November 3, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR ELLEN PICCIOLO IN MA
Hi Ashley,
Applying to college and getting it all straight can be overwhelming at
times, but hang in there! My first recommendation is to set up regular
meetings with your school advisor. They are generally trained in
helping students find the right colleges to apply to, answering
questions (or giving direction on how to get questions answered) with
respect to cost, applications, preparation, etc.

I used a high school guidance counselor and it was a huge help to me.

Per you question on finances, generally colleges will ask you to fill
out financial aid information as part of your application.

Regarding your GPA being below 3.0, don't think for one minute that that
means you cannot go to college and be very successful...of course you
can! It's a matter of finding the right college to suit your needs and
interests, and vice versa.

*******************
A: FROM MENTOR DENISE HARBERT IN IL
Hi Ashley! I'm so glad you emailed your questions to GEM-SET! It sounds
like whoever you were asking before was making you feel frustrated and
discouraged. Please don't let anyone make you feel that way! You will
encounter many people in your life who will ignore your needs or, worse,
tell you to do things that are not good for you. The only thing you can do
about that is to make a conscious decision to IGNORE those people. If you
ask a question and don't like the answer, then walk away and ask someone
else. Keep walking away and keep asking other people until you get the
information you need. DON'T QUIT no matter what anyone tells you!!! If
you want to go to a good college, then you can. Yes, you will have to work
harder and be more creative than someone your age who already has straight
As and a lot of money. But very FEW students have straight As and a lot of
money, so that perfect "ideal" is simply NOT something you should be
wasting your time thinking about. You'll drive yourself crazy if you try
to live up to a standard created by less than 1% of college
students. Focus your energy on what YOU want and what YOU think you can
accomplish. DON'T LISTEN to anyone who discourages you or tells you that
you can't get where you want to go. Desire to succeed in spite of any
roadblocks in front of you is literally the MOST important thing you'll
need if you want to go a good college. If you are determined enough, you
will succeed no matter how many people or things are standing in your way!

It seems like part of the reason why you are overwhelmed is that you're
struggling with too many things all at once:
1) taking the ACT
2) selecting schools to apply to that meet your needs: location, quality of
school, admissions requirements, cost
3) how to apply for the schools you select: online vs paper, fees,
deadlines, what to put on the application
4) how to pay for college
5) frustration at not getting the answers to the questions you've
been asking

I listed them in the order I think you should be working on them. You
should always keep the later ones in mind, but try focusing your attention
on them one at a time. You may need to do 1 and 2 at the same time. You
will definitely need to think about 4 while doing 2 and 3. This college
"to do" list takes a lot of effort, so you need to have enough time to work
on it. Clear your high school schedule as much as you can. Check your
high school graduation requirements and see if you can take a study hall or
free period in school. This will decrease your homework load while
simultaneously giving you more time. Consider taking a few classes that
will take less effort, are easier to get As in so you can increase your
GPA, and will give you more confidence in school. If you are signed up for
a lot of extra curricular activities, you should consider dropping out of
the ones that soak up a lot of your energy AND are not likely to lead to
scholarships. For example, playing varsity sports takes a lot of energy
and may be worth dropping, but you shouldn't drop a sport if you get a lot
of emotional support from it or if you think you can get a scholarship in it.

After you clear your high school schedule, focus on the ACT. (You may also
need to take the SAT because some colleges require one or the other or
both. I took them both just to be on the safe side because I didn't want
to limit myself in my college choices.) Your grades are OK - you seem to
be averaging just below a B - but they are not outstanding. You can make
yourself more attractive to colleges if you do really well on the ACT
and/or SAT. You should definitely study for standardized tests in advance
because you can improve your test scores by studying. It sounds like money
is a concern for you, so you may not be able to afford some of the ACT/SAT
classes that are taught by testing agencies. You can buy test books pretty
inexpensively at any local book store in your area (my area has stores like
Borders, Barnes & Noble, Walden Books). Do you have any friends you could
study with on a regular basis? That makes it more fun. You could also ask
your school guidance counselor if there are any special programs in your
area that will help you study for the tests. Sometimes teachers volunteer
to help students after school. Sometimes local stores or wealthy members
of a community will give the school money to sponsor students who can't
afford to pay for the ACT/SAT preparatory classes by themselves. If you're
a Senior now, you need to take the ACT/SAT as soon as possible. You should
have it done in time to get the RESULTS by the end of December of your
Senior year. It's better if you take it as a Junior if you can.

