Traditionally, campus visits have played a critical role in helping students figure out which school is right for them. But with coronavirus restrictions keeping many campuses (and families!) on lockdown, how can students get a feel for what life—and learning—looks like at their targeted institutions? Experienced school counselors offer tips for determining the right “fit” from afar.

College Admissions Decoded

Getting to Know the Campus When the Coronavirus Lockdown Won't Let You Visit

Four higher education experts share tips and advice for making the right college choice. With Nicole Hurd, founder and CEO of College Advising Corps; Jeff Selingo, education reporter and bestselling author of Who Gets In and Why; Tevera Stith, Vice President for KIPP Through College & Career at KIPP DC; and Angel B. Pérez, CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

The Many Admission Choices in a Changed World

In these final weeks of the college admission season, many high school seniors and their families still have important decisions to make. Some are weighing offers of admission from multiple colleges and universities, comparing and contrasting those institutions’ respective communities and course offerings; others are crunching the numbers, taking the measure of potential tuition bills and financial aid packages. Still others may be in limbo on waiting lists or considering a gap year. But for all those uncertainties in the admission process, many students are now in a position of empowerment, and very much in the driver’s seat as they decide where they will go to college next year.

Student Empowerment in College Admissions

Colleges across the country made big changes in their admission requirements in response to the coronavirus pandemic. More than 1,600 institutions are currently test-optional, meaning students are not required to submit ACT or SAT scores with their applications. Transcripts look different, too, especially at schools that have canceled extracurricular activities and moved courses online. How are colleges evaluating applicants? What can students do to strengthen their admission chances?  Two admission directors take you inside the process.

How Colleges Make Admission Decisions in a Pandemic Year

The coronavirus pandemic has put severe financial strains on US colleges, and on students and their parents as well. As a result, more families need financial aid. Experts talk about applying for assistance, how to read an award letter, how to ask for more if it’s not enough, and other options for students on path to college.

College Financial Aid in the Time of Covid-19

Multiple studies have shown that the coronavirus crisis has made us more depressed, anxious, and stressed. Students are not immune from these effects, particularly when they are juggling other stressors, including the college admission process. Remote learning, physical distancing, and the cancellation of extracurricular activities and other milestone events have only ratcheted up feelings of isolation and anxiety for many students – and all this is happening as they’re engaged in the college search process, which can be overwhelming in the best of times. Hear real-life advice from veteran college counselors for easing students’ mental health concerns. 

Stressed Out: The Pandemic’s Effect on the Mental Health of Students Applying to College

Though many of us find a linear path from high school to college, that is not the case for a set of students whose life circumstance, economic realities, and ambitions lead them on slightly different paths to higher education. This episode is all about the late bloomers among us who come at college from a wide range of experiences and with their own unique advantages.College Admissions Decoded is sponsored by NACAC's National College Fairs. Start your college search for free at a National College Fair, hosted annually in over 90 cities across the country and internationally. Learn more at nacacfairs.org.

Why College Late Bloomers Are Special

Various magazines, websites, and listicles publish their college rankings every year, generating a lot of anxiety from college-bound students and their families. But what are they really telling you? Should these rankings have any influence on what college you choose? And, why do they generate such anxiety?  Our panel of experts from the National Association for College Admission Counseling will take a closer look: Earl Macam, college counselor at Mary Institute/St. Louis Country Day School (MO); Nancy Gibson, senior director of admission at Denison University (OH); and Tevera Stith, vice president for KIPP Through College & Career (DC).College Admissions Decoded is sponsored by NACAC's National College Fairs. Start your college search for free at a National College Fair, hosted annually in over 90 cities across the country and internationally. Learn more at nacacfairs.org.

What Do College Rankings Really Mean?

So you—or your child—got accepted to college. Congratulations! But now the financial aid award letter arrives. What does it mean? How much aid are you really receiving? What if it’s not enough? Will you have to pay it all back? This discussion aims to clear up some of the many mysteries about financial aid letters. In this episode NACAC’s Mary Stegmeir welcomes three experienced and knowledgeable guests to break down what the financial aid letters say and how to apply that information in real life. Tristen Black, associate director of admissions at the University of Oklahoma, Ja’Niah Downing, associate director of admission at Purdue University, and Rachel Fishman from New America in Washington, D.C.College Admissions Decoded is sponsored by NACAC's National College Fairs. Start your college search for free at a National College Fair, hosted annually in over 90 cities across the country and internationally. Learn more at nacacfairs.org.

