Making College Lists

Having a good, solid, balanced, reasonable college list that meets your needs academically, socially and financially is an essential part of the college application process. Juniors, it is time that you are actively working on building that perfect (for you) college list.

To support students and parents in this process we have 2 events coming up this week all focused on building your college lists.

• On Thursday, May 1st, we will host the final Junior Seminar of this year in Room 201 from 8:15-8:35am to talk about creating a balanced, strong college list.
• On Friday, May 2nd, we will hold the final Parent Lunch & Learn session of the year from 12:00-12:30pm over zoom. As always, this meeting link will be emailed out to families on Friday morning and the session will be recorded and posted to the counselor website if you are unable to join us live.

I hope that you will make plans to join us for these presentations!

CSCC App Day

Are you planning on attending Columbus State Community College next year after you graduate? This is a great option for a lot of students because it allows students to transition from the high school to college expectations in typically smaller classes and for a fraction of the cost. 

Students attending CSCC have much later deadlines for admission and so it can be easy to procrastinate on completing the application.  This Friday, in Room 151 (right across from the main gym/ snack bar area), we will be hosting an admissions representative from Columbus State Community College for an Application Day.  Seniors, if you have not already applied to CSCC and want to have it as an option for you in the future, please take advange of this application day!  Students can come during lunch periods and should bring their Social Security Number so that your entire application can be completed on the spot.  

For students who are already technically CSCC students because of participating in College Credit Plus, you don't have to submit an application to attend full time next year, but there are steps that need to be completed and the admissions rep will be able to assist you with completing those requirements as well.

Even if you're not sure you're ready to go to CSCC right away or if you are still holding it as an option for financial reasons as you try to make your decision about college, you can also come and participate in the Columbus State Community College Application Day.  

Feel free to stop and see me if you have any questions.

National College Decision Day

Seniors, by now you are hopefully well aware of the fact that May 1st is national college decision day. This means that you have 2 weeks left with which to make your final college decision. The colleges have all united in the fact that they will not require you to make decisions about where you will attend prior to May 1st, but this is one of the deadlines that is firm. As you are aware, through the college application process each college has their own timeline and often have different application deadlines, financial aid deadlines, and announce their admission decisions at different times, but May 1st is a universal deadline among all colleges requiring students to declare their decision.  

Please remember that this not only means that you have informed the college of your choice that you intend to attend their college, but it also typically includes submitting a deposit. As you reach the final days of your decision making window, if you need to talk out your choice with someone, please feel free to stop in and talk to me.

Cut Them Free

This is always such a fun and exciting time to see the news as seniors announce their decisions on where they will be attending college in the future. Seniors, remember that once you start narrowing down your college choices it is important to cut your other schools free. As you begin identifying which college or the few colleges that are still in the running, it is important for you to notify the other colleges that you do NOT intend to attend their school beginning next year. 

Please be sure to wait to notify the schools that you will not be attending until you are completely sure that you are no longer considering them. However, I realize that many of you have narrowed your choice to a smaller group of colleges and you have completely eliminated others from consideration. Those which have been completely eliminated are the colleges I am recommending you notify now. 

This is important because it allows the college to plan for their upcoming student body and to know if they have room to accept other students off of their wait-lists. Think about your classmates who might be on the waiting list for a school and they want to hear back from the schools as quickly as possible and there are other students across the country in the same situation. Colleges can't begin opening up additional slots until they know which students will or will not be attending. 

Additionally, if you received scholarship offers from one of the colleges that you have eliminated from the running, this can also potentially allow the college to offer that money out to other students which, again, can help people such as your fellow classmates. Believe me, the colleges will not be angry with you for deciding that you will not be attending their school - they understand that this is part of the process, so just go ahead and take a few minutes to let them know of your intent to attend a different college.

Common App Essays

The Common Application has announced that their essay question prompts for next year will remain the same.  In case you don't know, Common Application is an application website that many colleges use allowing students to fill out one application that can then be submitted to various colleges and is one of the primary methods that students will utilize when applying to college. 

Juniors, you can take a look at these prompts and start brainstorming what your answers might be for each question.  After you list your thoughts for each question, look at which response best allows you to tell the story of who you are and will be the best introduction of you to the admissions committee.  Then it is time to start drafting and editing and drafting some more.  :-)  

Students who utilize the common app will be asked to select and answer one question in 250-650 words.  (Please don't worry about word count on your first draft - it is always MUCH easier to cut words than it is to try to add more in later.)

