Special April Hot Topic:
College Acceptance
If you have a senior at home, you are undoubtedly awaiting news about college… unless your teen was accepted early decision or early action, or is going to a school with rolling admissions. Most seniors, however, are still waiting with baited breath.
One of these days, those envelopes will arrive, and then you have to deal with the excitement, depression, ambivalence, doubt and complete denial of the situation. Your child—your baby!—is going to college. Here it is, the actual moment of cutting the umbilical cord. There are a few things to keep in mind to make this an easier transition for both of you.
1. What If your child only gets into his third or tenth choice?
Have a family meeting and go over the reasons you picked the schools that weren’t first choice. Part of the reason for going to college is the opportunity for a teen to learn life skills, with some supervision. So, go back to the Web site of the school you heard from and see what it offers. There are probably positive elements that wouldn’t appear at your first choice school.
2. What about wait-listing?
Your teen should let the admissions officer know he’s still very interested. A letter restating your request to attend along with any recent achievements or high grades is a good idea. Your teen should simultaneously consider accepting admission to a second-choice school so he’ll be sure to be enrolled somewhere for the fall semester. Send in your deposit to be safe.
3. Can you actually afford it?
ake sure you are making an accurate comparison among the schools that accepted you. A difference of “only” $3000 between two schools may not look like much when you are excited about the higher priced campus but over four years, that’s a $12,000 difference—plus interest.
4. If your teen isn’t ready for the leap, she can get in and defer.
Princeton is offering incoming freshmen a tuition-free gap year to do some type of social work abroad and get high school out of their system. Allows you to get in, then leave. Other gap year programs involving travel, work, or apprenticeships are available.
5. When do you hear about money?
If you applied for financial aid, a notice containing specifics about your financial aid may come with your acceptance letter. If you've applied for financial aid at the schools where you've been accepted, you and your family will soon find out how much financial support in terms of grants and subsidized loans the school is offering via an award letter.
See timely resources on college acceptance.
Jo Lori Trudeau 04/14/08
I wish the college admissions thing worked differently – my son applied to several schools on rolling admissions, and got into two of them, but he’s still waiting for the ones that report this month, as though they are more “special.” With the price of college insanely high, I think they should start making some changes to help families and reduce stress about the getting-in process.
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