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Question: My son was accepted by three colleges, and he has chosen the one he wants to attend. Are there samples somewhere of what to write the two schools he has decided not to attend? We would like to be as polite as possible and express thanks for the opportunities.

It’s a breath of fresh air–and good karma indeed–that your son will take the time to personally write to the two colleges he won’t attend. Although I firmly believe that almost anything we’d ever want is already out there somewhere in Cyberspace, I’m not sure where you’d find the samples you seek. So, instead, I’ll write them for you.

There are actually two versions of this letter that your son can compose. The first one is very short and sweet:

Dear [NAME OF COLLEGE] Admission Office: [Or, if your son has had contact with a specific admission official, you can write directly to him or her]:

[Your son’s name, school name, and school city/town]

Alternatively, if you don’t have to do too much nagging to get your son to write something longer, then admission officials would really value a more detailed letter that might include all or some of this information:

-the college he plans to attend

-any part of their recruitment effort that was especially worthwhile

That sample would look something like this:

Dear [NAME OF COLLEGE] Admission Office: [Or, if your son has had contact with a specific admission official, you can write directly to him or her]:

[Your son’s name, school name, and school city/town]

Your son can send his regrets via either e-mail or snail-mail, although I recommend the latter. It shows a little bit more effort, and it will also increase the likelihood that the note will be filed with your son’s other application materials. After all, you never know if he’ll decide to transfer in a year or two, so it can’t hurt to leave a favorable impression as he says farewell.

Hope that helps. Best wishes to you and your son as he embarks on his college career,

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Question: We have always tithed to our church, and we give money to many charities, so we are thought to have more money available than we actually have. This is NEVER taken into consideration in any financial aid info I have seen. Is there any way to have our substantial donations considered when seeking aid?

Unfortunately, colleges will not officially consider your generosity when calculating financial aid awards. However, it might be helpful nonetheless to compose an explanatory letter to send to finaid offices at your child’s college (for current students … or to all the schools on the list, for prospective ones). Tell the officials exactly what you’ve told us here. In doing so, follow the Number-One Aid-Appeal Rule, which is to be sure to sound appreciative for any crumb they may deign to toss your way and never entitled to more. At many institutions, the financial aid officials do have some wiggle-room when it comes to determining your bottom line, so it won’t hurt to try this approach.

Presumably, if your church has scholarship $$$ available, you have already explored this avenue.

Good luck!

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Question: We have a high-achieving, loves-a-challenge 8th-grader who will be attending a high school that offers IB and AP. Which of the two do college admissions prefer?

A growing number of high schools seem to be offering both AP and IB, and thus many parents (and students) are befuddled by their options.

In terms of college admissions, it doesn’t matter which you choose. College applications ask guidance counselors to indicate whether a student’s academic program is “Most Demanding,” “Very Demanding, “Somewhat Demanding,” etc. when compared with what is offered at that school. Unless a student has a big “hook” (recruited athlete, underrepresented minority, VIP, legacy, et al), then only those in the first category get serious consideration at the most competitive colleges. Both full IB programs and AP-laden programs generally earn the “Most Demanding” designation. You can certainly check with the school counselor to make sure that this is the case at your son’s school, too.

Note, however, that I say “full IB programs.” In many high schools, students can sign on for some selected IB classes without shooting for the whole diploma, and I’ve seen admission officials act sort of snooty about that. So, before you commit to either route, be certain that you and your son understand what the complete IB program entails in terms of course selection, time commitment, etc. Your school should have some materials that explain how IB works. You can also check out the official site at http://www.ibo.org/ or read this very reasonable Wikipedia summary at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Baccalaureate If you’re wary about jumping in with both feet, then the AP road might be the better one to take.

