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Curing the College Application Blues
By Dr. Raymond J. and Eileen Huntington
Is your teen suffering from application procrastination? Choosing and applying to the right college can be a daunting process, not to mention that seemingly endless period while the family waits for a response in the mail.
Preparation is the only real cure for the college application blues. Gathering good information early enough to use it is the best way to avoid what College Admissions Deans from across the country term The Five Faux Pas the five most common mistakes prospective freshman make when choosing and applying to college.
Faux Pas #1 Poor Academics
According to a study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, the most important factor in gaining admission to college is strong performance in a college preparatory curriculum (test scores and class rank were second and third). Your teen should be taking as many English, science, math, social studies and foreign language courses as possible. A related mistake is assuming that grade point average is more important than the difficulty of the classes selected. Your teen can't fool an admissions officer with a high GPA based on non-challenging electives. Faux Pas #2 Pack Mentality
Don't let your teen apply only to those schools his or her friends are attending. Work together to set the right criteria: major field of study, campus size/average class size, rural or urban setting, etc. Remember, it's your job to point out that even the best friends can flunk out of college or simply change their minds, leaving your teen stuck with (possibly) untransferable credits from a school that doesn't fit their real needs.
