the road to college has been a road with ups and downs, twists and turns and i am still unsure what the end of the road will be....
i highly recommend that if you have a high school student (freshman year would be best) to start the process of the college search if there is ANY chance they want to attend a college. i feel like we were late to the game and currently the game is in fast forward.
there are so many things to do and i honestly havent found a super helpful resource yet. i truly dont know how students do it without some sort of parental support because at this point i need some support much less bryson doing it alone. maybe i am doing it all wrong and i dont know any better but there are endless steps and so many decisions it is a daunting task. (if you have some tips, please share)
my 1st tip....take tours, go as early as possibly in case you need to go back and take another look. i feel like we have learned so much on tours. you get to see how it feels, how it looks, and if you know the major you can do a special tour for that too. start tours early! they have been the best part of the process.
my 2nd tip.....fill out scholarships now....NOW. there are so many, there are so many spam ones, there are SO MANY and i have yet to find decent ones. i could i truly use some assistance with this. i have said to brooks if someone could give me some legit engineering scholarship list we might could figure this out. i am spending a few hours a week searching and its not going well. you find a place and you start reading the criteria and its like you can apply if you are a part of NSAHA union or have a family member in the union or if you live in OH or CA, etc the searching is exhausting. and the ones the school has provided are difficult in you have to print, handwrite, include this and that, etc. start scholarships as a FRESHMAN! also, with scholarships you are doing A LOT of work for a minimal amount..$500-$2500 mostly. there are essays, video clips, a student resume, transcripts, etc required for most and i am finding the time and effort spent aren't even close to equal.
my 3rd tip....if you have saved money its probably not enough. we are looking at $200k for bryson to attend clemson, maybe its just us, but we dont have that sitting in the bank. so if you have a high school student OR even better a newborn start saving a few $100 a month now!
my 4th tip....i think i still agree with this, use common app to apply for schools. it allows you to apply for multiple schools without putting info in over and over. the only reason i question this piece is because if you do the actual schools app process you can then be entered into some scholarships so its hard to say which is the best way...the easiest way is common app.
my 5th tip....and a tip that we havent completed yet and honestly are unsure when we will. committing. you can get accepted all day long to 10 different schools, but until you commit nothing is done. we dont know the right answer at this point in time. but we need to hurry because once you commit (and pay the fee), you then have to commit to housing (AND PAY THE FEE) $500 later. the fees will nickel and dime you to death. honestly at this point the easy part was applying and i thought 6 months ago that was the hard part.
my 6th tip....i know people would disagree with me on this, but honestly i am learning the AP, IB, college classes etc aren't beneficial. i think as a society we are selling these programs as helpful and a way to build up schools, but i am not finding that to be. bryson was in AP, that didnt go well, he dropped that sophomore year and has been at mitchell ever since. he will have 32 credit hours and about 9 will be beneficial and transfer. here is why i say this....i am speaking for engineering at clemson bc that is where most of my recent research has been focused. freshman year has 2 classes beyond engineering classes. an arts and a science (1 1st semester and the other 2nd semester). i am not seeing spanish 101, english 101, communications or college algebra. i am seeing classes that are focused on the degree of interest (i guess colleges have wised up to transfer classes and figured out a way to collect more money)....pretty much what he needs is 85% at clemson and not in AP, IB or at mitchell or any other fancy HS program for that matter. there are no more 2 years of undergrad basic.....you start your major freshman year....you can't get that in HS!
my 7th tip....find some podcasts and listen to how people do it! i have listened to some about to pay nothing for college, not that i have figured it out, but listening to others and what they did or suggest has been helpful to tell me if i am on the right road or need to figure out a new path...
if you have experience in this or have ANY tips to share, please do....it is a long, hard road. we want to make sure we are making the right choice not only for us as a family but for bryson to be as successful as he can be. i have always found that as my kids get older the tasks get harder as a parent and this task is for sure the hardest....we have faced. it is such a life changing decision for us all!!
shoutout to my girl kris for holding my hand along the way...i remember her wise words way back in the summer....its only just beginning, just wait.....and that is so so true! i have found the easiest part is ordering the cap and gown!
feel free to reach out...
much love, alysha