Another consideration to keep in mind is that the more selective colleges often give college credit only for IB classes taken at the “Higher Level” (”HL” in IB lingo). IB students take three classes at that level and the rest at the Standard Level (”SL”). Some colleges give credit only for IB exam scores of 7 (the top); some for lower scores. Thus, even the most outstanding students may only get college credit in three areas, while AP students could end up with credit in many more subjects, depending on how many AP classes the student takes, how he fares on the exams, and what the college’s credit policy is. Some parents and students report that they have to jump through more hoops for IB credit than for AP credit, especially when students are not at the most selective colleges. In any case, once you start investigating AP and IB credit policies, you may feel like you need Cal Tech degree just to figure it all out. Each college seems to somehow manage to come up with an AP/IB credit-awarding system that is just a tad different than the next guy’s!

Of course, for many AP and IB students, earning college credit is not a priority. Most students are focusing primarily on having an engaging high school experience and on impressing admission officials in the process. If they’re shooting for the Ivies and other hyper-competitive colleges, these students aren’t necessarily looking to arrive with credits under their belt nor do they intend to rush through in three years (even though it might save Mom and Dad a bundle of dough).

As you make your plans, also don’t forget to also look into miscellaneous “logistical” considerations. Find out how your son’s choice of program might affect other options in the school day. For instance, do scheduling constraints mean that IB students cannot sign up for chorus, orchestra or yearbook? Do IB students take all their classes together and are never–or rarely—in class with non-IB students? Do they have a separate lunch period that segregates them even more? (In some schools, this can be a minus, in others, a plus.)

But the bottom line is this: If your son is looking for a challenging high school experience that will also “look good” at college admission time, then he can’t go wrong with either AP or IB.

For some additional thoughts, here are links to a Washington Post article by noted education/admissions writer Jay Matthews and also to an IB vs.AP thread on the College Confidential discussion forum:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47562-2004Dec8.html

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/princeton-university/168664-ap-vs-ib.html

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Question: We are considering e-school or cyber-school for our middle school child and high school child. They are both very competent students who get A’s and B’s. They are involved in gifted and honors programs, school activities, and extracurricular sports. Unfortunately, our middle school is dismal, and we don’t want to expose our child to it. Will e-schooling them ruin their chances to be admitted to top colleges and universities? How do admissions departments view cyber-schools or e-schools?

Students enrolled in cyber-schools will be evaluated by admission officials much like home-schoolers are, but with the added advantage that many cyber-students will have actual grades to report, which home-schooled students typically don’t (or if they DO have grades, the adjudication is often done by Mom or Dad).

There was a time, not so many years ago, when college admission officials approached such non-traditional applicants with skepticism or at least with surprise. There simply weren’t that many families who chose to educate their children in that way. Now, of course, the number has burgeoned and continues to rise. There are many reasons why parents choose to follow this route, but–whatever they are–there is no reason to fear that it will have a negative impact on their children’s college-admission opportunities.

With so many families asking the same kinds of questions that you are, it’s no wonder that college-related information for home-schoolers now proliferates. In fact, do a Google search, and you’ll find pages and pages of sites to check out—reading them is something of an education in itself.

If you haven’t done so already, your first stop should be our own College Confidential discussion forum at http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/home-schooling-college/ .This link will take you to our threads on “Home schooling and college.” There’s a brief thread on cyber-schooling, too … not much info there yet but a good place to connect with like-minded others … and don’t forget that most issues that pertain to home-schooled students will pertain to e-schooled students as well.

Another site to check out is http://learninfreedom.org/colleges_4_hmsc.html While I can’t personally vouch for its accuracy, there seems to be a lot of information there, including a list of home-schooler-friendly colleges and universities along with direct links to their Web sites.

Speaking of Web sites, home-schooled candidates are so common these days that many colleges have separate Web pages just for them. Usually you can link to these from a college’s admissions homepage, but sometimes I feel as if just finding the pages requires a college degree! If you don’t locate the information you need in a reasonable amount of time, cut your losses and telephone admission offices directly.

These guidelines from Stanford University are typical of what you’ll find at many schools. http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/applying/extras/1_2a4_homeschooled.html Keep in mind that colleges may have different requirements (or sometimes they’re merely “recommendations”) for home-schooled students than they do for the rest of the applicant pool. For instance, some institutions may ask for extra standardized admission tests (especially SAT Subject Tests) or will insist on a personal interview.