When you're ready to pick some colleges, limit your choices to be
realistic. (Cross Harvard and Yale off your list because they cost a
fortune, they're really hard to get into, and they're a long way from
home!) You might want to start by assuming that you will go somewhere in
Tennessee. In-state tuition is a lot cheaper because your family has been
paying taxes in TN that have effectively already paid for part of the costs
of college in TN. It seems like you want to get away, but you also feel
worried about or attached to your sister. You might need to be close
enough to "home" to visit often. Most students feel a lot of fear and
insecurity their first year away from home. You could limit your search to
community colleges or small universities within an hour's drive from your
home. You could start at a 2 year community college very close to home and
could plan to transfer later to a larger 4 year college that is farther away.

Most colleges have early admissions and early financial aid options, so try
to apply as soon as you can. If you get your applications in by the end of
December of your Senior year, then you may have more choices than students
who wait until the last minute to apply. You could have better choices for
what college you can go to as well as better options for financial
aid. Don't worry too much about the on-line application process. Most
schools have really good web sites that explain how to do it. (By the way,
another GEM-SET mentee asked about that. Check out my answer to her
question in the Daily Digest Archive for January 2003 at
http://www.uic.edu/orgs/gem-set/archive030110q3.htm). Make sure you ask a
high school teacher that you trust to review your application before you
send it. DO NOT make any spelling or grammatical errors on your
application. That makes you look bad! Triple and quadruple check every
detail on your application before you send it.

Apply to at least 3 schools and maybe apply to 5-6. Try to pick one school
that would be your dream and pick one school that would be a "sure
thing". The others can be anywhere in between. That way, you'll feel
safer that you'll get in somewhere but you won't be limiting your
options. You'll have the possibility of your dream, but a very real
back-up plan just in case you don't reach your dream the first time you
try. Colleges have application fees, so applying can be expensive. If you
don't have the money, call the Financial Aid offices at each school and ask
if they have a program to waive the application fee. If your family
doesn't have much money, you might qualify for a free application.

When completing your college application, think about including things that
indicate what kind of person you are. Do you have a job? Do you do any
community service? Are you involved in a lot of extra-curricular
activities at school? Are you active in church functions? Do you do a lot
of mentoring or tutoring to help your younger sister? DEFINITELY mention
your participation in GEM-SET and possibly talk about things you learned in
GEM-SET or things that GEM-SET made you think about that you hadn't
considered before. I scanned through the past Daily Digest Archives and
found several questions from "ASHLEY S. IN TN" about liking computer
technology and wanting to go to college in spite of being put into the
vocational track at school. Was that you? If so, write on your college
application that your school put you in a track that funneled you into a
different direction than where you want to go and discuss how that has
affected you, your interests in school, and your options for the
future. Think about how you got the GPA that you have and talk about that
in a positive way. Are you a steady B student with an occasional C? Maybe
that means you're diverse and good at a lot of different things. Did you
get As in your best subjects and Cs or Ds in your worst? Maybe that means
you excel in a specific area that you should talk about majoring in. Did
you have one really bad year and get really good grades in the
others? Maybe you experienced a traumatic personal event like a family
illness or divorce that affected your ability to concentrate. Remember
that REAL people will be reading your application, so anything you can say
about yourself that makes you look more mature or makes you stand out from
the other applicants will help you get in. Just BE POSITIVE on your
application. If you mention a roadblock or a setback, talk about it in a
positive way and discuss how you WILL get around it.

