"In the womb," TCU Dean of Admissions Ray Brown answered a query about when students should start thinking about college. He's joking. Sort of.
Applying to college used to be a relatively simple process. School rankings weren't published multiple times a year, fewer students went to college, and, if they did go, it was easier to come up with the necessary tuition. For today's college-bound students, however, the process has evolved so that it barely approximates what their parents remember doing 20 or more years earlier.
The number of college-bound and enrolled students has steadily increased over the past several decades, as associate's degrees do what a high school diploma once did, bachelor's degrees do what an associate's once did, and a fast-increasing number of professions require master's degrees for even entry-level positions.
Brown acknowledges that while college isn't for everyone, an increasing pressure for students to go on to higher education means exploding enrollment rates and more competition. Parents and students should start thinking about the end-game while still in elementary school. If college seems like a logical conclusion, then they should seriously begin considering what they want to do in middle school, so they can choose appropriate courses and extracurricular activities for high school.
"We have students that are freshmen in high school and forward in their thinking about college and requesting requirement information," UNT Director of Admissions Rebecca Lothringer said. "The earlier you start the college search, the earlier you can narrow down choices and be more specific [about what you want]. We encourage early research, but definitely no later than junior year if they really want to be prepared."
Part of the need for early preparation is that colleges look at students" entire high school transcript - a lax freshman and sophomore year will certainly raise some red flags about the student's natural work ethic. Beginning with a solid transcript affords students a wider variety of options, including more selective schools, which require yet another level of involvement and distinction.
"These non-academic things like your resume, involvement and letters of recommendation take on a greater weight as the schools get more selective because all the applicants have great grades," Brown cautions. "The more selective the school, the more important the collateral materials become."
Beyond accumulating application "boosters," students need to do a little soul searching and consider what university setting is right for them. Lothringer recommends considering the type of school (public, private or community), location (his or her home for four years, the student needs to enjoy the city and surrounding area), size (does the student feel comfortable on campus and does he or she want to have close relationships with professors), and majors offered (will he or she be able to get the career head start being looked for).
College search engines, such as collegeboard.com, can help students wade through the torrent of information found on college websites, Internet blogs and chat forums. Many search engines have quizzes asking students what they value and providing a list of universities to match. But, no matter how much research a student conducts, the most important part of pre-application planning (and Brown and Lothringer both emphasize this point) is actually stepping foot on the grounds of a college.
"We all have pretty websites and send beautiful literature out, and we all sound alike and talk about how wonderful our colleges are," Brown said. "But when you're on the ground visiting schools, that's when differences emerge. Almost nothing can replace visits to campus."
Once students know the universities they will apply to, anxiety quickly turns to whether or not they will be admitted. Admissions officers frequently field phone calls from panicked students worrying about the state of their application. The best thing a student can do is apply to a few schools that are a bit of a reach, schools they have a good shot of getting into, and a few "safety schools." If they carefully select the schools they apply to, students can take comfort in knowing they can be happy no matter where they end up enrolling.
For students who really want to know how the decision will be made, they need to look no further than the school's acceptance rate. While most schools will make decisions based on a set academic formula, extracurricular activities, work experience, and letters of recommendation take on greater importance as the school's selectivity increases.
Students should never underestimate the amount of money they can earn from financial aid and scholarships. Brown remembered one TCU student who several years ago was able to earn enough money through a scholarship search engine that she had $1,500 left over each month after tuition, fees and books. By her junior year, she had saved enough money to buy her own car.
Scholarships can be found locally, through the Financial Aid office of each university, on national search engines and by major or planned program of study. Students should begin their scholarship search almost as soon as they begin their college search and should never stop, continuing to apply even as sophomores and juniors in college.
"For scholarships, the earlier a student applies, the better their chance at winning a [university-granted] scholarship," Lothringer said. "Dollars are limited, so they are on a first-come, first-served basis. Many financial aid programs don't run out of money, like the Pell Grant. But there are some programs that do, and work study positions are often limited. While some students will get some loans and aid even up to enrollment, if they want to be considered for all financial aid programs, they need to apply early before they run out of money."
Applying for and selecting a college is the biggest decision most students have ever had to make. Their decision will reverberate through the rest of their lives. The process, especially for those who are the first in their family to attend college, don't know what they want to study, or aren't sure how they will come up with the money, can be fraught with anxiety and stress.
"I think the biggest thing that I would emphasize is just to start applying early," Lothringer said, offering her advice for nervous students and parents. "The biggest anxiety we run into is the biggest mistake we find. The earlier they start and apply, the less stress they'll have."
Maybe you don't have to start in the womb. But start early.