Below are the common app essay questions to help you get started: 

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback or failure.  How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea.  What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that made you happy or thankful in a surprising way.  How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and new understanding of yourself or others.

6.  Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time.  Why does it captivate you?  What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

7.  Share an essay on any topic of your choice.  It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Also, don't forget that tomorrow morning (April 10th) we will host our Essay Brainstorming Workshop in Room 201 at 10am to help you prepare for writing your essays. I hope to see you in the morning!

Columbus State Visit Day

Columbus State Community College is the most attended college that Kilbourne seniors transition to after high school. They are hosting a campus visit day for juniors and seniors this Friday, April 11th from 8:30am-12:00pm.  During this event you will have the chance to:

• Discover what it's like to attend Columbus State.
• Learn about transfer options to our four-year university partners.
• Hear about our expansive student services and learn what it's like to be a part of our college community.
• Consider a two-year fast track to a well-paying, in-demand career.
• Identify next steps to enrolling at Columbus State.

Here is the link you will use to register for the event if you are interested.

Teacher Rec Letters

Juniors, remember when we talked in our junior meetings about the fact that I'd remind you when it was time to start asking teachers about possibly writing a recommendation letter on your behalf?  Now is the time.  :-) And we have a Junior Seminar Presentation tomorrow morning (Thursday, April 3rd from 8:15-8:35am in Room 201) to address Rec Letters specifically.

Recommendation letters are a time consuming process requiring a great deal of thought and time. Juniors, as you finalize the list of schools where you will be applying next fall, it is important to determine if you are going to need a recommendation letter from a teacher (or two). Many of the Ohio schools - Ohio State University, OU, BGSU, Kent State, etc. do not require teacher recommendations.  Because rec letters are a time consuming process, if the colleges where you are applying do not require recommendations, then please do not waste your teacher's time by requesting letters that won't be needed or used!

If you are applying to schools that require teacher recommendation letters, it is very helpful and beneficial to the teachers if you can give them as much time as possible to write your recommendation letters. That means, if you know now that you are going to be applying to a school which needs a teacher rec letter, then I would like for you to ask the teachers this spring allowing them to have the entire summer to write your letter. (These next few weeks are a great time to ask!)  After you ask your teacher(s), you will want to provide them with information that can help them as they write your letter. We have several handouts in the counseling and career center and on the WKHS Counselor website that you can use for this purpose. 

And yes juniors, this is also a reminder that you need to be working now toward finalizing a list of where you plan on applying to college. (And we will have a junior seminar presentation on May 1st to talk more about finalizing those college lists too.)

Admissions Decisions Coming Soon

In the world of college admissions, there are several key points in time - the mad rush to finish applications before the deadline and months of waiting - and now, finally, the point when you find out if a college has accepted or rejected you for admissions. It can be a time filled with frustration, excitment, heart-break, and pretty much every other emotion in between.

The next few weeks will be big as students finally receive the college admissions decisions that you have waited months to receive. Most of the schools that have yet to announce their decisions will be releasing them over the next couple of weeks. This can be a very stressful time for students. Try to take a deep breath and relax – you have done the best job to put yourself in the best situation possible with your applications. If you are stressing out awaiting the news, feel free to stop in and see me so we can talk about it.

The reality is that some of the most selective colleges were able to be even more selective than in the past and the percentage of students who were accepted continues to shrink at many schools. This is, in part, because so many students are choosing to apply to a LOT of colleges which means applications are up at many of the schools. OSU recently announced that they had received over 88,000 applications! That is crazy and is a huge jump from the previous high last year which had also been a record so the trend just continues to spiral out of control.

Getting the decision can be hard enough, but often the more difficult aspect is being asked, “Did you get accepted?” by well-meaning friends. Trust me on this one, if they get accepted to their dream school, the students will be telling everyone – you won’t need to ask. If they don’t offer up the news sharing if they were accepted or not, then be sensitive to the fact that more than likely they still don't know or they did not get accepted. Be kind and don’t ask about it as it puts students on the spot to share potentially disappointing news.

