College Admission Help

Prepping for College Admission 101
By Linda Conner Lambeck
FAIRFIELD -- Everyone knows kids applying to college need a safety school or two -- places they could get into without question.
In today's economy, parents need financial safeties, too, a leading college search consultant recently told a standing-room-only crowd of parents squeezed into the main reading room of the Pequot Library.
"Given the economy right now, I absolutely say look at state universities," said consultant Gay Pepper, who has worked both in the admissions office at the University of Pennsylvania and as a counselor at Greens Farms Academy in Westport.
Pepper assured the crowd of 60 parents and a handful of high school juniors she was absolutely amazed with the University of Connecticut campus on recent visits.
"If you have a strong student, the University of Connecticut will try to woo you there with lots of money and who can turn that down?" said Pepper as the audience scribbled notes.
She recommended they check out the so-called "Public Ivies" like Michigan or Berkeley, where professors are comparable to Yale, but the tuitions are not as lofty.
A program devoted to weathering the entire college admission process, the subject of cost kept popping to the surface.
Pepper said college fees are rising and financial aid packages are becoming more uncertain. Endowments that fuel financial aid budgets are also on shaky ground. The financial aid stimulus plan promised from Washington remains a question mark. Some colleges can no longer afford to assess students just on their talents, she said.
"There is still a huge effort to keep up the level of financial aid for bright kids with high levels of need, but they may not be able to meet the needs of many other families," she said.
Some arrived at the session with a New York Times article in hand that suggested, for those who could afford it, not applying for financial aid might increase students' chances of getting into the school of their choice.
On the common application that many schools now use for admissions, there is a box to check if financial aid is requested. "Can we check it for some and not for others?" asked Wendy Christian, who has a sophomore and freshman at Fairfield Ludlowe High School.
Christian said her sophomore, Brian, is interested in engineering, and has already started looking at colleges. "You can't do it all in one year," Christian said. UConn, she added, will definitely be on the list.
In addition to filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, parents can now submit profile applications in the fall of their senior year to individual colleges to see the kind of financial aid their child is qualified to receive.
Pepper told parents not to be afraid of sticker prices of colleges, and also be willing to work to find out where the best deals are offered.
Pam Toner, of Fairfield, has been slowly saving for college, but is concerned.
"I just feel we're in the income bracket where we don't feel we make enough, but colleges will think we do," she said. Toner's daughter, Carolyn, a junior at Covenant of Sacred Heart in Greenwich, wants to study theater or creative writing and has already visited colleges in Boston and New York.
Things to know ... Visit big and small college campuses so the student will get a feel for the difference, and what they like best. Instead of college-ranking reports, focus on colleges strong in the area, on colleges your student wants to pursue and on those that have good record of alumni getting jobs and into graduate school. One of the best ways to evaluate the quality of the undergraduate experience at a college is to talk to its juniors and seniors on campus. They won't lie to you. Investigate financial aid. Don't be afraid to appeal financial aid decisions by talking to financial aid officers. Try not to micromanage the process and be a good listener. Attend any college program arranged by your child's high school.


Prepping for College Admission 101