What do Junior and Senior High School Students Need to Know About College?

Associate Dean of College Counseling at Cranbrook Kingswood School Patrick O’Connor talks about the college application process and what is changing for students in Michigan this year on Detroit Today. He gives families some advice and answers a few questions about choosing the right school.

• Start Early: Stephen and O’Connor both agree that it is important for families to begin looking at college early. He says that in Michigan the counselor-student ratio is 704 to one, making it hard for counselors to keep track of all their students. He says students need to be proactive to find the help they need, but it is available.
• Affordability: O’Connor says it’s important for students and families to learn about the financial side of college as soon as possible. He recommends checking out FAFSA and Fastweb to learn about scholarships and student loans but also says the websites give students a good overview of the application process as well.
• Testing: One big change O’Connor says Michigan students will see this year is the shift towards the SAT. In the past, the state has provided free ACT testing but this year they will instead offer the SAT. He says while there’s some confusion, any four-year nationally recruiting college will accept scores from either test. He also explains there’s actually around 800 colleges that do not require testing in their application process.

Click the audio link above to hear the full conversation.