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Thursday, October 11, 2018
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Continued from page 2 their parent may expect to pay,” she said. Brouillette also added that the internet is a great source for scholarship sites. “It is a good idea to also check with the parents’ employers to see if there are scholarships available for employee’s children. Also, community and religious organizations sometimes offer scholarships to local students,” she advised. Like any major decision, when applying to college, both parent and student should read the fine print, Brouillette added. Application lingo, such as “Early Decision” and “Early Action,” could create problems for families if misunderstood. For example, “Early Decision” is binding, meaning if a student is accepted, he or she must go to that school, and there can be no change. “Early Decision is not recommended for a student who has not done their college research, who is applying because they are following their friends, or is not fully dedicated to matriculating there in the fall,” explained Brouillette. On the other hand, Early Action is non-binding, and “is something I frequently encourage,” she added. So, how should students maneuver the often high-demanding application process?
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Sean Borders, a senior counselor who leads college advising at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, said he encourages students to have five schools they are ready to apply to by their senior year. “Two are safety schools, these are schools that you know you will be accepted to. If there’s a question that you will not be accepted, then it’s not a safety school,” said Borders, adding that safety schools are typically state schools where admission requirements, such as accepted college testing scores, are published. “The reason why you want to have two is because if all you get accepted into are your safety schools, then you want to at least have a choice here,” he said. In addition to two safety schools, Borders also advised students to apply to two mid-range colleges. “These are schools you are pretty sure you can get accepted to, like your GPA and ACT scores fall within that school’s range, and these are good schools you can afford to go to, and they have programs you are interested in,” he said. The last school is what Borders called a “reach” school. This is a school the student is very interested in, but one that traditionally has a low acceptance rate for most students. Think Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT and the like here. “Most students don’t apply to reach schools because they don’t think they have anything special about them that will get them in,” said Borders, who added that it is difficult to know what these
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Researching your post-secondary options can be daunting, but this advance effort can make a difference in your college experience and success. schools are looking for, and sometimes, something as simple as playing a certain instrument or displaying a certain academic passion may be all it needs to garner acceptance. However, receiving an “in” to an Ivy League or another reach school, doesn’t mean a student should jump immediately. According to Borders, other factors, such as distance, cost and the number of scholarships should be weighed. He said one student at Baton Rouge Magnet turned down her acceptance to Cornell University in New York when she received full tuition and expenses to attend a smaller school. “She would have incurred close to $150 thousand dollars in debt to go to Cornell. That was a no-brainer to me,” he said. Borders also suggested that students do more research on colleges and universities they are interested in attending and spend some time looking at state schools, where TOPS and other scholarships might be more plentiful for Loui-
siana students. “One of my National Merit Award winners a few years ago could have been accepted into RICE or any school, but she chose Southeastern [in Hammond] because she knew she wanted to be a nurse. She could go there for free, and she was also starting out there as a junior with all of her AP credits [from classes taken in high school],” explained Borders, who added this type of acceptance meant the student could move into the nursing program easily and be out working and fulfilling her passion as a nurse in three years. For students unsure about what they want to do in the future, Borders recommended to take heart. He said it is okay not to know what you want to major in, but he suggested continuing to explore your interests. “The overwhelming vast majority of students don’t finish in the degree they start out in,” he said. If possible, Borders advised attending a liberal arts college where you can get a well-rounded education by taking different classes. “You can then take that degree and get a job in a field you like and try it out or take that degree and go to graduate school,” he said. For students who are completely bewildered, Borders noted that it is still possible to apply to college even without a declared major; however, there is another consideration when looking at that college checklist. “There’s also something to be said about taking a gap year. It’s not something we do often here, but it is an accepted practice in Europe,” he explained, adding that most colleges and universities will hold a student’s admission spot for a year. “Usually what they want is for you to be doing something that year, such as City Year, which encourages students to give back to the community for that year,” he said. Ultimately, time with City Year could help a student learn new skills and interests, such as hands-on learning or advocating for those without a voice. These new-found interests may help add to that college checklist, once again putting the student and his or her interests where they should always be: at the top.
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