The College Process: Trusted Sources

 We (my family) are in the final stretch of high school.  It's the second semester of my son's senior year.  My son has been accepted at his top two colleges.  (He applied to 3, one of which is closing its door after the spring semester which definitely changed his outlook)  He's 99% committed to one of them, it's just (?) a question of finances.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking about our family's college search experience on a podcast hosted by Keys to College. (I'm episode 48 if you want to listen.)  The ladies (Jen and Gina) behind the podcast and the company were a great help to me over the summer with their webinars.  They were a source that I knew I could trust and when it comes to education, finding TRUSTED sources is challenging and complicated.  There is so much out there; it's scary!  My family has had own bad experiences with "educational" sources/assistance, that I've been very wary.  There are (in my opinion) too many places where you are encouraged to lay down your money.  And I'm talking about a lot of money!  (At least that's how I perceived it.)

As a mom, I started doing the research on colleges that might fit my son and then we (as a family) went over them along with some schools that my son had picked out.  I knew we were going to need some guidance when it came to finding the right school for my son and I wanted guidance that came from reputable sources that I trusted.  Sources that knew and understood that this process is unique to each family and for the most part, knew us.  

The first person I reached out to was a family friend who knows my son well and works in an administrative capacity at a NJ university.  One of the most valuable pieces of advice (perhaps the MOST valuable advice period) she gave us was this:  "I'd highly recommend making appointments to go visit different colleges with majors of his interest to get information on their programs and offerings, and also to see if he likes the ambiance and culture of the institution. Every school has their own culture, and finding the one that fits his personality will go a long way to helping his academic success. The main reasons we have students transfer away from colleges are because they ended up not making friends easily, or because they felt they didn't 'fit in,' with the school. It very rarely has anything to do with their major or academic classes. So feeling comfortable at a college is a huge thing, and can really only be discovered by taking a visit there." 

The second person who guides us on our way is a relative who is President at a local university.  We signed up to take a tour of her campus, but she met us beforehand for lunch and to talk with us. She spent a great deal of time talking with our son.  I wish I knew all of what she said, but unfortunately my mother was quite ill at the time and kept calling so I was not as focused as I would have liked to have been.  I do know that she did not push the university, but did share her experiences and encouraged my son to explore what felt right for him.

Which brings me to my third and final trusted source, Keys to College. With my distrust of companies that purport to help you with the college search, how did I come to trust Jen and Gina?  Again, it comes back to relationships.  Jen is the sister of a good friend of mine from college, and she recommended a (free!) webinar that they were hosting.  Both ladies have experience in college admissions and financial aid.  I attended the first webinar and found that they offered common sense advice, carefully listened and answered questions that attendees had and (most importantly in my book) didn't try to sell you anything.  Their answers came from a place of experience that I did not have, but made sense to me.

When my family toured college campuses, we applied all the advice we had gotten from these three trusted sources.  Some of the campuses felt like a fit; others not so much.  It was not the advice that we got from one source that made the choice(s) clearer, but from all combined.  Most importantly, each of these sources knew US (or in the case of Keys to College, got to know us.)  College IS personal.  It's not just about the courses and majors, it's about an overall experience.  The advice we received on a personal level, from these three sources made the college search less stressful and complicated.

MY advice?  Find YOUR trusted sources (which may be very different than mine), listen, tour the campuses and go with what feels right for your child and/or family.

Now, as to what college/university my son is leaning towards and why is for another blog post.  (Unless you listen to the podcast, where I do cover it a little.)  Stay tuned...