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Getting In

Admissions officers accept students based on variety of criteria: high school grade point average (GPA), SAT or ACT scores, involvement in extracurricular activities, and in some cases, a college admissions essay. But colleges place different importance on each section of the college application, so what is accepted by some admissions officers might not pass muster for others, resulting in a straight-A student getting accepted into one school and not another.

The good news is that there are thousands of higher education institutions with varying degrees of selectivity — so there’s room for everyone. For parents of students who are applying to the most selective schools in the nation, it’s important to have faith that their child will do well in the college-search process. But it also is important to realize there are talented students everywhere who are competing for these limited top spots. For parents wishing to send their children to Ivy League colleges, this is especially true.

“I didn’t believe it when my son’s very wise guidance counselor told me the super top tier schools — Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford — were reaches for everyone,” says Kehoe. “Eric’s, statistics and résumé made him a candidate for those schools, and I [thought he would] get in if he applied. He did apply to one of them, and he didn’t get in. He was disappointed for two days; it took me months to get over it. Bottom line: believe it when your school is a ‘reach’ because of its selectivity. You’ll be a lot happier.”

Despite an exceptionally high GPA and SAT score, Eric was not admitted to every school he applied to. He was rejected from Stanford University — originally his first-choice school — but he is now happily joining the freshman class at Cornell University instead.

To maximize the chance of getting accepted to the college of his or her choice, the student should have good grades and good SAT scores along with a well-written college essay and a résumé that reflects all of the student’s activities, including school extracurricular activities, academic and athletic accomplishments, volunteer activities, and part-time work, if applicable.

Covering the cost

The cost of a college education is a concern for all families and can play a big part in deciding which college a student ultimately will attend. Luckily for military families, there are many funding sources that can help them with college expenses.

Maj. Sam Stroud, USA, has two sons in college — Jacob, 19, a freshman at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, and Ryan, 21, a senior at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Kansas. Stroud played an active role not only in helping his sons choose a college, but also in helping them find funding.

“Most military branches have an education center on base that has a lot of scholarship information that sons and daughters from military families are eligible for,” says Stroud. “I used the Army Education Center on base, but to be honest, most of the scholarships I found for my sons to apply for were through my own research on the Internet.”

Stroud emphasizes that research is the key to finding little-known scholarships. “Information is the key to understanding the nightmare of the financial aid system,” he says. “Plus, a lot of scholarships are out there for military dependents that a lot of people aren’t aware of.”

To make applying for various scholarships easier, Stroud advises that parents keep track of their child’s activities throughout his or her high school years. “Document and make copies of everything that recognizes your child,” says Stroud. “Certificates that recognize your child for awards received, participation in activities like the National Honor Society … these items will come in handy when filling out scholarship applications [and college applications as well].”

As MOAA members, the Stroud family also participates in the Educational Assistance Program, which provides interest-free loans, grants, and scholarships to help military families pay for college costs without accruing debt.

The Guisberts also take advantage of the Educational Assistance Program for their two daughters. “It helps make going to college become a reality,” says Gretchen Guisbert. “It takes away some of the ‘pinch’ that college costs can have on your wallet. … I can’t imagine paying for college without it.”

The bottom line

Hartman gives this simple advice about college searching: Talk with your child. “Discuss your conditions and limitations before your child starts to research and selects [his or her] top 10 colleges,” says Hartman. “Talk about your ability to help them financially and your feelings about the type of college you would like to see them attend — i.e., distance from home, co-ed, large, small, etcetera.”

In the college-search process there is a list of factors —such as educational offerings, location, campus environment, selectivity, and cost — that can be examined and considered again and again. The one factor that should stand out, though, is something that can’t always be quantified: a student’s happiness. Together, parents and students should weigh all the factors in the college-admissions process while keeping the students’ happiness in mind to make the right choice about which college to attend.

College is where a teenager becomes a young adult. The degrees students obtain not only will prepare them for their future careers, but also will play a key role in how they grow as a person. Their first years away from home after high school will be crucial; what they learn, who they meet, and the experiences they have in college will change them forever. Choosing a college where they will be happy while making this transition will give them the best start toward a fulfilling future.


Author bio: Elaina Loveland is the former editor of the Journal of College Admission and author of Creative Colleges: A Guide for Student Actors, Artists, Dancers, Musicians, and Writers.