How far would you go to take your ACT?

I read an interesting brief the other day in this week's issue of Bloomberg Businessweek. Not typical reading for an Independent Educational Consultant, I know. Never know where you're going to stumble on a bit of helpful information.

The story describes the path Chinese students take to reaching acceptance into American colleges and universities. You see, the SAT isn't offered in mainland China. I suspect the ACT isn't either. So, Chinese students need to fly to Hong Kong or South Korea or somewhere it is offered in order to meet the testing requirements for U.S. Colleges and Universities. That made me wonder, how far would a typical American teenager would go to prepare himself for his college applications?

The point of this post is that U. S. students should know who they're competing with during the college admissions season. A student would need to be pretty determined to be willing to hop on a plane to take a college entrance exam. Or they'd need to be pushed pretty hard(can you say Tiger Mom?) and/or they'd have to have the cash to fund the trip.

Fact is, the number of Chinese undergraduates in the U.S. is 400 % higher than it was 5 years ago. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that U.S. college admissions personnel are working hard to recruit China's best-qualified, full-paying applicants. Did you know that Chinese families with high school aged children are limited to only one-child? Thus, middle class families In China might be able to afford tuition that exceed what an average American family can afford.

Colleges and testing companies see students living on mainland China as a huge untapped market. The number of high school graduates in the U. S. is declining. Know your competition!

Application Progress Update

December's a busy month for everyone: students, families and educational consultants. College Connectors is happy to reveal that 90% of the seniors we're working with have already submitted all or some of their college applications. We took a break today to decorate for Christmas. Over the past few years we've collected 60 college themed Christmas tree ornament.

Advice from Freshmen

We've been keeping in touch with college freshmen who worked with us during high school on their college searches. They each went through a thorough process of learning about themselves, and learning about colleges in order to find schools where they "fit"! They're willing to share with you: what surprised them about college life. Read what these three students say -

I'm adjusting well to life away from home, and my living conditions are very nice. I have an freshman housing apartment a couple miles off campus, which is nice, the only problem is living off campus, but I'm doing my best. The football team is doing great, undefeated going into the homecoming game this Saturday. My classes are going well, the biggest thing to adjust to is the tests but I've been doing fairly well for myself. So far it looks like I made the right decision coming down here, so thank you so much for your help, hope to keep in touch.

Hi!! Everything is going well. I miss home but I love the school and the people here. The surprising thing about college is the amount of homework I have to get done.

Things are going very well! The marching band is super crazy here but a ton of fun. Also, my classes are going really well, I haven't been stressed at all. But we'll see how far that goes. I would say the most surprising part about college is finding out how much time you have during the day to do whatever you want. Also, some people are just so afraid to be weird or be more of themselves even if they don't know the people around them. I will say it's nice to decide what I want to do without having to clear it with someone.

What have you found to be most surprising about college?

Independent College Counselors

Our business is helping students and their families through the maze of college admissions. We love our work.

There have been several recent web based articles about the relationships between families and independent college counselors. In this blog, I'll talk about why we believe families benefit from working with private admissions counselors and then highlight two additional pieces, one on how to find a consultant, and the other on how to evaluate the quality of a consultant. Lastly, I'll provide a link to the IECA list of suggested questions to ask a college consultant before you retain their services.

The success rate of college students in the United States shocks many people. The fact that 25% of all freshmen fail to return to the college where they enthusiastically enrolled as freshmen causes problems for students, families and for colleges. Top educational consultants eliminate the gap between what students expect at college, and what college is really like, therefore maximizing their success. Instead of just identifying colleges where a student can "get in", a good consultant finds colleges from which a student is likely to graduate.

Colleges differ from one another in many ways. Students and parents need factual information about those differences. The facts may not coincide with their assumptions. Finding colleges where students can thrive and succeed is key to student success and to a consultant's success.

A college education is a major financial investment. Few families make large financial investments without guidance from qualified, ethical professionals. Top educational consultants have experience, commitment to professional development, and membership in organizations that pride themselves on vetting top-notch, ethical professionals: IECA, HECA and AICEP.

The higher education correspondent at MPR recently provided guidance to families on how to go about locating an independent college counselor. Read what Alex Friedrich suggests.

Lynn O'Shaughnessy spoke with three prominent college consultants, members of IECA and HECA, recently and had this to say about how to select a college counselor.

