Researching Colleges
Top Three Takeaways
- Your child should start thinking about college near the end of sophomore year of high school.
- College visits need to be a key part of the research process.
- There’s a college for everyone who wants to go.
From the Pros
From Springfield Academic: Parents should get a “financial feel” for the cost of college when their child is a sophomore. This is a great time to complete the FAFSA Forecaster which will give families an estimate of their EFC (Estimated Family Contribution). For most students, the academic research should begin their junior year. They should visit a small, medium and large-enrollment college to get an idea of what size college would be best. Parents should push students to look beyond the familiar names, particularly when students want to attend a school because of athletic teams.
From Mary Beth Stephens, MBS College Coaching: Most high school students begin thinking about college near the end of their sophomore year, beginning of junior year. Fortunately, there are 2,000 four-year colleges in the US, so there is something for everyone – from College of the Atlantic (about 300 students) where everyone studies the same subject, to The Ohio State University with 46,000 undergraduates. Using the US News and World Report lists, if a student is trying for a more highly ranked school, they need to begin the research process earlier, possibly as early as freshman year. There is a lot of information out there, and your student should spend time figuring out what type of school they are interested in more than the name of the school.
I believe students don’t really know if a college/university is a good fit for them until they visit. All the information on the website, in the viewbooks, and even from alumni is marketing. The student won’t know how the feel on the campus – its layout, architecture, culture – until they take a tour and listen to an information session. I like to have students visit as much as possible when each college is in session. That way they see students and can hopefully conjecture if they would fit in. My clients begin visiting sometimes in the spring of junior year up until spring of senior year.
From the Moms
From Denise Beaman: Begin researching different universities the summer before Junior Year.
From Lisa Whelpley: My son visited a couple universities over spring break of sophomore year, but he began seriously looking into different colleges the summer before junior year. Some colleges have Facebook Live sessions where you can type in questions and get them answered, which is a nice option.