Spring Break College Visits

With just a week of school left before spring break, many of you have already started focusing on what all you are hoping to do over break.  No matter what grade you are in and what your plans you have already established for spring break, I'd like to encourage you to consider adding in at least one (if not more) college visits to your agenda.

For seniors, many colleges are in session during our break and so this is an ideal time to be able to visit the campuses of your top choices.  Being able to compare your college choices and to make sure that you are finding the school which will be your best fit before you the May 1st decision deadline is a helpful choice.  You can also consider making an overnight visit at the colleges for a different opportunity that you have probably not had a chance to do thus far.

For freshmen through juniors, making college visits is a beneficial opportunity to start identifying what aspects you like most and least in a college.  You will have the chance to actually walk around on a campus and imagine yourself being there in the future.  People watch, explore opportunities, investigate academics, and engage with the admissions staff to help guide you in your future college application plans.  If you are planning to be in town, there are lots of local colleges that you can visit easily.  If you will be traveling over break, you can still make college visits wherever you find yourself during break.  Chances are good that there are colleges near or along your destination and even if it is not a school that you are considering for the future, it still gives you the chance to get another view of colleges... and this can be incredibly valuable in determining what it is you want or don't want in a school.

Junior Seminars

Next Thursday kicks off our Junior Seminars and I am really excited about this new initiative. Every other Thursday from March 6th through May 1st junior students are invited to attend brief, in-depth, workshops on a particular topic. Students can decide which workshops interest them and come to just those sessions. The seminars will be held in Room 201 from 8:15-8:35am just before the start of school so I hope you'll grab your breakfast or coffee and come to school 20 minutes early to participate in the sessions that interest you most!

March 6th: Choosing careers/ majors

March 20th: Using AI effectively in college applications

April 3rd: Recommendation letters

April 17th: Senior survivor panel

May 1st: Creating a college list

Save those dates and I hope to see many of you next Thursday morning!

National College Fair

I hope that you are enjoying our bonus days off!  While you are enjoying some down time, I wanted to give you a heads up that next weekend, WKHS students have the opportunity to attend and participate in a National College Fair.  This event, sponsored by the National Association of College Admissions Counseling, is FREE to attend.  It will be held on Sunday, February 2nd, from 1:00-4:00pm at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

Admissions reps from hundreds of colleges will be available to speak one-to-one with students and parents about the college admissions process, including paying for college, admissions requirements, activities on campus and more.  The fair also features information on gap year and pre-college summer programming.

Students who plan to attend should register for the National College Fair online at: https://www.nacacattend.org/25Columbus and this website also has more information to help you make the most of your time at the college fair.

Don't miss out on this great opportunity to learn more about colleges and finding the schools that will the best fit for you.

• Sunday, February 2nd
• 1:00-4:00pm
• Greater Columbus Convention Center

College Decision Terms

We are in the earliest stages of college application decisions starting to come back.  I wanted to make sure you knew some of the terms you might see in your decision notifications.  If you receive an email or letter and are uncertain what it means, please feel free to let me know or to contact the college directly.

- Accepted: Congratulations - they are inviting you to join and be a part of their college/ university!

- Declined/ Rejected/ Not Accepted: For whatever reason the college did not feel that you would be a good fit. While it is understandably disappointing, please remember that there are lots of colleges and universities out there so don’t give up on finding a good match.

- Decision Deferred: The college is not sure yet… usually they will tell you what additional data/ information they are interested in receiving to help them make their decision. The most common piece of data they will look for are senior year grades at the semester time.

- Wait List: The wait list is not a denial, but it is not an acceptance either. Colleges use wait lists as insurance to make sure that their freshman class will be the appropriate size. If enough students decide to attend, the college will not accept anyone off of their wait-list.  We will talk more about wait lists later in the spring because this rarely a response students will receive at this time of year, but it is more common later in the application season.

One of the realities of the college admission process is that not every student will be accepted to every college. The waiting game can often be one of the more frustrating aspects. With family members and friends consistently asking, "Where are you going to college?" the uncertainty present with each "I don't know" response can be overwhelming.  Remember, I am here to help support you in managing all the stress related to admissions decisions.

