There are 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. to choose from... Where will my only child be in the fall of 2011?
I have no experience in terms of helping a child to apply for colleges in the U.S. Am I nervous about the process? Not really. This is because I am counting on Punahou_School, the largest independent school in the States, to guide us through the process.
There are about 430 graduates each year, guided by 8-10 college counselors. Not all college counselors are very good, as I was told. However, my son is very lucky, because his counselor, Mr. Obenchain, is the best. I can tell you Mr. O is a great college counselor after having spent 90 mins with him and my son this morning (yes, on April Fool’s Day, but this Blog is no joke).
My son and I have spent very limited time talking about colleges, often on our way to school in the morning when he is willing to chat or listen. However, he has had a semester on “college application,” and I have attended an evening meeting at Punahou for juniors’ parents. (I was going to Blog about that meeting, but didn’t get to.)
I had a list of questions, and my son had some questions, too, for today’s meeting.
Some background info first: Each student has submitted many pieces of writing about himself, what he wants for college life, etc. So, the counselor knows (probably better than the parents) what the student has been thinking (or daydreaming).
Mr. Obenchain intended to cover four areas during the meeting, and he did very well. They are:
1) Transcripts (more important than SAT scores), including annual averages and trend;
2) SAT test scores;
3) Seed of colleges (a list of colleges to start with, which will grow and then shrink to 6-8 at the end of the process);
4) $$$$$ (how much does it cost).
I will go over each in more details. So, stay tuned…