College Admission Resources for the DIY Student & Family
Be organized and take the time to understand the admission process for the schools you are interested in. You got this.
After many years of working in higher education, my wife will be pursuing a master’s in genetic counseling at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus beginning this fall. This has been a goal of hers for quite a while now and we are excited for this new adventure! This means will be relocating from Durango to Aurora, CO and like so many students and families, we are going through our own college transition. We’ve been trying to answer questions such as: Where are we going to live? (We rented a house just three miles from campus.) When is orientation? When do classes start? When will we receive the financial aid letter to better understand all the various costs? A person needs a spreadsheet just to keep track of all the information.
The point is that even as a couple with more than 30 years of combined experience working in higher education, it’s been quite the process. And the answers haven’t always been clear. Maybe that’s because our questions haven’t always been clear - hmmm? My wife applied to ten different schools - including two in Canada - and was selected to interview with four of them. In the end, she ended up ranking three of the schools and fortunately she matched with her top choice - Anschutz. It’s so exciting to get an opportunity to connect education to your life goals, but we also know that getting in is just the start!
Since we’re moving we’re taking the opportunity to do some work on our house (funny how we tend to do that). There were two main things we wanted to accomplish - put a new roof on the pergola and repair a damaged roof vent from the heavy snow we received this past winter.
So after looking at available supplies, costs, and our capabilities, we decided that we would purchase new panels for the pergola and do it ourselves. But the roof vent was another issue. After conferring with a friend who does a lot more of this kind of stuff, we decided to bring in a pro to do the roof work.
As you can see, for these two different issues we decided to DIY the pergola roof while we hired a pro to do the roof vent work. The pergola roof was something I felt fine doing. I watched different videos, visited the company’s website, and had all the necessary tools. Well, okay, I did have to borrow an appropriate ladder for the job.
So how does this relate to today’s post? Today there are countless free and low cost resources to help students and families navigate the college admissions process. So if you want to DIY you can definitely do it. There are books, podcasts, videos, friends who have gone through it, and even courses.
Today I’m going to share a couple of different resources that I’ve reviewed and even use for my own learning. If you’re a student or family starting the process, I know that you will find these two resources to be super helpful and take you a long way towards the college “goal” line - notice I didn’t say “finish” line. After all, getting in is just the start, right?
Please note that I am not connected or affiliated with either of these resources. I just find them useful and I hope you’ll find them helpful for your DIY college admissions journey.
The Truth About College Admission Workbook: A Family Organizer for Your College Search by Brennan Barnard and Rick Clark
Brennan Barnard is the director of college counseling at the Derryfield School and serves as the college admission program advisor for the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Making Caring Common Project. Rick Clark is the director of undergraduate admission at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Rick also happens to run one of my favorite college admissions blogs. I think he does a good job of putting things into perspective and being frank with the readers.
This workbook is full of useful information, including reflection exercises for both the student and the family. It’s broken up into four different parts and includes sections focused on:
Why are you going to college?
Remapping the admission landscape
Wedges of college admission
Creating a college list
College visits
Admission Factors: What are colleges looking for academically?
Admission Factors: What are colleges looking for outside the classroom?
Admission decisions
Making your college choice
Closing letters
It also includes fun quips and trivia. For example, did you know that there are approximately 300 colleges in the U.S. with a name that starts with the letter “B”? So if you’re one of those families with kids named Bella, Brian, Brandon, and Bailey, then you may want to look at those 300 schools. There you go - my work here is done <mic drop>.
But if you want to go deeper than the starting letter of the school’s name, please check out this book and set some time aside as a family to discuss the various topics. My copy of the book is dogeared as I carry it with me all the time and refer to it often.
Applying to College 101 - free course on Coursera
I just recently completed this free course and the great news is that anyone can sign up for it! The course was created through a partnership between the University of Pennsylvania and Heights Philadelphia. It includes all kinds of relevant content and I appreciate that it features advice and suggestions from current students. In this way, you can learn from those who recently went through the college search, admission, and matriculation process.
The course includes a helpful workbook which is aimed mainly at the student. You can download the workbook and print it out if you prefer to use a hardcopy version versus a digital version.
The course is broken down into five weeks of content but since it’s asynchronous and online, you can complete it at your own. pace. I completed the content in about 10 hours.
Information is broken down into sections, including:
Welcome to the course
Exploring your motivations for going to college
Getting organized and planning your college timeline
Your college application materials
Identifying your support systems and networks
Introduction to college afforability
How financial aid works
Estimating your cost of attendance (COA)
Getting ready to apply for financial aid
Recognizing the value of your stories
Self-reflection and telling your stories
Identifying your priorities for colleges
Preparing for your college journey
Exploring your college options
Belonging and engaging in your future college communities
Creating your list of colleges to apply to
Researching a campus to help determine fit
What makes a strong application?
Reviewing your academic preparation in your application
Writing your essays and describing your activities outside the classroom
Asking your recommenders to write on your behalf
Getting ready to apply!
Going the Pro Route
Sometimes it’s helpful to seek out professional help and advice, just like we did with our roof vent repair.
If you’ve checked out some DIY options and you’ve determined that you want further help, then please reach out to me at mark@mastalskicoaching.com. I welcome the chance to speak with students and families and assist them in finding clarity on their college admission journey. One of the things I always say is that you aren’t applying to a college to get in. You’re applying to a college so you find the right place for your education and continue to create the life you want.
Remember - getting in is just the start.
Do you know about other resources you think would be helpful for students and families? Please share them in the comment section below so we can all learn about the different kinds of resources available to college-curious and college-bound students.
I empower college-curious and college-bound students and families with the knowledge, tools, and confidence for college success. I will guide you through the complexities of college admissions and beyond, so you can create your boundless life.
Have a question or comment? Please leave it in the comment section below or contact me at mark@mastalskicoaching.com.
There’s no one way to do college.
Be Boundless.
