so your student can attend a class or two in order to gain a feel for collegiate and academic life. Your student will also eat in the cafeteria, attend campus events, work out in the gym, etc. Often times overnight campus visits are scheduled in conjunction with preview days or open houses.

The last type of campus visit is an unofficial overnight stay where your child stays in the dorms with a friend or relative already attending the college. Since it is unofficial, there are no scheduled events to attend, therefore, your student may get a more realistic idea of just what the university is all about.

When should you not visit college campuses? Holidays, fall and spring break, exam weeks, and other dates that the college might be closed. (It never hurts to call the admissions office and ask when the best and worst times to visit are.)

Well, originally this question was about WHEN to begin visiting college campuses, not HOW to go about it. Hopefully though, by answering the how, I’ve made the when easier to understand!

“I am working on writing my son’s counselor recommendation letter (required by the colleges he’s applying to), and am really struggling to even get started. Any suggestions? “

Great question Heidi, here’s a couple tips. You want to use the letter to expand upon what the school has already learned about your son, or maybe even inform them of something entirely new. It shouldn’t be a checklist of what he’s accomplished, but should expound upon his accomplishments. Do your best to “wow” them with it. Letters of recommendation should really “sell” the school on your son and make them realize what an asset he’ll be to their institution.

All that being said, it’s usually better if letters of recommendation come from a non-family member, as there is a general bias towards family writing them because of the perceived lack of objectivity, warranted or not. If possible, send two additional letters, written by an adult he has worked with, volunteered for, taken lessons under, etc. This will give an element of “social proof” from someone other than yourself as his parent.

Since every school differs in their requirements, one letter from you might be plenty, but a good majority have more stringent requirements. In my experience, it’s better to be over prepared than under.

Some schools requires that the letter come from a guidance counselor, namely you. This is a tough position to be in, as it’s a challenge to separate your feelings as a parent from those you feel as your son’s teacher. Even so, it can be done well.

I’ve reviewed numerous letters over the years, and every one has been different and unique. The letters which were the most impressive were those in which the author was brutally honest and passionate. Knowing this, and faced with this decision, make sure you do the same. Be extremely honest in your letter. Don’t shy away from the fact that you’re both parent, teacher, counselor, etc. Use this to your advantage. You know your son better than anyone else, so you can tell his story better than anyone else can. Mention the activities he has been involved in and how you’ve seen him grow and mature through the years because of it. Be yourself. Don’t try and write what you think the admissions staff wants to hear, but write from the heart.

Hope that helps, let me know if you need further clarification!

Does anyone else have suggestions for Heidi on what you’ve done in the past when asked for recommendation letters?

Are colleges looking at homeschoolers differently?

It depends upon what you mean by “differently,” and whether or not you think it’s a good thing that they do or don’t, but the short answer is yes, they do look at homeschoolers differently.

Just a few years ago, when a homeschooled student applied to college, he was greeted with suspicion and a small amount of disdain. (Ok, maybe a lot of disdain, depending on the school!) These days however, many universities actively recruit homeschooled students, because of their higher than average test scores, strong work ethic, and recent history of collegiate success. Even so, there is still an attitude that homeschooled students need to “prove” themselves before they can be admitted. This generally takes the form of standardized test scores and dual enrollment courses being weighed higher, due to the perception of parental subjectivity regarding the student’s GPA.

So, in order to counter this attitude, make sure to prepare your students well, so that their ACT/SAT scores adequately reflect their GPA.

How does my child go about choosing a college?

Sit down with your student with a pen and paper and make a list of the qualities he or she is looking for in a college. Big school or small. Public or private. Religious affiliation or secular. Close to home or far away. Liberal arts college, or technical school. After asking these questions and listing which factors are important, begin researching what schools fit these criteria and if they have the program of study or major your child is interested in.

This process should begin informally freshman year. Very often, your student’s interests will change over time, and what he wanted in a college freshman year might now be different come senior year. Visit as many colleges as you can. Preferably during the school year, as it can be a vastly different environment than during the summer. Meet the admissions office. Take a tour. Stay overnight in the dorms with another student. Ask as many questions as possible. It never hurts to be overly informed. Keep a checklist of likes and dislikes at each school. Compare the list from one school to another.

Senior year, apply to all those schools which meet your criteria. Your student might not be admitted to every one, so this will further help to eliminate options. From there, see which school is the best fit, both academically, financially, and socially. Make your choice and begin the new adventure!