College Visits

Visiting college campuses - near and far, big and small (and somewhere in between), urban, suburban and rural, will help you to start to develop a sense for what you can find at all colleges and what will fit best for you.  For most of my students over the years, what they have quickly realized after about 3 college visits is what they do NOT like as much and they can then use that information to help narrow down their interests and perhaps find other similar schools to explore.

What should you ask on a college visit?  

You will want to ask questions as you tour the school. (We have a lengthy list of question ideas for you on the Counselor website.)  After each visit, review the list to see if there are any other questions you might want to add. Remember, you are visiting campuses to get a feeling for the atmosphere of each place – something you can’t get from a brochure or website.

When can you make your visit?
Anytime!  Students often schedule visits to colleges on times when it fits with their parents schedule.  You are allowed to miss school for college visits - it is an excused absence, but please be sure to still have your parents contact the attendance office.

While you can make visits at any time, I encourage you to try to select days when you know you will have a positive experience.  There are many colleges that will host a major specific day and those days often include lots of unique experiences in that field of study including meeting professors, talking to students, seeing their projects, etc.  You also want to maximize the positive experience of going on the visit by not creating problems with your high school schedule and commitments.  For example, if you know that you have a game and therefore have to be in school for at least half the day, then that is probably not the best day to try to squeeze in a college visit.  You also know that there tend to be a lot of tests, quizzes and projects on the last day of the semester, so I encourage you to avoid that day as well.

Other great days for all students to make college visits would be the days that we have off in Worthington, but the colleges will likely still be in session.  For example, next week, Tuesday, November 5th, students are off because it is election day, but college campuses will still be in session making it a great day to visit.

How should I set up the visit?
The student should be the one who communicates with the college - not the parent!  Remember, you are the one who is going to college - not your mom or dad.  You are trying to show the college that you are mature, responsible and ready for the college opportunities and that begins with having the ability to communicate effectively with the admissions office.

Some colleges have online visit registration options and others only take reservations by phone.  You will definitely want to sign up for the visits in advance!

Should I attend on a "major specific" day?
As I mentioned in an earlier question, there are many colleges that will host special recruitment days for students looking at a particular major.  For example, there may be an engineering day, a nursing day, a communications day, etc.  These are GREAT opportunities for students to consider visiting the campus - not only for those of you who have made up your mind that you are interested in a particular field, but also for those students who think they might like to study that field.  So, for example, if I think I might want to study something connected to business, but don't know any more than that going to the college's business day can be a great learning opportunity for me to gain insight into the different aspects available within that major and that college.  If you attend you might walk away excited about a particular opportunity or section of business or you may leave realizing you thought it seemed terrible and that would still give you the information to help you know that this is not the best job field for your future.

What else should I keep in mind?
- Pay attention to the details around you to learn all that there is to know about the college.

- Remember, a lot of outside factors can influence the quality of the visit positively or negatively. For example, the weather… if it is a gorgeous sunny day with perfect temperatures you may think it is the most beautiful school and if it cold, rainy, or dreary you may think it is miserable, but try to remember that the weather changes from day to day and judge the school without being overly influenced by the weather. (Please also remember that if you are traveling to areas in different climates than Ohio that weather may truly be an appropriate factor to consider, so I am not making a blanket statement to always ignore the weather.)

- Tour guides also form a huge impression of the school that you visit. Most colleges know that and will try to find outgoing, positive, energetic students to take you through the campus. Ideally the guides will try to get to know something about you or your interests to help point those aspects of the school out to you, but the reality is the students serving as tour guides are not always great and, let’s be honest here, we all have bad days so even some of the good tour guides can have off days where they won’t be impressive on the visit. I know it can be hard, but try to separate the guide from the school.

- If you can spare the time – stop and sit on a bench and just “people watch.” Are these people that you can imagine being your friends in the future? Remember, you are hoping that in the near future that you will be able to make friends with them and others like them on campus. Think about how you are feeling on the campus – can you imagine yourself being there and being both happy and successful at this school?

I cannot wait to hear about your experiences exploring college campuses!

OSU Branch Campus

Have you considered attending an OSU branch campus in the future?  It is a great opportunity for students to have the benefits of being an OSU student right after high school with a better price tag and smaller class sizes.  One challenge of the branch campuses is that housing is limited so most students will commute to the branch or live in apartments in the surrouding area.  

