College Admission Help

Helping the End, by Starting at the Middle, of College Admissions


Seniors, it’s time to put your college knowledge to good use. Mid-term exams are done, semester grades have been sent off to colleges, and even though your mouth says it’s time for senioritis to set in, your head and your heart know better—you’d really like to do something.
So it’s time to talk college again—but this time, you’re giving the advice, not getting it.
There are thousands of students who know absolutely nothing about college, and since you were one of them not so long ago, you’re the perfect person to bring them in from the cold. While a lot of the detail work is best left to counselors, you can jump start a ton of college dreams by talking about what you did to make the college hunt your own, what surprised you, and yeah, what you’d do differently if you had the chance to do it all over again…
…in other words, it’s time for a road trip. To middle school.
Why middle school? Two reasons. First, studies show students stand a way better chance of actually finishing college if they know college is an option by the end of ninth grade—not a specific college or a particular major, but just the idea that college is for them.
Second, you are a hero down there. It doesn’t matter if you weren’t the quarterback, the cheerleader with waist-length hair, or the senior with the snake tattoo on both arms. You’re on their fantasy front line—you’re in high school, you’re going to college, and you’re taller than they are. This qualifies you as a god, and they will listen to you.
If you think this might be James, but you’re freaked at the idea of talking to 800 people under the age of 14 without a script, welcome to adulthood—and here’s the plan:
- You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. There’s a great chance your high school already has some kind of eight grade orientation program. Talk with your counselor, and see if you can make a great program greater with what you have to say.




- Before you see your counselor, go to http://www.nacacnet.org/PublicationsResources/Marketplace/Documents/fcct.pdf and look at the “Families, Counselors, and Communities Together” program. Put together by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, FCCT is designed to explain college to middle school (or even elementary school) students. Print out the information on pages 40-42, tell your counselor you’d like to talk about being ready for college, and go from there.

- Stick to big ideas. You might think eight graders should know about the average ACT score at Warren Wilson College, but that’s going to change in four years. Help them build a big framework around study habits, extracurriculars, and asking for help, then let them fill in the details later—if you give them that, you’ve done plenty.

- Take other seniors with you. More stories means they see more options, so bring along the quarterback, the cheerleader, and the snake tattooed senior—just ask her to wear a shirt with sleeves, so the kids will stay focused.

Admit it—some time in the last month or so, you either said “I wish someone had told me about this sooner” or, “I want to make sure it’s easier for the next group coming through.” This is your chance to give back, to stop looking at the mailbox for college decisions, and to maybe even revisit your own college priorities one more time and get a better understanding of what you really want, thus proving the adage that by giving, we receive.
Who knew?

Helping the End, by Starting at the Middle, of College Admissions