Today we continue with item 5 on Marilee Jones 10 tips for the college search.
6. Use your team. You can’t do this alone. Ask for help early and often. You should have a guidance counselor at your high school to help you think through your choices, your parents to love and support you, even college admissions officers to answer your questions. Make these people part of your team.
I could not agree more. People will help–just ask. Even if you do not ask, people may well force themselves onto you. College decisions are fraught with opinions. “Where you applying?” becomes a dreaded question while people often render huge judgements: “Oh that is a good school.” or “You can do better than that.” But, take their unsolicited opinions with a grain of salt. Rather focus on people who either are experts (like college counselors) or who know you well (Parents). With college counselors, be a demand. Sure we are busy, but go out of your way to be known to them.
What if you do not have a college counselor? There are several other excellent sources of advice for college admissions out there:
- The New York Times Choice Blog– a new comer and one of the best, especially with the Q and A from various folks in admissions.
- Not just admissions--from the Dean of admissions at George Mason but goes well beyond GMU.
- Inside college admissions–more professional discussion of higher education.
- College lists is a wiki with thousands of posts by the best in the world of college admissions.
If you are in Shanghai, I have a limited number of spaces available for consultation. Clcik on the link at the top of the page.
