by Brett E. Kennedy, Managing Director
As a new calendar year begins, we naturally take stock of where we have been and look ahead to a new year. Resolutions are made (and yes, sometimes fizzle out quickly). In the college search process, many students and parents ask the question “Are we were we need to be in the college search process?”
Ideally, a senior in high school will have made applications to colleges, completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or the CSS Profile as appropriate and perhaps even completed a few institution-specific merit scholarship applications. Of course, as a senior they have already taken the SAT and/or the ACT and had those results sent to the colleges. For many seniors, now can be a time of waiting. They are waiting to hear on admission and on scholarship and aid awards to make informed comparisons.
What if you have a senior and you have not done those things? To borrow from Douglas Adams and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” Don’t Panic. First, for most colleges the deadlines have not yet passed. You can make application for admission, complete your Free Application for Federal Student Aid or CSS Profile and even sit for the SAT or the ACT. Certainly, you need to get moving in the process but it is not too late.
The main point I want to make to parents and students alike is that the deadlines are simply designed to encourage activity on the part of students. Of course, you need to pay attention to the deadlines but the primary driver in the college search process is finding that right place where you can thrive. The right college simply needs to be a fit academically, a fit culturally and a fit financially.