As I mentioned, by attending a branch of OSU you are already a Buckeye.  If you want to transition to main campus after a year of full time classes, you can do that with grades of a C or better - no application needed.  (It is simply a form to change which campus you will be taking your classes.)

If you know that you are not going to be a strong enough candidate for direct admission onto the Columbus Campus, applying directly to the branch can be a beneficial option for many reasons.

1. You don't have to write the essay.

2. OSU has their own direct branch admissions application on their website.

3. There are scholarships set aside specificially for students who apply directly to the branch campus and attend there.

4. If you apply before December 1st, the application fee is waived.

The two closest branch campuses to WKHS are OSU Newark and OSU Marion.  If you haven't already investigated them as options for your future, now is a great time to look into the opportunities on both of those campus locations.

Columbus Suburban College Fair

The Columbus Suburban College Fair is coming up on Sunday, October 13th from 1:00 - 3:30pm at Otterbein University in the Clements Center (180 Center St., Westerville, OH 43081).  This is the largest local fall college fair and a great opportunity for our students.

College fairs give you a chance to meet with admissions representatives in person. They are all gathered together in one place in order to meet you and to answer your questions. Many schools also keep track of the number of interactions/ meetings you have with their admissions representatives during your search and application process so that they can gauge your interest level in their school.

Be prepared before you get to the college fair. Know that there will be far more schools than you are interested in or can even truly take in during one afternoon, so it is useful to come up with a list of colleges that you would be interested in learning more about by doing a search that looks for different criteria that seems to be a good fit for you. With that list in hand you now have a starting point for the colleges that you would like to talk to during the fair.

All students are asked to register with Strive Scan by visiting www.strivefair.com because this will allow for you to have a bar code specific to you.  Then, when you are at the college fair next weekend and you talk to a college that interests you, they can simply scan your barcode and that will allow the college to know of your interest. I promise you, this is a MAJOR improvement over the days when students had to hand write out interest cards at each college table.

I encourage you to check out the Columbus Suburban College Fair information on the front page of the WKHS Counselor website for more information about this year's event.

A few other hints:

It can be useful to ask the same questions of each college so that you can compare them and their responses appropriately and I encourage you to consider thinking about the things you most want to know about the school and can’t find in a brochure or website. Everyone is different so your questions are going to be different depending upon your interests, but if you are really interested in playing a club sport in college, you might want to ask about their club/ intramural program and the numbers of students that participate. You may want to ask what the top 2 or 3 majors are on campus as that will give you an idea of what most of the students are interested in studying. If you are undecided about what you would like to study, it would be a great idea to ask them what support and services are available to help students in exploring different majors.

Take something with you to be able to jot some notes on - I suggest a pen or pencil over a phone because even though your phones are amazing for the notes app, the impression it may give to colleges is that you're not engaged in what is happening and are side tracked and paying attention to your phone instead. It is a crazy event with so much happening, so if you don’t write it down as you go you won’t remember much after the fact. The admissions representatives are giving you a small look of the college – what do you think following each glimpse?

When you are walking through the college fair with the list of schools that you want to talk to don’t forget to leave some time for browsing – you may realize that a school you had not previously considered has just what you are looking for in a college. It can be easy for us to get caught in the cycle of only looking at specific schools because that is what “everyone” else is considering.

Ideally, you will be able to avoid getting caught up in the crowds and confusion so that you don’t walk away from the college fair with a lot of brochures, but no real ideas or impressions about which colleges most interest you. At the end of the college fair you will likely have a bag filled with information about colleges. One of the best college fair articles suggested, “Don’t succumb to the temptation of just piling all those brochures in some obscure corner of your bedroom. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a day or two away from the college search. Then get out all of those brochures, along with the notes you took at the fair, and read through them. You may find that some colleges aren’t as interesting as you first thought. Others only look better the more you research them.”

If you have never been to a college fair before, I admit that it often feels like mass chaos.  But it is also the opportunity for you to gain a lot of useful information from a large number of schools in a short period of time.  Good luck and happy college searching… I can’t wait to hear about the schools that spark your interest!

