Not every family can afford to shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars to hire a college counselor to steer their high school senior through the college admissions process.
College counselors are in drastically short supply at many high schools. No wonder many parents and students are overwhelmed by the college application process and are ready to give up before even starting.
That’s where a new partnership between Collegewise, which is one of the nation’s largest college counseling organizations, and a nonprofit started by former first lady Michelle Obama hopes to lend a hand.
Reach Higher, which was launched during Obama’s time at the White House, and Collegewise recently introduced their first collaborative effort, an online tool aimed at high school students, their parents and high school counselors.
“How to Make Your Common App a Lot Less Common” is filled with 60 pages of resources to walk students step by step through the completion of the Common Application, which is required by most colleges and universities. The online program also offers advice on navigating the standardized testing process and the crafting of polished essays.
Presented in a smooth, thoughtful way, the overriding goal of the online resource is to make sure students are “proud of what you’re putting out there” on a college application, said Arun Ponusammy, Collegewise’s chief academic officer and the guidebook’s editor.
The 2018-2019 edition can be found at http://go.collegewise.com/collegewise-reach-higher-guide-to-the-common-application.
Collegewise has pledged $1 million to Reach Higher over five years to support the effort, including a social media campaign and the release of other online tools such as applying for financial aid.
Collegewise says it has helped more than 10,000 students through the college admissions process since its founding in 1999. It has been offering the online Common App resource for about six years, said Ponusammy, but it was revised to better mesh with Reach Higher’s mission of helping low-income students and those who may be the first in their family to attend college.
The guide covers everything from what students are advised to answer if they’ve already taken college courses but weren’t happy with their grades to how to answer questions about any school disciplinary actions against them.
Perhaps most helpful is a section devoted to how to write the college application essay for each of the seven choices on this year’s application.
Rebecca Brewer said finding good resources to demystify every step of the college application process is a big issue for families, especially with no prior college experience.
The Maryland woman wrote in an email to me that neither the high school nor a nearby community college were of much help in providing answers about admissions and financial aid for her daughter, who graduated from high school in June.
“My daughter attended a Christian school where they pushed the kids toward a Christian college in Florida,” Brewer said. “If any student had no plans to go to that college, they did nothing to prepare those kids for college elsewhere.”
She said a community college wasn’t much help either: “It was as though they assumed I had all the answers I needed.”
Fortunately, she added, “a kind lady in the cashier’s office explained a load of things that I hadn’t even thought of, and even the adviser didn’t bring up to us.”
Her takeaway: There should be resources, such as a class or booklet “to help parents who do not have all the answers, especially parents like me who have never been to college.”
There’s now a new online tool that aims to do just that.
Contact Steve Rosen: srosen@kcstar.com or write to him c/o The Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo., 64108.
