In the first video, a college admissions consultant discusses,“5 ways to plan for college when your child is a junior in high school.” After viewing the video, take the quiz which examines why beginning the college planning conversation as a high school junior is far too late in the process. 

Take the quiz as a group. Have a discussion about each question. Agree on the best, or most likely answer as a group. DO NOT GOOGLE OR USE WEBSITES TO DETERMINE YOUR ANSWERS. Take your best guess as a group. 

 

 

After taking the quiz, watch the second video the profiles what colleges actually consider when making their admission decisions.

Have a group discussion and use the following 5 questions to guide your group discussion:

  1. Based on what the Amherst College Admissions Officers actually considered, were the 5 college planning strategies provided the consultant, sufficient? Explain your answer.
  2. Is it a productive use of your money visiting college campuses, BEFORE, you have researched the colleges and formulated your questions for admission and financial aid officers? Explain your answer.
  3. If private scholarships make up less than 4% of the financial aid received to pay for college, where should you be devoting the majority of your attention (e.g., developing your gifts and talents, college planning, identifying institutional scholarships, etc.)? 
  4. Based on the advice being offered by the consultant, what admission considerations discussed in the Amherst College video does the consultant neglect to discuss?
  5. What is your opinion of the advice that the college planning consultant is offering, and is this more or less advice that you have receive from your high school counselor?