The SearchCollegeGame M

MY SON, CHRISTOPHER, AND I have spent the last two years traipsing across the country in search of the perfect college: trudging through rainy, snowy campus tours and listening to admissions officers drone on about test scores, applications, scholarships, and financial aid.

Every school he applied to is out of state, so our travel bills have certainly escalated. On one hand, it has been an exhausting and overwhelming experience. On the other hand, Chris and I are great travel partners and we’ve had a ball together. He had to select a school by May 1, but Chris is waitlisted at two universities that could conceivably offer him a spot as late as July 1. So the pondering of where my son will spend the next four years continues, but after 18 years of waiting, what are another few weeks?

You could say Christopher’s particular college path began at age 3 when he told me the puzzles and projects at preschool were too easy. His teachers confirmed that Chris had exhausted their supply of educational materials and they didn’t know what to do with him. We switched Chris to a Montessori school where he could carve his own path at his own pace, and then there was no looking back. It has been a joy to watch his inquisitiveness grow into understanding, followed by a yearning to teach others. I distinctly remember when Chris learned about the Tau Manifesto which states that pi as the true circle constant is wrong. It was way over my head, but he was determined to explain it to me.

Chris is the definition of a Renaissance man: someone whose interest spans a significant number of subject areas. He is predominantly left-brained as he excels at mathematics, physics and his engineering team. Yet Chris is right-brained also as chief editor of his school newspaper at St. Charles Preparatory Academy and a trombone player in the jazz band. His interests are so varied, it’s no wonder he can’t make a decision about which college to attend!

Other high school seniors have had much different college search experiences. Our neighbor, Laura King, visited the University of Cincinnati in February 2011, her junior year, and fell in love with the school. She felt it was close enough to home without being too close, it had the health program she wanted to study and overall it was a good fit. Laura applied in September, was accepted in October and had her roommates selected via a University of Cincinnati Facebook page by December. She was completely settled and decided before Christopher had even sent in his applications.

Seniors who are less sure than Laura are advised to apply to one or two safety schools, some 50/50 chance colleges and a few reach universities. In total, Chris applied to nine schools. This is a big change from when I grew up and most kids applied to one, two or three at the most. The Common Application, which is standard for most colleges, is the cause for the astronomical increase in application numbers. Most institutions notice a 23-28 percent surge the first year they switch to the Com- mon Application because it is easy to fill out and you can send it online to many different schools with the click of a button. Applications to Duke University have grown 55 percent in just four years from 20,000 applicants to 31,500 this year. Now admissions officers have to try to determine which candidates are serious about attending their school and which just want to get in somewhere.

Jim Bauer, admissions counselor at Dublin Coffman High School, has been helping students apply to college for 42 years. He recommends parents and students to travel and tour many college

Colleen

D’Angelo’s son, Chris, at Duke University during one of their many college visits