The College Process Isn't What It Was When You Applied — Here's What Your Family Should Be Doing Right Now
If you went to college in the 80s, 90s, or even the early 2000s, here is something worth knowing: the process your child is navigating looks almost nothing like the one you went through. When most of today's parents applied to college, you visited a few schools, wrote one essay, mailed in your application, and waited. Acceptance rates at selective schools were dramatically higher. The Common Application didn't exist yet, or was in its infancy. Test scores were straightforward. Financial aid was simpler. And nobody had heard of demonstrated interest, coalition applications, or test-optional policies. That world is gone. Today's college process is a multi-year, high-stakes, constantly shifting landscape that requires strategic thinking, careful planning, and a level of insider knowledge that most families — no matter how educated or involved — simply don't have. It is not because you aren't paying attention. It's because the game itself has changed, and nobody sen...