College Athletics

For many Kilbourne students, being a part of a sports team is how you found your fit at WKHS.  And the idea of not having sports be a part of your life in college can be a scary prospect.  There are some students who will want to move on and play at the varsity level in college.  For other students though, the idea of making sports a job (which it definitely is - especially at the Division 1 level) and not just something you do for enjoyment and to be around your friends can be less than appealing.  But that doesn't mean that sports can't still be a vital part of your life in college.  Many colleges have club sports or intramural teams that students can get involved in on campus.  And other communities have adult rec leagues that are thrilled to have college aged students get involved.

But, if you are a student who wants to be a college athlete in the future, I thought this webinar put on by Estrela Consulting earlier this summer was a well done and helpful look at the process of trying to become a college athlete.  So, if you are interested, check out their webinar, "So, you want to be a college athlete."

Articles of Interest

I read a LOT of college related articles and watch a lot of webinars related to college and school counseling in general, not to mention listening to podcasts and reading journals and books.  But periodically I think, "I bet my students would want to read this."  And sometimes it is an article that relates to a particular student or situation we have been discussing and so I will forward it just to that person.  Other times it is something I think could interest many people and so I save the link in my notes about my blog and when that list of interesting articles starts to grow too long, I try to share the links with you all here on my blog.  Today is one of those days.

Read through the topics mentioned below and if you are interested in learning more about them, click on the link and check out the article.

Why Students need to understand Opportunity Cost

Why applying to all 8 Ivy League could hurt your chances of admission

How introverted students can thrive in college

4 college admissions trends shaping top schools’ decisions in 2024

Luckocracy

Famous people who attended community college

Colleges with the most Olympians

College Rep Visits at WKHS

Every year college admissions representatives travel across the country to meet with students and to talk about the opportunities available at their campus.  It always surprises me that more students are not flocking to these chances to meet with the admissions representatives.  Because even though you are technically there to learn about what they have to say about their school, perhaps even more importantly, you are expressing your interest and desire to attend their college! The admissions representatives who are traveling to the schools keep track of who they see. Many colleges can go back and tell you exactly how many times a student has come to tour campus, contacted the admissions office, or had an official interaction with a representative of the school. You never really know what can make a difference when it comes to admissions or getting a scholarship from a school, so if you are able to attend a meeting with a representative, it can only help you.  And, as if that isn't enough, at many colleges the regional representatives who make the visits are also the ones reading your applications and making admissions decision recommendations.  You have the chance to make a positive impression on them when they are at Kilbourne.  My hope, above all, is that the impression they leave WKHS with is that when you apply they don't look back and think, "hmm, they weren't even interested enough to come and meet with me when I was at their school."

College reps will start their visits at Kilbourne next week.  We have a list of the upcoming college visits posted in the Upcoming Events calendar on the Counselor website so that you can see which schools are coming to WKHS.  There are about 50 schools already scheduled and, as of this morning, only 14 students registered to meet with the reps. If there are schools that you'd like to meet with, please be sure to sign up on the google sheet within the event calendar and then write down the dates and times so that you don't forget to come to the Counseling Center.  When you get there, a secretary will introduce you to the admissions representative and after your meeting with them is over the secretary will give you a pass to return back to class.

Juniors and Seniors have unlimited opportunities to attend these sessions. Please be reasonable though. If a visit is scheduled during a time when you have class, you should get your teacher’s approval in advance of attending the information session. You are responsible for all missed work and teachers are not supposed to excuse you from tests, quizzes, or labs. 

Freshmen and Sophomores are also invited to attend the sessions with the college representatives, but are limited to participating in the visits during your lunch or Academic Prep periods. 

These are great opportunities to talk directly with the college admissions representatives so please take advantage of their visits!  While meeting with a representative cannot replace the actual experience of walking on campus, seeing the people, and experiencing the classes, it can be a very important piece of your information gathering process. 

Narrowing Your College List

There are 5,300 colleges and universities in the United States.  Trying to narrow down the list from more than 5,000 to a reasonable handful of schools to which you will actually apply can feel daunting.  It can feel overwhelming to know that there are so many choices available - colleges you have not even heard of previously - and yet you are being ask to select and apply to the schools which will be a part of your future. The good news though, is that the process of narrowing your college list starts with YOU and what YOU want in a school.

On the WKHS Counselor website there are a variety of pages specifically geared toward helping you in the college search and with lots of information and questions to consider for yourself.  These include Tips for Investigating a College, What do You want in a College, and a Self Reflection page.  We dedicated a lot of content to this search process because it is true that before you really start looking for the “right” school it is important to figure out what you WANT in a school and that can only be found by looking in yourself and determining what factors are most important to you.