Understanding Financial Aid Award Letters

There’s almost too much information available about students finding a college with the right “fit” academically and socially, but what about the right financial fit?  What’s the difference between a college’s “sticker price” and the actual cost of attendance? What kinds of financial assistance are available to students and their families, and from where?  How much debt is okay? And when should families begin talking about paying for college?  In this frank and pragmatic conversation, Jayne Caflin Fonash, president of NACAC, Tracy Jackson, supervisor of school counseling services in the Loudoun County Public Schools in Ashburn, Virginia, and Megan Coval, vice president for policy and advocacy at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators in Washington, D.C., reveal the essential steps to take and exactly what information is vital in the process. NACAC’s Mary Stegmeir moderates the conversation.College Admissions Decoded is sponsored by NACAC's National College Fairs. Start your college search for free at a National College Fair, hosted annually in over 90 cities across the country and internationally. Learn more at nacacfairs.org.

How Families Can Talk About Paying for College

Experts say that as many as 40 percent of today’s students transfer to another institution at least once during their college careers. They choose to transfer in order to lower their college costs, find the right academic program, restart and return to college after a break, and a range of other reasons.Despite transfer’s growing popularity, the process is sometimes difficult because of problems obtaining credit for previous coursework, a lack of adequate academic counseling, troubles obtaining financial aid, and more.This episode offers tips to potential transfer students and explores ways to make the transfer process between community colleges and 4-year schools more seamless. The conversation examines new honors programs, scholarship opportunities, and pathways to prestigious baccalaureate institutions that are encouraging students and their families to consider the transfer option.College Admissions Decoded is sponsored by NACAC's National College Fairs. Start your college search for free at a National College Fair, hosted annually in over 90 cities across the country and internationally. Learn more at nacacfairs.org.

Demystifying the College Transfer Process: What Students and Families Need to Know

The college admission process can be long, bewildering and anxiety-producing for students and their families.  Many are looking for the secret formula for getting admitted to the “right” school where a student can grow, learn and thrive. How does a student find that right school? And what are colleges really looking for in an applicant? What really goes on “behind the curtain” when college admissions offices consider a student’s application?  In this episode, two experienced professionals take on these questions and try  to separate some of the facts and the myths in the college admission process. College Admissions Decoded is sponsored by NACAC's National College Fairs. Start your college search for free at a National College Fair, hosted annually in over 90 cities across the country and internationally. Learn more at nacacfairs.org.

What Colleges Are Looking For: Facts & Myths About the Application Process

In this episode, admission experts—from both the high school and college sides of the desk—offer tips to help parents ensure their students remain the focus of the college admission process. The panelists discuss ways parents can help their children not only get into college but through it. Offering empathy and a common-sense approach to applying to college, the panelists share ways parents can be effective, supportive partners throughout the process.The episode features Ashley Pallie, associate dean of admissions at Pomona College (CA); Jami Silver, director of college advising at the Kingswood Oxford School (CT); and Sharon Williams, college counselor at the University of Chicago Laboratory High School (IL). The conversation is moderated by Juleyka Lantigua-Williams.College Admissions Decoded is sponsored by NACAC's National College Fairs. Start your college search for free at a National College Fair, hosted annually in over 90 cities across the country and internationally. Learn more at nacacfairs.org.

Avoiding the Parent Trap: A Common-Sense Approach to College Admission

At the 2019 NACAC national conference in Louisville, Kentucky, Jabari Sellars, a middle and high school humanities teacher at the Sienna School in Silver Spring, Maryland, spoke of the unique interests and experiences of Gen-Z students, our most diverse generation yet.  He called on college counselors and admission professionals to “fight for what doesn’t fit” in the standard college transcript. He also asks us to “fight for what doesn’t fit the narrative” and to challenge preconceptions and stereotypes that prevent us from seeing students as they truly are.   College Admissions Decoded is sponsored by NACAC's National College Fairs. Start your college search for free at a National College Fair, hosted annually in over 90 cities across the country and internationally. Learn more at nacacfairs.org.

SPECIAL EPISODE: “Fight for What Doesn’t Fit: Celebrating Students’ Identities, Interests, and Unique Qualities”

In this episode, Jacques Steinberg, a member of the NACAC Board of Directors and the senior vice president for higher education and communications at Say Yes to Education and a former national education correspondent of The New York Times, welcomes Rafael Figueroa, dean of  college guidance at Albuquerque Academy and former admissions officer at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Their candid discussion of what educators and college admissions professionals can do to help students and their families achieve the goal of getting into college provides practical advice and thought-provoking questions about the purpose and the pathways to higher education.  Journalist Juleyka Lantigua-Williams moderates the discussion.College Admissions Decoded is sponsored by NACAC's National College Fairs. Start your college search for free at a National College Fair, hosted annually in over 90 cities across the country and internationally. Learn more at nacacfairs.org.

College for Everyone: How College Counselors and Admissions Officers Can Get You There

Created by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, every episode insiders from the world of admissions break down the facts, myths, and rules of engagement for today's college landscape.

hubhopper

College Admissions Decoded

hubhopper