# College Questions....lots of questions



## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

I posted this question on one of my favorite sites, but thought I would post here too for as many answers as I can get!!

Ok, lots of questions coming up:

IF you have sent your children to college in the last 1-5 years:

a) What would be the top 3 things you would have done different?
b) What would be the top 3 things you would have done SOONER?
c) What would be the top 3 things you would have asked?
d) What would be the top 3 things you would have not done at all?
e) What would you have done different on your visit to the school?
f) What would you have investigated deeper given the second chance to do so?

My son has been accepted to 4 different schools. We really have our eye on one. It is expensive.....and I don't know if I can make it affordable?

The school is 15 hours away, so I want to be ready to ask every important question there is when I get there.

HELP!!!!


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## halfpint (Jan 24, 2005)

The biggest thing I would have done differently would to have applied for more scholarhips beginning in 11th grade. Since my oldest went to a local university and we were very familiar with the school (as was he since he went to camps there and ended up helping teach music camps in the summers before he graduated from high school), and he lived at home there weren't many issues.

Our 2nd son goes to a college about 5 hours away. We haven't had any issues with the school. I've been told by some parents that they can't even get their students grades due to what the schools are saying is privacy laws, even though the parents are paying. This surprises me as we have to show grades in order to keep our insurance discount. Since he's in a small private Christian school, there are curfews, room checks etc.

The only things I may have done differently is in how I taught (or had taught) a few subjects. Since most of my testing is discussion type and I rarely use fill in the blanks, both of mine did well in their schools since they do not use fill in the blank type questions. But they both said they would have liked to know how to take notes better. 

When you visit a school, ask if you can attend some of the classes, especially in their intended major. This allows you to see class sizes, as well as lecture styles. Also ask to be assigned to a student that is in their major. We didn't go on the 'college visit' weekend my son's junior year, but went during the week when there was not a scheduled visitation. This way they have not set up everything to be pretty. When we went his senior year on the visitation weekend, it was amazing to me how much they cleaned up things, and had better food in the cafeteria.

If you haven't done so, get your FASFA filled out as soon as possible - you can fill it out with preliminary information and update it with exact numbers later when you've finished your taxes. Some colleges begin making awards in early February for the financial need, so the later you file the less likely you are to get those scholarships/awards. It's probably too late to worry about academic scholarships unless your son is a junior in high school.

Dawn


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