Here's the list of questions IECA suggests you ask prospective consultants.

College Transition Tips for Students and Parents

This morning, College Connectors consultant, Valerie Broughton, and Tim McNiff, KARE11, discussed what parents of freshmen can do to help their teens successfully move from home to college and what freshmen can do to help themselves successfully move from high school student to college student.

Tim asks great questions, and brings a parent's eye to the issue.

You can watch and listen to the interview here.

Based on your experience, what advice do you have for Parents and for Freshmen?

Got Tests?

There's a recent article in the New York Times discussing whether students should take/retake the ACT/SAT. There's lots of information available about this issue. The college admissions consultants at College Connectors consider the testing piece of the admissions puzzle very carefully. Here's our answers to the questions:

ACT or SAT?

How many times should you retake it?

First of all, we live in the Midwest - what some people describe as the Fly-Over part of the US. Of course, that's where the ACT people live too. So, we've never thought the ACT was inferior.

We let people know off the bat that colleges will consider the results of either the ACT or SAT in their admissions decision and to reinforce what others have said, test scores aren't the most important part of the admissions decision anyway.

We advise students and parents that the goal of the either test is to get a score that accurately reflects a student's ability. We sincerely suggest to parents: "The goal is NOT for your teen to have a score you can brag about at a cocktail party".

With this guidance, we suggest students pick one test, a test date that's convenient for them, prepare for the test starting about 6/8 weeks ahead of time, and plan on taking the test once.

Preparation can take lots of forms: buy a book and go through it on your own, take a class, hire a tutor, create a study group with your friends. Whatever, just prepare. We don't think that taking the test officially one time 'just for practice' counts.

Of course, there are times when even we suggest a retake. For example, if the student was ill and couldn't concentrate and scored lower than we'd predict based on their PSAT, PLAN and/or grades, he should retake it. Or, if one of her scores was way out of range compared to the others(ACT sub scores that is), she can think about retaking it.

Most importantly, however, if the student is applying to a college that offers merit scholarships, a retake might be necessary. Consider the case of a student with a 27 ACT score. If the college awards $5000/year to a student with a 27, and $10,000/year to a student with a 28, another stab at the test, another Saturday morning, and the $$ cost of retaking the test could have a great financial payoff and is warranted. The ROI potential in this case is $20,000. Not bad for an 18 year old and a few hours of work. Remembering all the time that it's just as easy to score one point lower as it is to score one point higher.

According to our research, the classes a student takes and the grades they get in high school are more important to colleges than test scores. The pieces of the college search puzzle need to fit together. An over-sized testing piece won't help the solution.

Advice to Help Parents Help their College Freshmen

Labor Day - the day when summer vacation officially ends and the school year begins. No matter if school started 3 weeks ago, or two weeks from now, transitions surround Labor Day.

Seniors are making final decisions about where to apply to college and maybe working on essays.
Juniors are starting what some describe as 'the hardest year in high school' and maybe preparing for their upcoming PSAT test.
Sophomores are starting the year as an experienced high school student and maybe taking their first AP class.
Freshman might be described as resembling 'deer in the headlights' as they navigate a new school and maybe develop confidence as they survive.

What about those kids who excitedly walked across the stage last June tossing their mortar boards in the air, proud that they accomplished their high school requirements? Transitions abound for them too. Some are heading for work, some are taking a year off as a 'gap year' traveling or studying, and most are likely heading for a new educational experience - COLLEGE.

I was motivated to post this blog because of an interesting week we had. We help high school students and their families through the college search and application process, looking for the right match college for each student. Last week, we heard from lots of parents who had just dropped off their new college freshman child. Some parents were sad, some were happy, most were relieved, one or two were hysterical. Letting go brings on a variety of reactions. Some parental reactions are related to the child's needs, some to college life in general, and some to a specific characteristic of the college. Lots of reactions can be directly traced to parent concerns or insecurities.

Those new college freshman have lots of challenges, and maybe, some fun facing them. I was impressed by some advice for parents I read recently, advice about how to help kids make the switch from high school student to college freshman and how to make the change from living at home to living away. The advice is for how to help students, but I like the message it sends to parents. I consider this a great article that Helps Parents Help their College Freshman. That's the title I would have given it. The Washington Post newspaper gave it a different title. If you have a college freshman or know someone who does - this one's for you.