Books Excerpts

The application is the first real opportunity that the college admissions office will have to consider your credentials. As outlined below, there are many sections and requirements of these applications. It is important that you carefully complete each application, making sure to include all of the required components. Over the years, I have seen very qualified students rejected from schools that we were certain were a shoe-in. A closer look always revealed a break-down in the application process: a messy essay, typographical errors in the application itself, poor editing in the body of the short answer responses, late test scores, transcripts or other required submissions, etc. In your application, you want to show the colleges that you are completely serious about the opportunity and privilege of attending each individual school, that not only will you be an asset to the academic community, but that you will be honored to attend if admitted.

The college application process has changed significantly since your parents applied to college. Students are applying to more and more schools, often ten or even more. The applications and their plans have become more detailed. An explanation of the process follows.

Don’t Believe the Urban Legends

For some reason many people do not believe that merit scholarships are available for students with middle class and greater incomes. If you mention that you are considering a merit scholarship, do not be surprised to hear from friends, family, and even professionals that you will not qualify because your parents earn too much money. Let me give you two examples.

I’ll start with Portia whom you have already met. Portia ran into several obstacles on her way to Mary Baldwin College. First, her mother, in an angry rage, tried to cancel Portia’s application to Mary Baldwin. When the admissions officers did not allow that, she threatened to not sign the FAFSA form or any other parental forms that would support Portia’s claim to have emancipated from her parents. That, of course, did not work either, as Portia had just turned 18 and Mary Baldwin did not require any more information from her parents.

After Portia returned from Mary Baldwin with a merit scholarship and her preliminary ROTC estimate, she and I went to visit her high school guidance counselor to share the great news and to set the wheels in motion to send the requisite secondary school reports to ROTC and Mary Baldwin College. When Portia told her guidance counselor that she had been offered a full scholarship between her ROTC and merit-based award, the guidance counselor pulled a sad face and hit Portia with the bad news. She told Portia that her parents earned “too much money” and that Portia could not qualify for the scholarships without filling out the Federal FAFSA forms. I interjected that Portia had earned a merit-based scholarship and that Mary Baldwin did not require any further income documentation. The guidance counselor went on to explain that ALL financial aid, whether need-based or merit-based required the completion of the Federal forms. I disagreed as courteously as I could, but the guidance counselor refused to accept my explanation. Portia looked like she had been kicked in the gut. As we left the Guidance Office, I assured Portia that her guidance counselor had misinformed her and promised to call Mary Baldwin upon my return to my office. Needless to say, steam was pouring from my ears; this so-called qualified educator, Portia’s lifeline in the guidance office, was egregiously incorrect in her understanding of merit-based award. I called the Office of Financial Aid at Mary Baldwin College to clarify the issue for Portia. The very lovely director with whom I had arranged Portia’s visit almost laughed at me. She said, “Julia, didn’t you just write a book about this very issue? You know that Mary Baldwin does not need Portia to complete any other forms or a parent signature. We are offering a merit-based not a need-based award to Portia. You know the difference! Our offer stands.”