You'll find a lot more on the website (which I hope you'll check out), but a few examples on factors that might differ for various students... for some students distance from home may be a big deal. Being close can have it’s advantages – like being able to come home and have a free home cooked meal or a place to do your laundry and also not having to worry about flying half way across the country any time you would want to come home for a visit. Going to school at a college far from home can also have it’s advantages – often a different climate, a new experience and adventure where you can be independent, and no concerns about mom or dad just dropping in unexpectedly. And, of course, there are some students who will elect to find a school that is not too far and not too close. (Remember, that by communicating with your family about what you are looking for in a school you may find that a college outside of your comfort zone is still worth considering because you and your parents may be able to reach some mutually agreed upon ground rules – so the concern that they might come see you or you might come home too often can be eliminated by talking about those issues up front.)

The size of a school is another factor for many students. Small, Medium, Large or somewhere in between – the challenge is that many students will say, “I don’t know” and that is where making a variety of visits to different sized schools can be advantageous. You can explore a small school and see if the experience of knowing lots of people on campus and in your classes is better for you than a medium or large school where you may have a class in a lecture hall with hundreds of other students. As you visit the schools you may find that there are experiences or advantages that a larger school can provide that a smaller school can’t such as a wider variety of clubs or groups for students to be involved. The key is to figure out what size school fits you and then you can narrow your search to explore more schools in that range.  However, it is important to keep an open mind about size because there is only 24 hours in a day so the way you will spend your time is going to be very similar no matter what size of a campus you select.

Other factors that often influence a student’s college decision will include the types of majors or programs offered at the school, their athletic programs – both collegiate sponsored and intramurals, the food, the dorms, the cost (but don’t necessarily eliminate potential colleges simply based upon cost because often the private schools are much more expensive, but also offer a much larger financial aid package to make it competitive and comparable to a public school), extra-curricular opportunities, career placement services and on and on.

Again, I cannot stress the point that everyone is different and what is best for one person is not necessarily the ideal school for someone else. All too often I listen to students who are only looking at the 2 or 3 schools that their best friend or sibling looked at rather than trying to find the school that fits best for them. Also, I truly believe that it is about being a good match – for both you and the college and that there is not 1 perfect school.  You will be successful no matter where you end up attending.

I know, it can be a bit intimidating to search for a school and to try to figure out what you really want in a college and for your future, but it is also supposed to be fun so try not to put too much pressure on yourself to find “perfection” and try to take a step back and figure out what will make you happy. It really can be fun, but I know it is also overwhelming so remember that I am here to support and help you in any way that I can.

College Data

I have been working a lot this week with the other counselors to put together tomorrow night's Senior Student & Parent College Information Night.  (Seniors and your parents - don't forget, this meeting is a key presentation at 7pm in the WKHS Auditorium.)

As we worked on putting things together we spent some time talking about the fact that when students are searching for a college, digging into data isn't always high on the list of things to do.  It is much more fun to explore the campus and meet with a professor and decide that this is "THE" school for you.  And yet the data has a valuable story to share as well.

What do I mean?

Think about Retention Data.  Information regarding retention rates means how many students who start at the college on the first day of their freshman year come back the following year.  This is important to know because it gives you an idea of how happy and successful students are on the campus.  Students that get accepted and go only to find that they are completely over their heads at the school might not have built the study and organization skills needed to be successful and so they might not return for the next year.  Or students may attend thinking every day would be fun and forget that there is a lot of work involved with college too and so they might elect not to return to school because they didn't enjoy it as much as they had hoped.  Sometimes it is because the college is not a good fit for them after all.  And so if you notice that a college has a low retention rate it doesn't mean you won't like the school, but it may be a reason to pause and really look in depth to make sure you are going to be happy and successful at the college.

Another critical piece of data is how long it will take you to graduate.  Most of the WKHS graduating students anticipate that they will be in college for 4 years.  And that would be great.  But that doesn't always work out for students in the long run.  This can be due to a range of factors including how easy or difficult it is to get the necessary classes for graduation.

The https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ website provides user friendly tools to search for colleges and explore their data.