This week I started meeting via Zoom with various Admissions Counselors from different universities on my list. Before we drive for hours to visit the campus (or fly in some cases), we want to make sure our big questions receive answers. What do you ask from an Admissions Counselor? In short, things that you may not have encountered on their website.

Homeschool to College – Part 4 – Interviewing Admissions Counselors via Zoom

Sometimes you just did not see a certain paragraph on their website. Maybe the information is there, but you just did not see it. But in my experience, the websites do not present specific answers for homeschoolers. In no particular order, here is a list of my questions to colleges and universities:

1. What SAT score does a student need for a full-ride scholarship? (Ivy League schools do not offer Merit Scholarships, but elite schools like Rice, Vanderbilt, and Duke do. And, of course, state universities offer very competitive packages for smart kids, in order to attract them. If you are a middle class American with a brilliant kid, good luck getting into and paying for an Ivy.)
2. We homeschool via Gateway Christian School(s) in Memphis – sometimes it appears as plural and other times as singular – and, as such, our son will not immediately jump at admissions staff as a homeschooler. Gateway produces our diploma and transcript and in the state of Tennessee my children are in an Independent Study Program at home, through Gateway. I am a Gateway teacher (on paper, according to state law). How important is it for us to bring homeschooling up somewhere in the application/essay? Does it help or hinder with admission? What about for scholarships?
3. Is there any reciprocity between the university’s state (NC, KY, TX, AL in our case, from our list of colleges) and our state (Tennessee) when it comes to scholarship money? Especially for state universities, we must pose this question because the State Lottery in Tennessee offers generous scholarship money to kids with high SAT scores. Some universities in counties close to the border with Tennessee actually may receive funds from Tennessee for Tennessee kids attending in a different state.
4. What kind of deadlines do we need to put on our calendar? When can we expect to hear back from admissions? What about the final financial aid package the university will grant our child? Look, I know most universities accept kids by December and send financial aid offers by April 1, but you must ask the question. Every university is different. For instance, Vanderbilt sends their financial offers in April, but the University of Kentucky in Lexington sends theirs around March 15. This means if you child would prefer to go to Vanderbilt, you will have to NOT accept U of KY’s offer for two weeks or more while you wait for Vanderbilt to make up their mind about your kid.
5. Is this university on the Common App?
6. What is the closest airport to your campus? For instance, the University of Kentucky in Lexington boasts an airport only ten minutes away. However, if you want to save money, you might want to fly into Louisville or Cincinnati (each one hour away). This kind of detail is invaluable, as it will save you time and money. If you are going to rent a car for 10 minutes vs an hour, how much will it be? How about the savings in airline ticket if you drive for one hour? Which makes more sense? Do you prefer to drive longer and save money? Or do you care more about convenience?
7. Is there a separate application for scholarships or do applicants automatically get entered for scholarships?
8. Does your university have a separate portal for scholarship applications?
9. How many students total at this university and how many students in the School of Engineering/Arts/Education/Architecture etc?
10. Is there a contact person from the School of Engineering [or insert your child’s field] we should be speaking to? Sometimes that person is the Department Chair or, for larger universities, the Director of Recruitment for that School. That’s the person you want to speak with next. Get a phone number and an email address, so your child can reach out to this person directly.

My son and I doing research on universities together

Again, as the Guidance Counselor, it is my job as a homeschool teacher to do all my research and guide my child based on my findings. However, the child must take responsibility for applying to universities and colleges and scholarships. You must share a calendar with your child and set deadlines and important dates on this calendar together.

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