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Capstone Educational Consultants

Helping Students with Test Prep, Tutoring, and Navigating the College Journey

Deadlines

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Choosing A College Once You’re Accepted

Choosing a college once you’ve received your acceptance letters is arguably more important than selecting the colleges in the first place. It goes without saying at this point, but congratulations on your acceptances! But that was the easy part — now it’s time to decide!

A decision typically comes between selecting one of at least two different things. In this case, it may be you have several colleges to choose from. Either way, between two or between many, narrowing down your decision is big. Here’s a simple process to consider:

Compare Apples-to-Apples

In order to fairly consider between two options and choosing a college, it’s important to place them on equal playing fields. Identify those things about each college that make them different. These things could be size, financial package, location or one may have a spot on a team whereas the other one doesn’t. In doing this exercise, you’ll be able to evaluate their similarities, such as academic program, campus amenities, faculty involvement, internship opportunities to name only a few.

Evaluate the Oranges

Whereas before you were focusing on the colleges similarities, in this exercise, you’ll focus on those things that differ: Apple-to-Oranges. Take a look at those things that make each college different from the other and determine the level of importance they each play in your attending college. Finances may be a determining factor, so it should be valued much higher to you than say having a spot on the team with no scholarship offered.

Visit the Campus

Take a trip to see the campus before making your final decision. Exploring the campus, seeing the students in action, sitting in on a class and speaking with faculty, coaches and reading up on the campus newspaper are excellent ways to broaden your understanding and perspective toward a place you’re considering to spend the next four to six years earning a degree.

Ask Questions

Before visiting the campus one last time, make the effort to do your homework. Find out everything you can about the campus, academic programs, student opinions and student organizations before you step foot onto the campus. Prepare in advance a short list of questions that address your curiosities and interest to better understand the academic programs or other aspect of the college.

We hope this helps you tackle this very important decision with more precision and ease.

As always, feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions or need some help sorting through your options. And, for more insight into college admissions, please “LIKE” our Facebook page!

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Surviving College Admissions Deadline

In politics, we always hear of the “October surprise.”  High school seniors have a different understanding when it comes to surprises in October.  Throughout the month and the fall semester, students are scrambling for time to finish their applications, edit and re-edit their college essays, all in hopes to reach the college admissions deadline.  And, there are different deadlines depending on the college.  For Early Decision, many see October 15, while others have determined November 1 or 15.  Some Early Action deadlines stretch even later like December 1, 15 or even January 1.  Regardless of the day, surviving this gauntlet of detail can wear down the most eager of students.  

So, here are a few suggestions for parents on surviving college admissions deadline day:

Stay Healthy

Whatever the schedule, getting the proper rest for your student is paramount.  And, be sure to have them eat plenty of smart foods for the brain like salmon, avocado, nuts, broccoli, spinach, berries and let’s not forget; dark chocolate!  Yeah, I know, what student will eat spinach? But, there’s always an alternative! In addition to these great foods, there’s always the daily vitamin!

Stay Organized

When your schedule is packed with school work, band practice, soccer practice, test-prep, volunteering on the weekends and college applications with essays, keeping it all organized is critical.  Look ahead and plan your week accordingly.  It’s a good idea on Sunday to see what your upcoming week may require.  Once you see the big picture, then break it into manageable pieces and plug it into your week to make it all happen smoothly and on-time.

Stay Mindful

Keeping a clear mind is important in producing quality work.  Going for a quick run to unclutter your mind always helps.  You need to be mindful to survive the college admissions deadline.  With a clear mind, your essay is sharper, your applications are clearer and your life gets easier.