Expert: Bruce - 1/4/2007

Question
My daughter is a high school junior at a small, relatively new private school. She is the top student in her class, and as she prepares for college, unfortunately her school offers very limited guidance counseling.
Can you offer any advice, resources, etc... to help with preparing for college.

Answer
Harold,

I think I can help with this.

If she hasn't taken the SAT or ACT yet, she should sign up to take them this spring (April & May). I recommend taking both tests. If she's not happy with her scores, she could retake them in the fall. Sign up for these tests can be done online.

At this point, she should be thinking about college in the following terms:

How far from home do I want to go?
Would I thrive at a smaller school, or a large university?
Do I want a school with a particular flavor (Techie, religious, artsy, etc)?
What kinds of things am I most interested in studying?
Is cost/financial aid going to a big factor in my decision?

A book like Peteson's Guide or Barron's can be a good place to start with a general college search. If you want to let me know what geo region you guys are considering for college, and what type of school might fit best, I could suggest some colleges to check out as a starting point.

This spring and summer would be a good time to visit some campuses.

It would be good for you to find out if your daughter's school sends along a profile with the transcripts it sends to colleges. The profile tells about the school and may even list the colleges other recent grads have attended.

I hope this helps for starters. Please send along add'l questions as they come up. Best wishes.

Bruce