When I first began evaluating admission folders at Smith College in the mid-1980s, home-schoolers were still a fairly rare breed. Not too long thereafter, however, Smith created an application supplement just for home-schooled students. This, too, is a rather common practice. So be sure your children identify themselves as cyber-schooled students when they first begin to request college information so that they will be informed of all specific materials and requirements that pertain to them. You’ll find the Smith supplement at: http://www.smith.edu/admission/pdf/HomeSchooled07.pdf It will give you a good sense of what many colleges expect from home-schoolers.

When admission officials—especially at the more elite and competitive colleges–assess their home-schooled candidates, there are two factors that tend to carry a lot of weight:

The first of these is curriculum. Admission officials will scrutinize evidence that the applicant has followed a program that is roughly comparable to the same recommended classes that other applicants have undertaken. This usually includes four years of English, three or four years of math and social studies, and at least two of foreign language and lab science, preferably more, especially at the most selective institutions.

Elite-college admission officials are eager to identify students who have pursued an academic passion in depth. If this passion is an uncommon one, so much the better. Home-schooled students often have more opportunity to explore unusual areas of interest than typical high school students do. Sometimes home-schooled students pursue their own independent research.

As your children near the end of high school, you also might want to consider enrolling them in a local community college (or any nearby college that will allow this) to take a course or two each semester. When a home-schooled student has taken at least a couple courses in a classroom environment such as a community college and has earned good grades, that tends to help balance out the home-school “transcript” and to work in his or her favor.

In general, when it comes to college admission, the most successful home-schooled applicants are those who stand out in the crowd not only because they didn’t go to Rydell High but also because they’ve taken full advantage of their outside-the-box education and will bring the best of what such an education can offer to their college campus and share it with others.

The second area of importance is test scores. It’s almost ironic that home-schooled or cyber-schooled students, who have often be brought up outside the confines of traditional education, typically have to score especially well on SAT or ACT exams in order to stay in the running at top colleges. Since admission folks don’t have the more usual measures of a candidate’s success available to them (e.g., class rank), they need some way to compare these students to the rest of the pool. Because home-schooled children don’t always encounter multiple-choice tests, timed tests, or any formal tests at all as part of their home-school curriculum, it is important that you keep in mind that they will most likely encounter these very important college admission tests and prepare accordingly. Depending on what e-schooling program you pursue, your children may encounter a lot of testing, but–even so–testing at home is a very different experience that staggering into the local high school with cast of thousands at 8 or a Saturday morning to take the SAT’s.

Home-schooled students are also eligible to take College Board Advanced Placement exams. A good score on these tests is an excellent way to prove that a non-traditional education is at least on the same footing with a more commonplace one.

Some home-schooled students are permitted (and eager) to take part in extracurricular activities at their local public high school. However, in most cases, admission officials don’t expect to see “Student Government,” “Pep Club,” or “Debate Society” on a home-schooled student’s transcript. However, your children should develop outside interests (and holding a job counts, too) to supplement their academic ones. Sometimes home-schoolers, who lack the chance to take part in the usual student clubs, can come up with pretty creative alternatives that wow admission committees more than a Spanish Club membership or spot on the high school cheering squad ever will. If your children are playing community or club sports, they may be able to continue with those activities, too. Admission officials also like to see students who take part in community endeavors that involve participants of many ages. When students aren’t bound by a typical school schedule, this may make it easier to participate in local events at any hour of the day.

So, as you can see, there are lots of options for home-schooled and cyber-schooled students with college goals–even lofty ones.

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Question: My daughter has a well balanced list of 10 colleges. How do we decide if she applies Early Action or Early Decision? I keep reading that we must have a “strategy.” But what does that mean, and how do we decide between EA and ED?