You never have to prove to a college that you can pay for it, so don't
worry about that! Colleges simply send you a bill and kick you out if you
don't pay it. (Many colleges will reinstate you later if you pay for it
late.) ABSOLUTELY complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student
Aid). Start reading the FAFSA forms while you're completing your college
applications or as soon as you're finished with your applications. The
FAFSA is the U.S. government's financial aid application. See
www.fafsa.ed.gov. If your family doesn't have much money, you may qualify
for free government funds. I got several thousand dollars in grant money
through the FAFSA - grants DO NOT have to be paid back - and the FAFSA is
the way that you apply for student loans. Some small loans are OK, but do
everything you can to avoid huge student loans. When you graduate, you're
going to have bills like a car, apartment, new wardrobe for work, etc. and
you won't want to have $100,000 in student loans to pay off on top of that.

Please consider that you asked a LOT of questions all at once this
time. If you aren't satisfied with the answers you got to one of your
questions, then please write back to GEM-SET in a few weeks and focus your
question on that area. You might get some different answers from different
mentors! Remember, keep asking for help until you get the answers you
need! Good luck and don't let anyone squash your dreams!!
********************
October 31, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR LESLIE WAITE IN CA
Hi Ashley;
It's great that you are thinking of all these things now. Getting
ready for college can be really confusing and overwhelming. I had a
lot of the same questions.
You ask about a few things:
Choosing a college, paying for college, and getting accepted to
college. I will deal with all of these, but first, let me say: take a
deep breath, calm down a bit: the good news is, that if you really
want to go to college, you can. Even if you don't have a perfect GPA,
even if you struggle with the ACT- there are options. I'll talk about
these below.
Now, hang on because this may take us a while.... :)

For choosing a college, it seems like you have two concerns: First,
you want to go to a good college; second, you want to go to a college
close to home. Getting both should be possible, depending on where
you are in Tennessee.
As to a "good" college: This can depend. Do you have any idea what
you are going to major in? Different colleges have different
strengths, so knowing your possible major will help you figure out
which schools are the best for you.
There are places that rank schools for overall quality and value.
While a lot of people feel that schools like Harvard and Yale are the
best, it might surprise you to learn that when it comes to success
after college, there are a number of State Universities whose
students do just as well as folks from the Ivy League.

Some places to look for ranking information:
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (my alma mater!) has a
site with links to several college ranking sites:
http://door.library.uiuc.edu/edx/rankings.htm

Two places I know of that rank colleges and Universities are
Kiplinger's Magazine, and US News and World Report Magazine.

Kiplinger's http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/colleges/ lets you see
rankings for free. You can see all of their listings, or just the
ones in Tennessee. You can have them listed by what kind of value
they are for out-of-state residents, which might help if you are
going to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for example
(the top-rated public institution).

US News and World Report is good if you either buy the magazine at a
newsstand or sign up for the "premium online edition", which costs
money.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php.

The University of Tennessee is listed as being one of the 100 best
colleges in the country for in-state residents by Kiplinger's, so you
might be right by an excellent school!

Depending on where you live in Tennessee, you might want to consider
a nearby out-of-state college. The University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill is listed as number one in the nation for public
institutions. There are several others, but I would go to the
Kiplinger's site and look around. be sure to read the page on how to
use the rankings so you can decide what information is best for you.

Also bear in mind that you can get an excellent education at most
colleges, especially if you work hard. If staying near home is
important to you, the state of Tennessee has a page with links to
Tennessee universities, both public and private:
http://www.state.tn.us/thec/tn_campus.html . The links show where in
Tennessee the colleges are located so you can see what is near you.

All of the above sites will have links directly to the Universities.
These are good places to go, since the Universities themselves will
tell you how they rank and which schools within the University are
particularly strong. Feel free to ask for information from any
college you are interested in, even if you are just a little bit
interested. You never know what will catch your eye until you explore
all your options.

Now to your questions about paying for college. When colleges accept
you, they assume that you can pay. They generally don't do any
screening, or ask you how you are going to pay. They wait until you
start going to classes, then a few weeks into the semester, they send
you a bill and they expect you to pay it. So don't worry about having
to "prove" that you can afford college. Depending on your financial
situation, it can be a good idea to look into scholarships, grants
and loans for school. Most schools offer financial aid to their
students based on need. That is actually something you can ask about
when you are considering applying for college - how available is
financial assistance for students who need it? You can feel confident
asking, because the people who know about financial aid and the
people who decide whether or not to accept you are completely
different, and your acceptance will NOT be based on your financial
situation or whether or not you will need financial aid. A number of
scholarships are out there. The best bet is to surf the web, or go to
the library or your school counselor to ask if they know of anything,
especially local scholarships. One caution: don't pay anyone to find
scholarship info for you. They usually just find things you could
find on your own for free.

