It’s mid-fall, and high school seniors all over the country are in the midst of trying to decide which colleges or universities they want to apply to and/or completing applications for early deadlines.

It is a busy time of year.

As a parent, what can you do to support your son or daughter in this process?

• Continue to be supportive and understanding of their opinions and thoughts. They may change their minds when learning new information about each college choice. Some of you have been through this already with an older child, so you realize how stressful the college selection process is on a child. If this is your first time through the process, know that there may be some stressful days ahead. Encourage your son/daughter to talk about it and share what they are thinking and why.
• Let your student drive the process. The student needs to determine which colleges he or she is interested in applying to and ultimately what he or she thinks is really the “best fit.” You may have a particular school you’d like your son or daughter to consider, but make sure you let your child make the final decision.
• Emphasize allocating time to the college search process and staying organized. This is often the first major process that students manage independently. It is important. They need to dedicate time with approaching deadlines. They need to check back with recommenders and the Registrar’s Office to ensure letters and transcripts are sent on a timely basis. They need to learn to balance school, sports, clubs, and the college selection process. This is a great experience—developing some time management skills will serve them well as a first-year college student.
• Don’t write anything for your student. Admission officers can typically tell when the essay is written by a parent. And it is particularly embarrassing when a student is asked about the topic in an interview and doesn’t know anything about it. Yes, I think you should provide guidance and input and you can be very valuable as a proofreader in this day and age where “text speak” is far too common. You can also encourage your student to highlight an experience that he or she forgot about or didn’t think was as noteworthy. Just make sure that it is in your student’s own words.
• Let the student communicate with the school. It’s a concern when e-mails and phone calls come from the parent, but the college or university has never heard from the prospective applicant. Is the student interested? Some schools use “demonstrated interest” in their admission process. The student needs to be his or her own best advocate.
• Talk about financing. This is the number one issue that many students would love to hear more about from their parents, but they often don’t know where they stand and they don’t know how to ask. Are there restrictions/limitations based on the family circumstances? Will the student share in the responsibility? Make sure you address these questions sooner rather than later with your son/daughter.
• Set up a regular time to meet and discuss the process. Instead of approaching your son or daughter first thing Saturday morning when he/she has made other plans, set up a regular time when everyone knows it is the topic of discussion. Has the list of schools being considered changed? Where do you need to set up visits to? What did you really think about the last campus visit? What does it mean as a family if the student is really looking to go to school further away? Make it a time for updates, questions, exploration, and to be your son/daughter’s “cheerleader.”

In the end, know that it will all work out. Each senior will realize that it is OK if he or she doesn’t know what major to declare right now. Each senior WILL make it through the holiday season waiting to hear from schools on top of their lists. And ultimately, come May 1, each senior will have the opportunity to enroll at some great colleges.

It’s stressful and it can be overwhelming, but deadlines are the framework of the college admission process. Every step in the cycle revolves around the next deadline.

If you are reading all of the brochures you picked up from a recent college fair or online via a school’s website, you’ll notice that every college or university seems to have a different admission and scholarship process and yes—even different deadlines.

Probably the best way to wrap your mind around all of the different requirements and dates will be to put it all on paper. So go ahead and pull out a sheet of poster board and tack it up in your room or set up an Excel spreadsheet that you can refer to throughout your college search process. List the schools you will apply to and leave room for a few more you might consider later. When is the application deadline? What do you need to request from a teacher/counselor/registrar? What is the scholarship deadline?

Write it all out.

Visualization is an amazing trick. Believe me—it will help.

It may seem like it, but college admission officers don’t get together to try to confuse the process or add to your stress during your senior year. It is really just a matter that each school operates differently. We all have different committee review processes, admission criteria, admission decision dates, and ways that students can be considered for scholarships.

In the end, the deadlines help us to help you. By meeting the appropriate deadlines for each school, you put yourself in the best possible position for admission consideration and potentially, scholarship consideration. Once admitted, you are also set up to receive additional information on majors, clubs and organizations, residence life, financial aid, additional scholarships, and more.

All of this is in support of giving you an opportunity to drive the rest of the process. You see, the tables turn once you are admitted. From this point forward, admission officers are waiting to hear from you. So take time to visit each campus, sit in on classes, talk with students and faculty, and attend an open house or admitted student event.

I invite you to get organized if you haven’t done so already. Attack the deadlines, don’t fear them!