Yes, unfortunately, there does seem to be a lot of “strategizing” going on these days when making application plans, and the advice I give my counseling clients varies greatly depending on their assorted goals, finances, etc.

The key point to keep in mind is that applying Early DECISION usually provides a boost in admission odds–sometimes a significant one. Colleges tend to operate on the old “bird in hand vs. two in the bush” theory. That is, they will often admit a strong but not extraordinary applicant whom they know will enroll for sure rather than holding out for Teen Jeopardy winners and published novelists who may not matriculate if admitted … or who may not apply at all. When I worked in a college admission office, we rated our applicants on a 1 to 10 scale (with 1 at the top). During the Early Decision round, we often admitted 7’s. During the Regular round, some 5’s and most 6’s didn’t make it.

Early Action, on the other hand, rarely provides that same advantage. After all, why should the college save space for an applicant who may not show up in September unless that applicant is extremely strong and the school wants to curry favor with good news in December?

But it can be a cat and mouse game for sure. For instance, should a student apply to a long-shot dream college via Early Decision with the hope that the ED boost will make a difference, or is that student “wasting” the ED chit on an impossible dream? I’ve often seen kids apply to a long-shot school in November and then, if deferred, to try the Early Decision 2 round (which many schools now offer, typically with a Jan. 1 deadline) at a somewhat less competitive second-choice college rather than waiting for better news from the first-choice college in April.

Despite the somewhat annoying level of gamesmanship involved, this can be a good plan for students who are wavering between two colleges, with one clearly more selective than the next.

I also have advisees who apply to both an EA school (or several) plus one ED college. They understand that, if admitted to the ED school, they must commit (unless the financial aid offer precludes it). Read Web site instructions carefully. A handful of colleges forbid concurrent EA and ED applications.

Moreover, ANY type of early application can be a bad bet for a student who had an uncharacteristically weak junior year or whose junior test scores are likely to improve in twelfth grade. Students who need to compare financial aid options (typically middle-class kids hoping for merit awards … not the well-heeled or truly disadvantaged) should often give up the pluses of ED in favor of the chance to choose among a range of aid offers.

In addition, some students are simply not ready to pick one college by November and to say, “For this school I will forsake all others.” This is why EA programs are increasingly more popular–they don’t require a commitment (but, of course, they don’t provide any real admissions advantage either, except for, perhaps, some peace of mind by December, which is an advantage indeed).

So, unfortunately, there are no easy answers to your question. I counsel my advisees about early application options on a case-by-case basis, depending on their top college choices, my assessment of their admission chances at those schools, their finances, and other factors.

You and your daughter will have to review her list and decide if she wants to make an ED commitment to a school on that list that offers it. If one of her top choices is something of a reach, but not a high reach, if your finances don’t require a careful weighing of options in April, and if you feel that your daughter’s junior grades are representative of her abilities, then ED might be a good bet for her.

Unlike the conventional wisdom that suggests that a student should only apply ED if she has a clear-cut first-choice college, I tend to feel that if a student has SEVERAL schools where she knows she can be happy and engaged, it might make sense to roll the dice, select one of these colleges, and get the whole mess over before Santa hits the skyways. But some admission folks are horrified that any student would be counseled to say “I do” without true love.

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Question: Our son is in a K-8 private school. We are now in the process of selecting a high school. The local public high school is rated as excellent by the state. Will he get added value in learning in a private high school versus a very good public high school, and how will our choice affect his college plans?

College admission officials evaluate their applicants in the context of where they attended high school, but that’s not to say that one route is better than the next. There are some very fine public high schools and there are some mediocre (and sometimes even awful) private ones. At the top colleges, admission officials are looking for candidates who have taken advantage of the most challenging classes available to them, but they certainly don’t penalize those who haven’t had the same opportunities as more well-heeled peers. So you should aim to send your son to the high school where he will be both happy (as much as you can predict teenage happiness!) and academically challenged.

