Starting the college process
It's here.
My daughter is a high school senior. The year has just started, and we are going through the college process. It's on.
My wife and I are raising three amazing humans. The time flies by so very fast. I remember Kiki's first day of preschool like yesterday. I remember having an argument with my parents about how a 2-year-old is too young to start school.
Now she's driving and we're getting letters every day from colleges from all over. Some of which we've never heard of.
I'm the first to say that college isn't for everyone. And for some careers, an undergraduate degree is a waste of time and money. But we're a college family, and she wants to go to college.
What It Takes
A lot goes into it; grades, applications, tests, letters of recommendation, and money.
The money part is the main reason I started this blog. The cost of college can get out of reach for many families. Where she winds up attending next fall will be a combination of:
Where she wants to go.
Which school is the best fit for what she wants to study.
Which school will give us the most money.
Which schools want her. Basically the same as the point above.
Which school we can afford.
Not necessarily in that order.
High School Counselors and Advisors
And we need help. Like many high schools, her school has a college counselor. We've been on some webinars and are learning how our school works the process. Naviance is an online tool that our school uses to manage the student's application process. As I understand it, Naviance is the tool that most schools use for this. So far it seems pretty straightforward.
In our case, we felt the need for a more individual approach. Kind of like a personal trainer for the college search. I looked around and met with a few companies that offer college counseling and settled on one. So far so good. If the results are good then I will do a write up about them. Right now we are working toward a list of schools to apply to, based on all those factors I listed above.
What attracted me to the group we hired, is that they don't just find the schools and the money (grants, scholarships, best loans, etc). They also have legit strategies for paying off the tuition that we will wind up owing. Unless there is a full-ride scholarship involved; we'll be paying some tuition.
Enjoying The Journey
It's so important to take in each day. Time is flying by so fast. Be intentional. This time next year it's very possible that my baby will be at school far away from home. I'm not ready for that now, but I better start warming up to the idea.
I'll do another post about staying close to home vs. going away for college. It's a big conversation around here. Out-of-state tuition fees play into the decision of course. It would cost a lot less for her to attend college in California. And there are plenty of great schools in the LA area where we live. But I get it - the idea of moving to a place where no one knows you can be very appealling to any 18 year old.
If you're in the same boat, enjoy it. And I am open to feedback, suggestions, etc.