There are also loans that you can get from the federal government,
but remember you have to pay them back after you graduate. Finally, a
number of schools have work-study programs that allow you to work for
money for school. Again, ask the colleges you are interested in.

Finally- to your concerns about not getting accepted into any college:
I can't guarantee that you will be accepted into every college you
apply for. No one can. What I can say is that even if you don't get
into the college of your choice on the first round, you have options.
I can also say that you are probably better off than you think- a lot
of people panic about not getting into college, and they get accepted.
How can you help your chances of getting accepted?
Right now, you can study really hard. I know that sounds cliche', but
it's true. One thing you have control over is how well you understand
the material. Make it your "job" to work really hard in school. Don't
just do assigned questions; do them all. If you don't understand,
review the book, or ask your teachers to explain. Do everything you
can to truly understand the material, not just to remember it for the
exam.

What if you don't get accepted into college? No problem. Take classes
at your local community college. Again, study really hard. This is an
excellent way to let colleges know that you are serious about school,
and are ready for the demands of college. With some success at a
community college, you can apply again to the Universities that you
are interested in. You can also re-take SATs and ACTs to improve your
score.

Hopefully this information helps; Feel free to write in again with
more questions- I am sure a lot of other people here are concerned
about the same things.

Good luck!
Leslie
*******************
A: FROM MENTOR JOAN LUSK IN RI
One good way to search for colleges is on line - try
http://www.collegeboard.com/ or
http://www.petersons.com/ugchannel/
to start with. You can limit your search to your local geographic area, look for fields of study and extracurricular activities that interest you, and find out what the typical academic achievement level (GPA, SAT, ACT scores) is for applicants and students. Colleges should post their own achievement record: what fraction of students actually graduates in 4-5 years, and what careers to they have? Your high school should have a guidance counselor who can help you understand the information you find, and teachers who know you and your abilities and interests may have good suggestions. If you have some older friends who are now in college or have recently graduated, they can help de-mystify the jargon for you. To a newcomer, it can feel as if you need to learn a whole new language just to understand how colleges describe themselves.

Some colleges have a policy of meeting their students' financial needs - figuring out what the family ought to be able to pay, what the student could earn, and making up the difference with loans and scholarships. Some colleges don't; they leave it to the student to find the money. I don't think any of them ask you to _explain_ how you'll pay. They send you a bill. It's up to you and your family to figure out how high a bill you can pay, and choose a school you can afford. Be aware that in general the more expensive schools also offer the most financial aid; look into the true net cost, not just the sticker price.

There are also sites that give you a lot of information about scholarships. I hesitate to endorse any one, because I really don't know which are good and which not... but here's one: http://www.college-scholarships.com/
Occasionally you hear about a student who applied for many, many scholarships and may be paying the entire bill by adding together 20 little ones. There are scholarships with very obscure requirements; some are applicable to only a single college but many are "portable" wherever you might go.

You must have heard of a few colleges in your area. Each one will have a web site, and each one is interested in attracting students. So look them up and see how they present themselves - what does each one think are its unique best features? You can write for more information from those that interest you, and I highly recommend visiting the campus if you possibly can. The atmosphere and the attitude of current students are so important to your success and happiness. Colleges arrange campus tours for prospective applicants.

On-line applications often require you to pay by credit card - you type the number into a secure web site. Some will also let you send a check, separately, and process your application after they get the check.

Good luck! Remember that there are around 3000 colleges in the US and many of them could fill your needs - there's more than one right answer. And remember that colleges are eager for students - they will welcome your inquiries and try to encourage you to apply and attend. Their admissions people are accustomed to answering questions. Most colleges are not very selective - they accept most of the applicants - so don't let the the whole process intimidate you. Enjoy comparing your imagined life at several different colleges - and thinking about what your life would be after graduation.