Some private school guidance counselors do have “insider” connections with admission officers at elite colleges, but that can be true at public schools as well. If you are deciding between two high schools, ask guidance staff at each for a list of the colleges where recent grads have been admitted. If one school name appears over and over, chances are good that this high school has a strong rapport with the college. You can even feel free to ask about that, too. However, it’s a common misconception that private school students fare better at college-admission time than their public school peers. Colleges are eager to enroll diverse freshmen classes and shy away from admitting too many “preppies.” In addition, I’ve observed that at some of the more competitive colleges, there’s a subtle preference for applicants who’ve not had everything handed to them, so public school grads edge out private school kids in that respect.

For me, class size is always a key concern. While one tends to assume that classes are smaller in private high schools, that’s not always the case. Also, because private schools are typically smaller than their public counterparts, students may have more difficulty scheduling the classes they prefer because each subject may only be offered in one time slot and not in several, as they are in many public schools.

Geography may play a role in your decision, too. Is either school within walking distance? How easy–or difficult–will it be for your son to visit his classmates at their homes? How much does this matter?

How about extracurriculars … does one school offer certain sports or arts programs that the other doesn’t provide? If so, is this important?

Bottom line: when choosing a high school for your child, there are pros and cons to selecting both private and public schools, and it’s important to look at whether a particular school is right for your child by considering many factors but, perhaps, going with your “gut” for the final call.

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Question: I am in 10th grade and I think I want to go into engineering. But there are so many different areas of engineering, and some of their names seem similar yet different. How do I decide which is best for me? What if I pick a major and then don’t like it?

Your question evokes one of education’s “chicken and egg” conundrums. You don’t want to commit to an academic field before you understand it, but–in order to understand it–you have to commit to it. Confusing, eh?

Luckily, many college engineering programs offer you the chance to take a broad range of courses before deciding where you want your focus to be. But, admittedly, the terminology can be confusing.

You may find some help from the American Society for Engineering Education. You can order their guidebook, aimed at high school students considering engineering careers. It’s only $4. See: http://www.engineering-goforit.com/

Also, if it’s possible for you to do an engineering summer program next summer, this can give you a chance to test the waters and learn more about engineering specialties before you start applying to colleges. There are many summer engineering programs. Often they are held on college campuses, although you may find day programs in your own community or nearby, as well.

Here are some links to help jump-start your search: (Some programs for next summer and their schedules may not be listed until winter or even early spring, but this will give you an idea of what to expect and where to look.)

http://www.petersons.com/summerop/select/a038se.asp

http://www.engineeringedu.com/summercamps.html

http://www.studentsreview.com/hslist.php3

If you Google “Summer programs+engineering” you’ll get dozens of other ideas, too.

Once you have a chance to try out different engineering fields, you may get a better sense of which is the best fit for you.

Happy hunting!

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Question: I am applying to Boston University. One of my English professors
wrote me a recommendation in which he briefly talked about some of my writing in his class. He includes a description of a paper I wrote in which my argument was that abortion should only be legal under certain circumstances. I’ve been told that Boston University is liberal in outlook and that it would be a bad idea for me to submit this recommendation, even though it is a very good recommendation otherwise. What should I do?

Don’t worry about your teacher’s reference “outing” your views on abortion and hurting your Boston University admission odds. Even the most liberal institutions value–and encourage–a range of perspectives, and I promise you that if you aren’t admitted to BU, it will NOT be because your abortion stance is more conservative than the prevalent opinion on campus.

What does concern me, however, is that you seem to be talking about submitting the recommendation yourself. Instead, you should request that your teacher’s letter of reference go directly to the college from him–or from your school–assuming that it is one of your REQUIRED teacher recommendations. (If it’s an extra, optional reference, it can come right from you.) Colleges prefer to see references that were written confidentially and to which students do not have access.

Admittedly, there seems to be a growing trend among teachers to show their letters to the applicants involved and sometimes to even ask for feedback (e.g., “Is this what you want me to say? How should I change it?”). However, admission committees take good references more seriously if they don’t appear to have passed through the candidates’ hands first before arriving in their offices.

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