The College search has begun

[Chefzhat]

You moms who have plowed this row before me . . . help! Are there message boards, information sites, etc to help sift through the piles of college information?

I'm planning our spring break trip to visit colleges in California - Claremont McKenna, Pomona (same campus area), and Stanford. I know we'll have a few weekend trips to see other colleges a bit closer to home.

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Debie

[MaryMac]

Good choices!!! My daughter was accepted at Clairmont-McKenna for this year. It was her dream school, but in the end just too far away for her and ended up at small liberal arts in Michigan. She was well prepared, but one thing we learned is that you should visit a few "iffy" colleges first and have an interview with them, for practice. When she finally went to Clairmont she was very confident in the interview process. Also, before heading out there make sure that they are doing tours and interviews for juniors (I'm assuming junior) as spring is many times reserved for Seniors making those last decisions since they have until May 1.
You'll love that whole campus it's so beautiful.
There was a lot of discussion on BB last year and I'm sorry that I can't help more but I'm totally useless on finding things.

Good luck I'm now on that trail with my son.

[stacy7272]

I love the Claremont campus! We'd always go there for fireworks. :D Actually, DH, who is from Oregon, was accepted to Claremnot McKenna and was going to accept but his dad died and the finances just weren't up for it so he went to the University of Oregon. The ironic thing is that I grew up mere miles from Claremont (my sister lives there now) and if he'd gone there we probably never would have met! So, he's glad he didn't go. Although, he did visit and the one thing he remembers from the trip is all the smog. :( It's gotten much better since then though. Hopefully you'll visit on a beautiful, clear day. It is a quintessential college town.

[MusicMom]

Debie,

Here are two good discussion boards:

http://www.admissionsadvice.com/
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/index.php

However, I found that the more time I spent on the boards, the more stressed out I got. It's easy to get wrapped up in the anxiety of the process- which is not at all productive. Students are not motivated by the stress of their parents. :D

I also recommend books by Loren Pope, especially Looking Beyond the Ivy League. It has a lot of good advice about what to look for in a school and how to match a school to the student's personality and interests.

The College Board and Princeton Review websites are great resources for school profiles.

The college search process can be a very special time for parents and children. I really enjoyed getting to know my DS in a different way as we looked at schools and found what he liked and didn't like about each one.

Good luck!

Vivian

[boisewinesnob]

I also recommend books by Loren Pope, especially Looking Beyond the Ivy League. It has a lot of good advice about what to look for in a school and how to match a school to the student's personality and interests.



The college search process can be a very special time for parents and children. I really enjoyed getting to know my DS in a different way as we looked at schools and found what he liked and didn't like about each one.



I just wanted to mention that I did not read the LP book that Vivian is referring to, but did read through some of his book: Colleges that Change Lives (or some title similar to that). I know at least one of those schools in that book is a joke----I'd never send one of my kids there.

And Vivian's second statement is true. I was surprised by the schools that DS liked that I didn't and vice versa. (ie, I loved Princeton and after visiting he did not even want to apply :confused: ). I'd have to say that visiting really helped to eliminate schools that he did NOT want to apply to. So while we had the expense of the visit, at least it saved the expense and time of an application to a school he wouldn't want to attend.

[Debralynn]

"Students are not motivated by the stress of their parents."
How true !!!!!!!!!! Good luck with your search. Debralynn

[Laura]

Collegeconfidential.com was not a good website DD. I don't know if the posters there have as good as stats as they claim, but DD was convinced she wouldn't get in anywhere after reading some of the threads.

DD has a major (Chinese) that was not offered at a lot of schools when she was first looking; thus going through the Princeton review questionnaire helped her a lot. She was also fairly confident of areas that she did not want to go (California, the South and the Midwest). The school that she ended up at was not her first choice, but has ended up being a great school for her to attend and she now loves it.

Best wishes on the process; it can be very frustrating and exciting all at the same time.

Laura

[MusicMom]

Collegeconfidential.com was not a good website DD. I don't know if the posters there have as good as stats as they claim, but DD was convinced she wouldn't get in anywhere after reading some of the threads.


That site is pretty intense. There is some good information there, but also some high levels of anxiety. I liked the admissions advice board better- it's moderated by an admissions counselor.