College Planning Night

1. College Planning Night Alamance Christian School The Pursuit of Excellence through Christ

3. College Planning • Helping a child make college choices and getting a child into college can seem like overwhelming tasks. • What can ACS do to help?

4. College Planning • We can encourage your student to think about colleges and majors. • We can make your student aware of colleges and majors that might provide a good fit.

5. College Planning • We can make them aware of scholarship opportunities and teach them how to search for scholarships. • We can educate them about the various forms of financial aid.

6. College Planning • We can make your students aware of standardized tests dates and provide them with registration information for those tests. • We can prepare them for college and financial aid interviews.

7. College Planning • We can help your students write admissions essays and to answer application questions. • We can provide them with effective letters of recommendation.

8. College Planning • We help your student to be realistic and strategic in the college admissions process. • We can make them aware of college view days and bring college representatives here to ACS.

9. College Planning • What do you need to know to help your student through this process? • You need to know how to find colleges that might be a good fit and how to interview colleges. • You need to know how to find scholarships and financial aid. • You need to know the criteria colleges use to make decisions. • You need to know how to help your student make his/her best impression.

10. College Planning • What makes a college a good fit for your student? Here are a few things to consider… • Doctrinal issues/educational philosophy • Location/safety • Campus life • Majors offered • Accreditation • Graduation rates • Cost/available aid

11. College Planning • How do you find colleges that might fit your student well? • Searching the internet sometimes works, but it can also be ineffective and time-consuming because college web-sites don’t always provide the information you really want.

12. College Planning • Some helpful resources are… • Many of these are available at public libraries.

13. College Planning • How do you find colleges that might fit your student well? • Talk to alumni • Talk to pastors • Talk to teachers • Talk to practitioners of whatever field your student wants to pursue • Church/denominational websites • Advertising in publications you admire

14. College Planning • How do you interview prospective colleges? • If interviewing at a Christian school, ask “What does your school teach regarding Creation, the Bible, etc.” (insert your doctrinal concern here). • Don’t assume a denominational label means what you think it means.

15. College Planning • How do you interview prospective colleges? • You should ask all colleges the following… • How is your school’s philosophy of education unique? • What is the goal of your school for each student? • Who succeeds here? • What kind of students do you like to attract? • Why do some students not succeed here? • What percentage of incoming freshman graduate in four years, or in five? • Total cost – tuition, fees, room and board • Average financial aid package by grant/work and loan? • Average Merit financial aid award? • What is the average debt load of your graduates? • What do you wish people knew about your school?

16. College Planning • How do you find scholarship and financial aid information? • Here the web can be valuable. • www.collegeboard.com • www.fastweb.com • www.finaid.org • www.college-scholarships.com

18. College Planning • What criteria do colleges use to make admissions and financial aid decisions?

19. Grade Point Average Rigor of Course Selection SAT/ACT Scores Application Essay Letters of Recommendation Extra Curricular Activities Community service Special talents/abilities Athletics Criteria College Reps Want to Know About You

20. How can you help your student make the best possible impression on college admissions officials? If your student is applying to a school where the admissions process is at least somewhat competitive, or if your student is competing for financial aid money, the following guidelines should help your student make a favorable impression on college decision makers. College Planning

21. Keep in mind that the best thing your student can do is to get good grades and attain good standardized test scores. College Planning

22. The Entrance to Heaven “You’re kidding! You Count the SATS!”

24. Keep in mind that the best thing your student can do is to get good grades and attain good standardized test scores. College Planning

25. Keep in mind that the best thing your student can do is to get good grades and attain good standardized test scores. However, beyond grades and test scores, the following tips can help your student stand out. College Planning

26. Be Early One way you can impress college admissions reviewers right is by submitting your application early. Now, it goes without saying that rushing to complete an application will show. However, a well-done application that arrives early will stand out in the minds of reviewers because they will see it before they are inundated with applications. College Planning

27. Be Personal Have your student write a letter to the admissions committee explaining why they want to attend the college. The letter should also highlight specific reasons why your student thinks that they are a good match for the college. Follow up the letter and application with a telephone call (not you, your student). After a college visit, write another letter thanking the admissions representative. College Planning

28. Be Professional Your student needs a professional sounding email address. StaceylovesJim4ever@hotmail.com Jesusrocks@yahoo.comSocerplayer4ever@gmail.com fuzzymonkey@mindspring.com dirtbikejo@aol.com The email address of your student may be the first thing that a college official sees. Your students needs something like jsmith@emailprovider.com College Planning

29. Be Relevant Choose only the best personal achievements on the application. You want to point out the biggest accomplishments and the most noteworthy items before the reviewer moves on to the next applicant. Likewise, be careful to only include information that is relevant to the particular question you are answering. College Planning

30. Be Involved Colleges want to see more than sports and school activities on applications. Your student should be volunteering in some way that helps your church or community. This activity needs to be highlighted in the application. College Planning

31. Be Articulate The admissions essay is often an important key to admission. If you want to impress admissions officers, you need to take it seriously. Use the personal essay to make clear any special hardships or adversities that you have overcome. Have teachers here at ACS proof it. College Planning

32. Be In-charge Your student needs to be the primary contact person with all school officials. College Planning

33. School officials want to give admissions and financial aid to students who 1) passionately want to come to their school and 2) are mature, responsible, independent, and self-directed. School officials are troubled by “helicopter parents” or with the perception that a student will need a lot of guidance from Mom and Dad. College Planning

34. When you visit a campus, your student should walk into the admissions office first, introduce himself, and introduce you. The student should ask well-prepared, thoughtful questions about the college. After the discussion, the student should say, “Mom and Dad, do you have any questions?” College Planning

35. Be Thoughtful Questions that admissions people do not want to hear: Can I have a car? What time is curfew? Can I have an off campus apartment? Do I have to go to chapel? Will I have to take ____________class? How many students attend this college? What are the dorms like? Tell me about extracurricular activities? What are your most popular majors? When is your application deadline? College Planning

37. Be Thoughtful Questions that admissions people want to hear? How is your school’s philosophy of education unique? What is the goal of your school for each student? Who succeeds here? What kind of students do you like to attract? Why do some students not succeed here? What percentage of incoming freshman graduate in four years, or in five? What is the best way to prepare for your school? Total cost – tuition, fees, room and board Average financial aid package by grant/work and loan? Average Merit financial aid award? What is the average debt load of your graduates? Who will read my application for admission? What do you wish students knew about your school? If interviewing at a Christian school… What does your school teach regarding Creation, theBible, etc. (insert your doctrinal concern here). College Planning

38. Be Represented Your student needs to seek out letters of recommendation for teachers. These letters should not be generic, non-specific lists of nice qualities. These letters should talk very specifically about how the teacher has seen your student being a leader, being determined to overcome adversity, being honest, being dedicated, being scholarly, being in love with learning, etc. College Planning

39. Be Represented Your student needs to seek out letters of recommendation for teachers. These letters should not be generic, non-specific lists of nice qualities. These letters should talk very specifically about how the teacher has seen your student being a leader, being determined to overcome adversity, being honest, being dedicated, being scholarly, being in love with learning, etc. College Planning

40. We are here to help. Please call on me whenever you need some counsel or help concerning college. An additional websites you should visit… www.cnfc.org www.fafsa.gov College Planning