Will Loyola be your college “best fit?” Will you be part of our Class of 2018? The first step in finding out is to complete your application by the December 1 Priority Deadline. Doing so ensures that you have the best admission and scholarship consideration.

That is the question. I hear it from students and parents each year.

And my answer—it depends.

Many times students start out open-minded and add schools to their list to check out. Maybe mom or dad graduated from one of them or it’s a state flagship school or you’re a fan of the football team. But the reality is there is no magic number of schools to apply to because it is different for everyone.

It’s completely normal to wonder if you are applying to schools that are the ‘right fit.’ And, for sure, every student has a few hopeful ‘reach schools.’ But where do you start?

Begin by thinking of what you want to study and in what type of setting (city vs. rural, big vs. small, etc.). Pick some schools that match these criteria and then look at the academic profiles of each school. Ideally, you meet the middle 50% of most of the categories listed such as GPA, test scores, and class rank. If not, broaden your search. Be certain to include schools that you are interested in and you meet all of the criteria. Then move on to a few schools that you would love to get in to but realize it is a stretch; it doesn’t hurt to try.

In the end, be honest with yourself. Be realistic—and just as importantly, know yourself. What type of academic student are you? What type of environment appeals to you outside of the classroom?

When in doubt, try to not overextend yourself. I did and I admit it. I applied to some 15 colleges and universities many years ago. I didn’t know what I was doing. I kept thinking that if I applied to a lot of schools, I would end up with many choices. It really doesn’t work like that. Only in hindsight (and with the use of today’s technology) do I wish I had just taken a few weeks to really do some research ahead of time to see which schools really matched my abilities and interests.

Happy researching—and good luck!

When students and parents ask me where to begin their college search, I don’t really have any one good answer. For some students, it might be available majors that is the most critical must-have. For others, it might be location. Still others might find academic or social clubs highly important.

But one thing I feel is essential for students is to look for some value added in their college search. What do I mean by that? It’s pretty simple actually—search for colleges that are going above and beyond—something that demonstrates they are a growing and vibrant community. That value added might differ between schools. And some colleges like Loyola actually have multiple aspects that are value added. Take our new Institute of Environmental Sustainability for example.

The opening of Loyola’s Institute of Environmental Sustainability (IES) is founded on the basis of collaborative learning, research, and experiential learning in an urban environment. It is an opportunity for students to take their interest in sustainable issues and apply it to their community where they can lead change. It’s also a chance to enhance their career possibilities—from the natural sciences to government and politics to business.

So, what is available? You name it. Loyola has its own biodome. Loyola has the premier geothermal facility in the city of Chicago with a system that spans 91 wells that go some 500 feet underground. There is an ecotoxicology lab. Students continue to work to make our own biodiesel in the Clean Energy Lab. There is even an aquaponics lab.

Simply put, it’s amazing.

The IES was student-driven from the start and now it has come to fruition. TAKE A LOOK.

Admission decisions are in hand. Colleges and universities across the country are hosting events in the hope of helping admitted students to finalize their college decision.

Do you know where you will be this fall? Which school is #1 on your list?

This past weekend, we hosted our annual Loyola Weekend for admitted students and their parents who visited campus from as far away as the Philippines, Ecuador, and Mexico and as nearby as Naperville and Des Plaines, IL. There is something to be said for all the excitement that surrounds a weekend like this. The admission staff plans for more than a year to secure the dates, facilities, etc. to make it happen. And we are joined by faculty, staff, alumni, and students who make it all come together as we prepare to welcome the newest members of the Loyola family. I admit it, we are very lucky here at Loyola; our community is extremely supportive and really enjoys meeting new students and parents who are looking to make Loyola their new home.

Take a quick peek at what prospective students thought of the weekend.

So, here we are after the big party is over wondering who will join us this fall. Colleges all around the country are thinking the same thing. Did she like us? Is he really interested? Did the family have a good time? What will be the deciding factor? How can we help further with any questions or concerns?

Finalizing your college choice isn’t easy. Most students have a gut feeling of which way they are leaning, but there are so many other factors at play that the decision gets a little cloudy from time to time. In the end, I hope that students considering Loyola (or whichever school is their top choice) think about the following things:

• Does the school have the academic program(s) I am interested in?
• Are the resources I need to ensure my success in place?
• Can I see myself here? Living here? Having friends here?
• Is it my ‘fit’?

Good luck as you finalize your college choice. We look forward to welcoming the Loyola Class of 2017 for Orientation this summer and of course, the start of the fall term.